Hoosier Daddy? A misguided search for Mt. Silverheels

Planned destination 1: Mt. Sherman, Mt. Dyer, Mt. Gemini (from Iowa Gulch)
Planned destination 2: Mt. Silverheels (from Hoosier Pass)
Companion: Jeffrey

We didn't pull into Silverthorne until about 1:30 AM, and needless to say, we overslept the alarm. On our way out the door around 9:00 AM this morning, we decided that it would make for a more enjoyable day spent leisurely hiking than to make a mad summit dash at Mt. Sherman. Thus, we decided to go up "Mt. Silverheels, the characteristic mountain visible from Breckenridge, via Hoosier Pass." Normally, Jeff has brilliantly accurate, intimate knowledge of Summit County mountains, so we went with the notion that we were starting out toward Mt. Silverheels.

The trailhead is visible immediately east of the Hoosier Pass rest area.

My compatriot for the day. This man is too epic for his own good.

 After about 15 minutes of hiking along the continental divide, we were above tree-line. The views of the Mosquito and Tenmile ranges were staggering. There was much rejoicing as we realized this would be our playground for the morning.

Mt. Lincoln (center) and Mt. Cameron (left) looking sexy.

Good times.

 There was no shelter to speak of, as 85% of the day's hike was through the alpine tundra. Oddly enough, the worst winds we experienced happened at the lower elevations, and once we got up to around 13,000' the air was perfectly calm.

We thought that this ridge connected and went left to Mt. Silverheels. 

Definitely not Mt. Silverheels.  I believe  that the more (ahem) correct appellation is Red Peak (left).

Quandary Peak, also looking sexy.

 We muddled forth into the abyss. The sun was out, and although at times there appeared to be some clouds forming over the mountains to the west, we enjoyed clear skies all day.

Once we crested the first part of the ridge, a behemoth appeared across a short valley to the south of us. "Dude, that looks sweet! Think of all the lines you could ski on that thing! I wonder what its called?" We were in awe, and simply could not understand why we hadn't heard of this peak before.

The beautiful, unknown peak (~13,800')... strange, isn't that what Mt. Silverheels' elevation is?

On the continental divide, with our day's work ahead of us.

 We continued to walk along the divide that simultaneously straddles Park and Summit Counties as well as Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and headed north following the ridge crest. The series of gentle slopes, gradually gaining elevation, made for a fantastic day in the mountains. It was a beautiful day to be hiking.

Due to time constraints, we decided to stop for lunch at Pt. 13,240', about a half mile and 100' vertical of hiking short of the ridge high point. The resulting views were simply fabulous.

A look back at our ascent route.

Looking south and east into the lower Montgomery Gulch. Pikes  Peak is just visible left of center in the photo. You can clearly see it from the top but alas my camera resolution couldn't handle it.

Mt. Silverheels; we will return to visit soon.

Round trip summary:

Time: 4 hrs

Distance: 7.5-8 Miles

Elevation Gain: ~2000'

Mt. Sanitas

I missed the last day of skiing at Winter Park yesterday in order to save time for lesson planning. I spent about four hours planning and ended up with the afternoon free at around 1:00 PM. It was too late to head up for the Spring Splash, so I decided to attempt a road bike ascent of Flagstaff Road. Needless to say, with my steel 1960's Schwinn Roadster, I was thwarted in my attempt after about halfway. For a first ascent, I was pleased with the result but I know I'll be back in a week or two for a second attempt. Bring it on.

After a recuperating downhill, I sauntered over to Mt. Sanitas for a shorter hike. Its a three-mile round trip hike that tops out around 6860 ft / 2092 m. This is the same trail that I wrecked myself on last summer while training to run up Green Mountain. Thankfully, the trip was pleasantly uneventful. The ponderosa pines were rustling in the breeze and the sandstone was warm all the way up the ridge.

Here are some summit views:

Flagstaff, Green and the rest of the Boulder Group.

Boulder Valley

And there was still time left for reading in the hammock by Boulder Creek on the way home!

Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak

3:00 PM... I'm falling asleep waiting for my planning period to finish. The mid-afternoon snooze instinct is kicking in big time (darn college habits!). In the sinusoidal wave function that has become my motivation to stay awake, I text Nathaniel to see if he would join me for a jaunt up Shadow Canyon after work. The weather report looks good, and sunset is clocked at 7:50 PM. Why not?

This is a great hike and whenever I end up along the Shadow Canyon trail I wonder why I don't drive the extra seven minutes from Chautauqua over to the South Boulder Trailhead more often. Unfortunately, on this trip we didn't have our camera out for the most eventful event of the hike - we saw a HUGE bear. This is not a pun. This is not a joke. It was the size of a T-Rex on steroids. It could have easily broken the mountain in half with a well-placed kapow with its paw. It was massive.

There were wildflowers everywhere on the approach to Shadow Canyon.

If I were a bear, this is where I would roam free too.

This section smelled glorious

After a moment of reasoning between colleagues, we decided it was in our best interest to forgo the bear danger and head up into the mountain abyss. This turned out t be a great decision, since the only other danger we ran into for the remainder of the hike was the impending dark.

The Boulder Boner (Devil's Thumb)

At the Saddle

The view from the top of South Boulder Peak:

Longs Peak

Bear Peak

Green Mountain

Pike Peak in the distance

Snow-covered Indian Peaks Wilderness

Mount Evans Massif

Nathanial looking very pleased.

I am also pleased. Pleased to be eating food.

We decided that either way, we were going to be descending the canyon in the dark.  From the saddle, Bear Peak is only about a third of a mile away. Since we were already there, we decided that we should just go for it. I had personally never seen a sunset from the summit of a mountain, and our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were still waiting in the backpack. A short jaunt across the ridge brought us to our second destination for the evening.

The view from the top of Bear Peak:

The lights of downtown Boulder by twilight. 

Trail gourmet with a brochacho. Always goes down smooth. 

Green Mountain

Gigi and I went up Green Mountain in the Boulder Mountain Parks following the west ridge. The route is about 2 miles shorter and 1700' less vert than the standard Gregory Canyon approach. It makes for a great hike on a Saturday after sleeping in.

The approach was dry for the most part except for a single patch of snow, about 3 meters long. It was a great day to be out with my partner in the sunshine!

These rocs were laid out like a Lazy Boy on the side of the trail!

The lovely and talented Gigi standing atop Green Mountain with Longs Peak and the northern Indian Peaks range in the background.

Here are some additional photos I took last year along a different route up Green Mountain, just above the amphitheater.