Huron Peak Traverse (Collegiate
Range), Colorado
9/12/98
Author:
Gary Clark
Participants: Gary & Lynn Clark
We drove North from Los Alamos on
the usual Friday night commute to Colorado, stopping a
Poncha Pass to camp. Driving up to Rockdale Saturday
morning, we were glad to have Gina's trip report from
the previous weekend to help locate the road. Our van
found the 2nd stream crossing (and particularly the
opposite bank) rather intimidating, so we decided to
park and walk the 2.5 miles that serious 4X4 vehicle
owners get to drive. This turned out to be a good thing,
as events ensued . . .
The Dawson description was
adequate to get up into the basin on the East side of
Huron. This is a much more interesting (albeit more
difficult) approach to the mountain. It would be even
better in the spring, when the snow covers the huge
unstable rock piles we had to hop along. This was
exacerbated by deteriorating weather, which eventually
produced fairly heavy rain and wind for about an hour.
Saner people would have turned back, but we had decent
clothes, so just kept slogging. Eventually we reached
the col on the N. Ridge, where we joined the normal
trail that comes up the W. Side of the mountain. We
arrived on the summit in fog, light rain, and 40 degree
temps. We decided to descend the trail to the West,
since our car was at the road head anyway.
This made for an interesting tour
of the mountain, since we saw two watersheds. However,
the usual 2.5 miles now became more than 10, with 4000'
feet of gain. We had thought about doing Mt. Massive the
next day, but our feet decided they had had enough fun
for one weekend.
