Hagerman Peak 13,848' via Southwest Ridge from Geneva Lake

While not the most creative of Trip Report names, it gets the point across. I'm also not sure if the alternatives ("Worst Side-hilling of my Life" or "How Do People Think This Doesn't Exceed Class 2+" or "Looking back with Rose-Colored Glasses Makes this Route Seem More Enjoyable Than My Words Make It Seem") would have been as good.

After securing a last-minute camping permit for Geneva Lake, we decided to enjoy a short backpack into Geneva Lake prior to attempting Hagerman Peak. And, since neither of us had seen Crystal Mill before, we decided to detour there to start... then loop the road over to Lead King Basin/Geneva Lake TH and back to Marble...throw in some backpacking and climbing, and you've got yourself a grand weekend adventure!

The short of it:
Driving: Marble to Crystal Mill via 314: About an hour
Driving: Crystal Mill to Geneva Lake TH/Lead King Basin: 2 mi, 1 hour
Hiking: TH to Geneva Lake: About an hour, 2.5mi, 1300' gain (+/- given walking around looking for an open site)
Hiking: Geneva Lake to Hagerman Summit: 4.5 hours, 2.5mi (please reserve judgement for later)
Hiking: Summit back to Lake: 3.5 hours, 2.9mi (different route down)
Hiking: Geneva Lake to TH: 1 hour, 2.2mi
Driving: Trailhead to Marble via northern 315: 80-ish min, 7.2mi

Hike overall, including breaks and stops: 10.5mi, 4280' gain, 10-11 hours car to car (yes, that is math-based since we backpacked).

I would be remiss if I did not give a shoutout to floyd for all of his help and beta + ryguy and bmcqueen's trip report + Roach's book descriptions. I did take note that Roach said if this route wasn't in the Elks it might be a "Roach Classic," which is intriguing. Even in combining all of this knowledge, we still managed to run (slightly) amok on the ascent and take quite a bit of time on this peak. Oh well, the weather held out (for a forecast that said Saturday would be rainy essentially all day and Sunday the typical PM storms... we had zero rain all weekend), and the views were stunning. It definitely verged on Type 2 or Type 3 fun at times but looking back (with rose colored glasses maybe) it was a great weekend and ok climb!

The Roads
I scoured the interwebs, trip report backlog, and trailhead data for more information on all these roads and couldn't find some useful information. Hopefully this beta will help someone out in the future... For reference, we took a 4-door, 2011 stock Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Marble to Crystal Mill via 314
This one is pretty standard. I think a lot of people know this is a rougher road. While I've heard most cars with decent clearance can make it, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel taking my car. And I've taken my Forester many places (S. Colony Lakes multiple times!). The obstacles it could do, but the steepness and narrowness I'm not sure I'd want to push the transmission much on it. FWIW we only saw Jeeps and side-by-sides.

Crystal Mill to Lead King Basin/Geneva Lake TH via 315
This 2-mi stretch is one we couldn't gather much information on. From the town of Crystal to the fork between Crested Butte and Lead King Basin there are two switchbacks with some difficult rock crawling. If you feel comfortable driving over those, you should be able to make it to Lead King no problem. If you are not comfortable going over those, turn around. They are very representative of the road between Crystal and Lead King. We'd heard rough but what that exactly meant or compared to, not a clue. This is a narrow road. The views are beautiful. The road bumpy. The obstacles a-plenty. The pullouts for passing vehicles - very few. We had a few times on the road where it came down to common courtesy on who could not only backup to the pullout easiest but had the closer of the pullouts. Luckily everyone was friendly and happy to help. We saw one other 4-door Wrangler and one side-by-side on this road. Otherwise, it was pretty quiet. It took about an hour with careful driving to get from Crystal Mill to the trailhead.

Lead King Basin/Geneva Lake TH to Marble via 315
This one is also more of the preference for people heading to Geneva Lake trail. It's more moderate based on some of the rocks and creek crossings but also higher up there is some exposure. It's also very sandy, dusty, and soft - if it's wet or rainy, it would add additional obstacles. Also, the sign for the fork between Crystal Mill and Lead King Basin says LKB is 5 miles; we clocked it closer to 6.4 miles. Take it or leave it, but I don't think it's 5 miles. Also, when people talk about how many water bars there are - listen to them and channel your inner Cady Heron: "the limit does not exist".

