This trip occurred so long ago that I no longer remember how it came about. From my notes I suspect that my friend Tod from the Homestake Geology Department put it together to maximize some fun over a Memorial Day weekend. Tod, who skied collegiately at Mines, wanted to do a ski descent off Mt Huron, a 14er in the Sawatch Range that he hadn’t climbed, and then join some friends for two days of paddling. I joined up with the idea of hiking Mt Elbert while Tod paddled. John, our summer intern at the mine, also came along. John had never climbed a fourteener, but he had done some skiing at high elevation, so we assumed he’d not be prone to altitude sickness.
On
Friday we made the 11 hour drive from the Black Hills to Denver and stayed with Tod’s friends. Then
we were up at 5AM to drive to the trailhead at Winfield, slowed only by an urgent
emergency bathroom stop . Our plan was to follow the North Ridge Route as
described in the Borneman 14ers Guide. 
Ridge Route up Mt Huron.
There
was a good dirt road to the trailhead at Winfield. Beyond the TH the road was
blocked by snow. We got a 9AM start, early given all our travelling. We started
on a wide trail up switchbacks, but then left the trail for the north ridge of
Browns Peak. We were able to follow this ridge to the saddle between Browns and
Huron (with only a slight detour to avoid climbing to the top of Browns), and
then continued on the ridge to the top of Huron. We reached the top at 1PM,
with great views and under cool clear skies. The main ridge was mostly clear or
had had windblown snow with cornices. I wore shorts to the top, so snow must
not have been an issue. John arrived on top looking miserable, he had a
terrible headache from the altitude. 
Tod near the summit of Mt. Huron.
Tod
skied from the summit off a prominent couloir on the north face. The snow was
soft, but he was able to enjoy the turns, if only a few at a time. We watched
much of his descent then retraced the upper part of route to the top of the
cirque on the north side of Browns. There we had a quick glissade on the steep upper section. Lower down we began post holing and
with John’s headache the jarring drops must have been agony. We were aiming for
a prominent road on Middle Mountain, hoping to regain our ascent trail, but
made little progress in the soft snow. We could only follow the road a few
hundred yards then were forced to look for bare spots between a creek and a
cobble moraine that made for tough walking. Finally, we hit another set of
tracks that we were able to follow to the road. By this time the snow was
almost soft enough to just plow through it. We were back at the car at 5PM, 4
hours up and 4 down. The post holing had made for one of my toughest day hikes
in a long time. In retrospect, I’m not sure why we didn’t descend our ascent
route, maybe we needed to keep Tod in sight, since he was skiing solo. 
Summit view from Mt. Huron.
At
the bottom I was beat, and John was about dead. He fell asleep changing his
shoes and slept in the back of the pickup. We picked up Tod at the next
drainage to the east and drove to a campground on the Arkansas River to join Tod’s paddling
friends. John was sick on the drive out but recovered enough to eat dinner. We
were camping at 8500’, low enough to revive him.
Mt
Huron, 14,005’, 9 miles, 3800’ climb
5-27-90,
Mt Elbert, 14.433’, 10 miles, 4400’ climb
With
Tod paddling and John recovering, I was solo for this hike. I’d sunburned my
face and neck the prior day, but otherwise I was in good shape. Again, I was up
at 5AM to get a head start and avoid the soft snow. I drove past Halfmoon
Campground to the Elbert Trailhead to use what Bornerman called the Halfmoon
Route, which started on part of the Colorado Trail. The first mile was trail,
but then I decided to short cut the route by going directly up the northeast
ridge, probably based on the successful climbing strategy we’d used yesterday
on Huron. At one point I was driven to the SE side of the ridge by heavy snow,
but otherwise the ridge proved good going. The snow stayed hard, and I made
okay progress to tree line, where the climbing really started. I rejoined the
official route at about 12,600’. Luckily I was able to stay off the snow and
could follow the remnants of a buried trail. The ridge was straightforward to
follow, and I pushed on as the skies clouded, reminded that I didn’t want to be
late enough to repeat the post holing epic of yesterday.
Tod
had warned me that Elbert has two small false summits. I reached the top in three
hours, and was the first one up that day. I put on all my clothing, but still
got chilled fast, and was shivering when I left the top. After the struggle
down Huron, Elbert was easy. I made a fast descent to tree line, and had stopped
to eat when four guys on snowshoes appeared. They had followed the standard
route and had just put on their snowshoes. Because they hadn’t needed the
snowshoes yet, I decided to follow their route back. I was a bit paranoid about
the snow, partly as I’d just seen a couple pairs of ski tracks.
The
standard route proved much cleaner, and I followed it back to the trailhead for
a three hour descent. Elbert set a new personal highpoint for me. However, that
record would last only three months until I climbed Mt Whitney at the end of
weeklong trip on the Pacific Crest Trail. Those peaks still remain my two
highest summits.
From
the trailhead, I drove the car the extra two miles to the Mt Massive Trailhead
to scout it. On the way back I ran into John. He wasn’t able to get in a raft
with the paddlers and had gone to look for me. We ate lunch in Leadville, and
then drove over Independence Pass to Aspen. The road had just been opened and there
was a ton of snow, some of which had just been skied. The road was tough and the
drive too far for an afternoon trip. Aspen was a zoo, packed with cars and
mountain bikes.
We
drove back to the campground. Tod’s folks had arrived and cooked up elk burgers
for dinner.
5-28-90,
Brown’s Pass, 8 miles
Our
original goal for the day was Mt. Yale, but John was still ill, and I needed
some rest from the prior two days. We were probably looking at the Denny Gulch
Route, but decided to drive further west and hike the Denny Creek/Browns Pass
Trail. The first mile of the trail was clear of snow to a side trail leading west
to Hartenstien Lake. There is now a west side approach to Mount Yale that
branches off before the Hartenstien Trail, but that must be newer since my 1990
notes, guidebook, and USFS map don’t mention it. From the side trail to the
pass was all snow covered. Luckily we’d gotten another early start and I could walk
on top of the snow and follow the many tracks ahead. It was a nice walk, mostly
in the clouds.
The
pass was wide and open and looked to be a major divide with a pair of trails
branching off. On the return hike I met a USFS trail volunteer.
John
had spent the morning snoozing in the truck. We went back to the CG and had a two
hour wait for Tod to return. Then we had the long drive back to Lead. Luckily,
John was well rested and did most of the driving. Tod and I alternated sleeping
in the back of the pickup. My final note was a reminder to bring skis or
snowshoes if I tried this early season trip again.
I
would redeem myself on next year’s vacation trip with a successful climb of Mt
Yale.
