Posts Tagged ‘Mosquito Range’

Mountaineering – Dyer Mountain (13,855 ft)

Sunday, July 20th, 2014

Feeling Lazy on Dyer Mountain
Naptime on Dyer Mountain!

Bobby on Summit of Dyer Mountain
Bobby enjoying the summit of Dyer.

After leading the CMC Half Marathon Holy Cross Loop Hike on Friday, I enjoyed a lazy Saturday morning at the Halfmoon Campground. I packed up camp and talked with Bobby about potential bonus peaks for Sunday.

I was anxious about doing the bonus peak solo, since I was a bit fatigued from leading the trip, so I was really happy to have company. We “shopped around” for low commitment peaks in both my 13’ers and 14’ers books. There were so many available, but it didn’t take long for us to decide on one…Dyer Mountain, it is!

Advantages being:
1. It’s on the way home from Minturn.
2. We can get really awesome pizza at High Mountain Pies.
3. My Subaru will have no problem making it to the TH.
4. It is a straightforward climb.
5. Camping near the TH is easy to find. Now, even easier…GPS: N 39 deg 13.732 min. W 106 deg 12.655 min
6. Neither of us had climbed it, yet.

About the TH beta for Iowa Gulch, if you have the Roaches 13er book, ignore the directions in there, they are outdated due to the road being paved much higher up than it was 10+ years ago. The best bet is to use 14’ers.com Iowa Gulch TH directions.

So, on Sunday, Bobby and I hiked from the Iowa Gulch TH to the summit of Dyer Mountain.

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Mountaineering – Horseshoe Mountain (13,898 ft) via Boudoir Couloir

Sunday, June 8th, 2014

Horseshoe Mountain
Horseshoe Mountain, a Mosquito Range Centennial

Horseshoe Mountain Lake
Beautiful Alpine Lake

Getting Closer to Boudoir Couloir
The Boudoir Couloir!

Smiles at the top of Boudoir Couloir
Snow Climbing is Fun!

Horseshoe Mountain Summit
Doug and I enjoying the summit of Horseshoe Mountain

The Roaches give Horseshoe Mountain’s Boudoir Couloir route a *Classic* rating. This fact, combined with the ease of access to the trailhead, straightforward approach (no stream crossings!), small amount of elevation gain (~2,350 ft!), and mellow angled climbing put this climb at the top of my list. We were looking for a half day’s worth of effort and this climb was perfect!

Also, thanks to Bill Middlebrook, of 14ers.com, for posting a condition report of Horseshoe while out on White Ridge. That report was super helpful!

The Schedule:
Departure from Denver: 4am
Departure from TH: 6:30am
Past the Lake: 7:20am
Start Climbing Boudoir Couloir: 8:10am
Finish Boudoir Couloir: 9:20am
Summit of Horseshoe Mountain: 9:30am
Start Glissade of Boudoir: 10am
Back at the TH:~12pm

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