Crystal Mill
It's super pretty and 100% worth a side trip. If you haven't been there before, like myself and Joe, definitely detour there. We had a lovely lunch picnic with the Mill as our backdrop. There's also a super old-school outhouse, a picnic bench for you to balance on, and a nicely shaded area. Plus, it's good people watching.

The Hike and Climb
Or why you're actually here reading this trip report.

Trailhead to Geneva Lake
Look, this is a straight forward hike. There's a trail, and anytime you're on a 13er adventure with a trail, you're going to be happy. This one weaves through a meadow, some willows, aspens, cuts next to a beautiful waterfall, and then switchbacks up to the lake. It's a lovely 2-ish mi, 1300' gain hike to a beautiful basecamp area.

Geneva Lake does require permits now. We secured one not back in February but the week before - I think people saw the forecast and cancelled. Their loss, our gain. It was a perfect weekend. We liked the look of Campsite 8 (it's also closer to Hagerman) but so did someone else. We checked out almost all of the spots out of curiosity and ended up veering up to Site 4. It was above the lake and had almost ethereal views of Snowmass and Hagerman at sunset. We also had the company of a few deer, including 2 fawns. After putting the bear cans away from camp for the night I went back to them for something... I startled a deer eating, and it's one of the few times I wish I could take a photo: Poor thing had just taken a huge bite of grass, it was hanging out her mouth like a leafy cigar, her eyes got wide, gave me a "Holy Hell WTF is happening" look then darted away... all with the leafy cigar of grass hanging out of her mouth.

Geneva Lake Campsite 4 to Hagerman Peak
6:37am - Starts out pretty straight-forward: Follow the Geneva Lake trail around and away from the lake. There's one minor stream crossing (minor at end of August at least) and some willows to cut through. At around 11k we veered off the trail onto a grassy/more open tree area and just go up the ridge and side. There's minimal bushwhacking, the trees aren't close together (though we did see one area with about 7 piles of bear scat, though no bears), and the brushy/ground cover is easy to get through. Here, just go up. Go up some more. Gain the ridge around 12,400' and just keep going. Make sure to turn around because the backlit views of the Bells are pretty cool. Note that this is not the route Roach describes in either of his two routes (ridge, face) up Hagerman.

From here you should pay attention to the loose rocks everywhere. Check the holds and the foot steps. Check them again. I had Ryan and Brad's game of rockfall in my head, and we were off to a good start of 2 tumbles... and they went down, down, and down some more. Even though we clearly saw nobody, we know better and shouted "Rock" many times (and nobody, nor any animals, were harmed). We ended up with only 3 individual rock tumbles, so it could have been worse. That does not count the numerous small rocks that slide down, the gully rocks that move if you just look at the dirt wrong, or any of the handholds that break off or wiggle to the point of no trust.

Around 8am, we decided to go across and sidehill the steep, loose dirt and scree rather than taking the ridge. Why? Not sure. Seemed simpler. Don't do this. We went down/around some cliffs rather than on top. Don't run amok like we did here. It's doable but so incredibly slow that it'll break off a little piece of your soul. At around 12,900'/13k we found a few random trees... highest I've ever seen one in Colorado.

More importantly, this is around the time on the ridge where you will want to look down to your right (not at Geneva Lake, the other right) and see some grassy slopes - look a bit farther for a trail. This will be your planned descent route. This will be your saving grace. Remember this point. This is also where the ridge stays fairly straight forward, mostly class 2/2+ with occasional scramble and with some lose rock.

From this point, around 9:30am (as you can see, we were going slowly... quite slowly), we alternated between ridge proper and to the side of the ridge. I erred more on the side whereas Joe went more ridge proper. You will also want to check and recheck the holds and footsteps. We're both pretty solid route finders and good with scrambling and minimal route beta, however, this one proved tricky. Maybe were were blissfully ignorant of the details of the route, maybe there needs to be more beta out there (*cut to this trip report*), maybe (certainly) it was some of our route choice, maybe we simply underestimated it (odd since we both over-prepare most of the time), and/or maybe we were just having a little bit of an off day (I did wake up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache, so maybe it has to do with sleeping at almost 11k). Who knows. What we do know, though, is some of the ridge proper was better, some of the side was better. Up on ridge proper there will be chunks of decent exposure. You will be encountering more consistent solid Class 3 moves. I don't understand how people describe this as only class 2+. (Adams a few weekends ago we were debating 2+ or easy 3 - compared to Hagerman, Adams is Difficult 2+).

