One hundred and eighty degrees from two weeks previous, Lindsay and I were on the road to Four Mile Creek at 3:30am. Not bad. Even better, traffic was so light and the troopers so sparse that we made it to Silverthorne from Loveland in 1hr 33min. Then a spanner was thrown in the works. A gang of teenage girls destroyed our progress at the Frisco Conoco. We only needed a few minutes for a pit stop and it ended up being 30. THIRTY MINUTES we were there waiting to get a shot at the facilities. Just as we pulled out (read: burned rubber) onto HWY 9 heading south, Jenn sent a text indicating she was already on Four Mile Creek Road. Oooooohhhh, we went from being on time to being 45 minutes behind in one fell swoop. She said no worries, she would just take a nap waiting for us. We lucked out catching a line of obvious locals who were rallying up to Hoosier Pass at 65MPH in a 40MPH zone. That turned out to be kind of fun. Cruising through South Park at 6:15am, we made the turnoff and headed up County Road 18 without a care in the world for the suspension or tie rods...
Apparently this is Ridik's new screeching/whining spot...
The road does get rough, but it's easily passable in a 2WD with careful route finding. Here's a tip: Stay left for the most part on the ascent. The right side of the road on the way up seems to wash out with more rocks exposed to interact with the undercarriage and oil pan. Remember FWD back road newbies, aim the tires at the big rocks, not around them...
This time around we were able to cruise right up to the gate and parked just a couple of cars ahead of Jenn. As I got out and let the dogs have a moment to do their business, I quickly realized we needed to hurry up as a train of vehicles (mostly Tahoes and 4Runners) snaked their way up to the parking areas. It wasn't so much the crowd as it was the fact I could hear all of their dogs barking from a quarter mile away. Just in time we were off. Our starts are kind of frantic it seems. No one really says much until we've been going for a bit...
It was 38 degrees at the trailhead. Tambi needed an extra layer...
Amazing how much difference it makes being able to see. We were cruising up the trail...
It was nice to see the lower snow crossings were melted out...
Hmmm, this area actually has some nice views...
HA! Last time I only made the ridge on the left (out of sight in this pic), and I thought I was going to make it...
Eyeing this snow field from below, I grew a little apprehensive...
Forced the dogs to take a break and have some water just before we approached the snow. Then it was time to move on...
The pics don't convey how unstable this stretch felt. Solo and using trekking poles, this would be no problem. But when one hikes with 270 pounds of dog with them, one needs to take extra care when the end result of a slip means sliding a few hundred feet down. I took Tambi in my left arm like a football, grabbed the sleds, put my head down and took off one step at a time...
By kicking my feet hard into the snow, I was able to keep a solid footing across and soon enough I was on the saddle for the second time this year...
Except this time I could see and breathe...
Yeah, that ridge would have never happened in the brutal conditions from two weeks before. What in the hell was I thinking?...
Ahhh, alpine views make everything okay...
After taking a break from the snow field experience, I set off on the most straight and direct route up. Ended up leaving the wife and Jenn almost five minutes behind...
After that last pic, the wind picked up something fierce. I'm talking hold yourself up against the rocks type of fierce. Have you ever experienced the wind so strong from the side that it literally sucks the air out of your lungs? That lasted almost 20 minutes. There was no picture taking. I was concentrating on staying upright and trying to figure out if the blood I was seeing was from MY dogs. Turns out it wasn't my dogs. That last section was a bit narrow for how many people were up there. Here's another tip: If you can handle the wind, take the left side of the ridge up. Everyone else will be on the right side trying to hide from it. After the narrow section of trail, the terrain levels off and it's a clear and easy walk over to the summit...
The views from the top of Mount Sherman are exquisite. There are mountain range spines in every direction. Then the valleys of Fairplay and Leadville add contrast to where you stand. Summit shots!...
Oh yeah. Tambi couldn't handle the wind on the way up. The summit was pleasantly calm...
Then my camera crapped out on me. The lens would not retract when powering down, and that was the last picture it ever took. But worry not. Sam's Club came through again with yet another replacement. Pretty sure I'm out of luck on that route. I ended up buying the most expensive warranty I could buy just to make sure the camera will not break for three years.
The descent was intense. People were everywhere (and their OFF LEASH DOGS), and the wind would not let up. My ears were ringing, Lindsay was way behind and... Where the hell was Jenn? She ended up ten minutes behind because neither of us heard her say she was stopping. Oops. Sorry, Jenn.
The most interesting part of the journey was waiting to cross the snow on the way down. People were being very courteous letting groups go up before the downward group went down. As we got to the drop into the snow, we saw a big group dragging their kids up. Kids without gear, kids in skirts and shorts, kids that were barely a few years into walking, kids that were crying. It was awful. We went through the snow and fought off an idiot with his cattle dog pup, and Lindsay took these shots of the grown ups trying to get the crying children off the steep snow covered slope. Good god people...
Phone shots from the bottom. It ended up being quite a fun hike despite the wind.
Congratulations Jenn on your first 14er!!!
Not a bad route other than the snow and wind. For ease of travel I would rate this 7 out of 10.
6.22 miles, 2140' vertical gain, and 4hrs 52min round trip.
Fin.
