Barry, Josie, and I did a wonderful loop hike of Mt. Yale. We started at Avalanche Gulch Trailhead, at 5am. Climbed up the gulch to a saddle at 11,900 ft; arriving at 7:45am.
We exited the saddle, saying goodbye to the CO Trail, and made our way up the East ridge of Mt. Yale.
Along the ridge, Barry traveled a little bit ahead, scouting the best way to navigate various piles of rocks. Sometimes we went right, sometimes left, and sometimes directly over the top! It was nice to have the short wave radios, so we could easily communicate.
It was Josie’s first 14’er, so I was very excited for her when we reached the summit of Yale at 11:45am. We had just enough time for pictures before a summer storm arrived. There were only 3 dudes on the top, but they soon left and we had a few moments alone.
Josie was very happy and relieved when we reached the Southwest slopes trail. It is a plush cakewalk compared to the East Ridge. And, there are Cairns everywhere! Definitely the standard route…
We enjoyed the scenic hike down the Southwest slopes, stopping often to take pictures. We saw a marmot and enjoyed the many crossings over Denny’s Creek. We popped out at the Denny’s Creek trailhead at 4pm.
Since it was a loop hike, we still had 3 miles to hike to get back to the car. Barry ran ahead and got to the car first. Then, he raced down the road and rescued Josie & I from a torrential downpour. Actually, it rained on us for about 10 minutes, but Barry definitely prevented us frome getting totally soaked!
We went back to Buena Vista and ate dinner at an incredibly slow Asian restaurant. I would not recommend. We were starving and they took 40 minutes to cook our food!
Tags: Avalanche Gulch, Denny's Creek, East Ridge, Hiking, Loop, Mt. Yale, Southwest Slope