Look, the ridge looks long. It looks like you just can't quite approach the summit. And you're right. It is long. It doesn't appear to get much closer. We were pretty over it even before the final summit push in all honesty. Some of this is likely due to our route, but it is truly a long day, even if you backpack in. Anticipate it taking longer than you think. There are more ebbs and flows and ups and downs on the ridge than you may think too. These thoughts will happen both ascending and descending your route. Embrace it and know it's mental. Your body can do it - your mind needs to catch-up. It will.

According to Roach, at around 13,600' "scamper up a gully west of the ridge crest". We did this for a little bit and then promptly went right back on the ridge before the gully even ended. It was a horrid gully. Go to the ridge proper and have more fun there. Even given all of my commentary, there is some fun scrambling on this ridge. It's just long and mentally draining because of the constant need to test everything and know rocks will tumble down.

From here, Joe definitely stayed high, and I stayed more off to the side of the ridge crest. I think it also comes down to climbing preferences. I am not as strong of a climber; Joe is. I sometimes feel more comfortable scampering around as opposed to up and over. There are a few sections where up and over is not only preferable, but it's more fun too. Like this bump in the ridge, where it also happened to have more solid rock.

Pretty soon you're so close you can smell the summit - or is it the mountain goats we got a whiff of? There were 6 goats that joined us on the summit! They looked at us like we were the crazy ones (aren't we all a bit mad though?) being on their summit. There was even a momma and baby - adorable. Because of the time (11:11am summit time), we took a few quick photos and had a snack (goldfish of course, some chocolate, a protein bar... the usual) before descending. The views are incredible to put it mildly.. Even though Hagerman is Snowmass's "little sister", she's no joke... Looking across, you can see just what an absolutely beast Snowmass Mountain and its standard East Slopes route are. It's a unique perspective to view it from that angle (Snowmass Lake is just as magical from up high as on its shores though). You have views of the Bells, part of Satan's Ridge, Pyramid group, Crested Butte ski area, and even, if you look far enough, Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre Peak. Unfortunately the summit register was more scraps of paper, though there was an attached tribute on it too.

And now, you have to descend the little sister of the beast. Right off the bat we took a different route down than up. We stayed properly ridge proper, apart from where I had a minor "I can't do this moment" and dropped down and around. Otherwise, ridge proper seemed the way to go. There is more scrambling up here, but it does seem more stable. Remember what we talked about a few minutes ago, the grassy slopes saddle to remember? Keep your eye on it. All the way to this point we stayed up high. There were some more difficult areas but just look around if you find something you don't like - there will likely be another way (no, don't go down the cliff and tumble down, not that way - the other way!). Oh, there's also this really neat rock bridge too.

At around 12,400' saddle, take a look at what you did. Pat yourself on the back. Don't keep going toward the ridge to go down the way we came unless you really enjoy making questionable life decisions. Go down the steep grassy slopes (don't trip and fall on the thistles (speaking from a prior incident, falling onto thistles is unpleasant)), aim toward the drainage and trail, and have fun knowing that a nice, soft trail awaits you. First, eat some more goldfish though because if you're anyone that's anyone, you know to buy the Costco size box of Goldfish because they are, without a doubt, the quintessential hiking snack. We followed the grass, traipsed through a few willows, did not come upon any animals, and then proceeded to hike down the drainage to the trail. It was direct, not loose, and provided us a semi-mindless route back.

The trail is easy - follow Geneva Lake trail all the way back to the Lake and either the trailhead or your campsite. Then have some chocolate and give yourself a high-five! You just completed a centennial and the 88th highest peak in Colorado! We packed up our belongings and headed around the lake. After taking some final looks at Snowmass and Hagerman, especially the SW Ridge we had just completed, we were pretty pleased.

The End
While there were definitely some Type 3 fun moments in the day, overall (and yes, this is with some rose-colored glasses), it was Type 2 day and a Type 1 weekend overall. My main words of advice: study this route more than you think necessary, mentally prepare for a long ridge with looseness everywhere and some beefy and unexpected items sprinkled in , enjoy the fantastic, spectacular scenery, and try to have fun with it... Because, isn't that the point, though? To have beeftastic, memorable weekends? (Also, don't have a big group and hope you're the only ones out there for rockfall purposes!) Thanks for reading!