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I had some interesting side business to take care of on Saturday and my usual hiking partners were really worn out from last weekend so I hooked up with Bill and Johnson whom I’d hiked with numerous times in the past.  Johnson was interesting in hiking in the Gores so obviously I tagged along.  Bill and I went out to meet him at Shrine Pass on Saturday evening to camp out the night before the hike.  I was planning on suggesting that we try to climb “East Partner Peak” and Peak “W” which are at the end of the Pitkin Creek Valley.  It turned out though that Johnson had been up there the day before.  So we decided to hike up Bighorn Creek and attempt Grand Traverse.

After a good nights sleep that featured a good amount of rain, thunder, and lightning, we set out for the Bighorn Trailhead.  We started hiking by a little after seven.  The trail started up steeply as usual but wasn’t as bad as Pitkin or Booth.  The trail also passed through a giant aspen grove that must be just amazing in fall.  As we approached the first views of the Grand Traverse I noticed that Bill and Johnson were slowing down a good bit.  It sounded like they were going to try to climb the peaks but they might just run out of time because of their speed.  They were sort of expecting me to go on alone but I didn’t want to attempt that ridge alone.  So, I decided this would be just a scouting trip so we decided to hike up to the cabin and then see what we wanted to do there.

The trail description at the Bighorn Trailhead mentions a cabin about 3 miles up the trail.  It didn’t take us that long to arrive at the cabin which is halfway between Grand Traverse and North Traverse Peaks.  The description mentioned how the door was kept unlocked so that hikers could use it if necessary.  It made the cabin sound like it was in good condition.  Not so.  Although you could camp inside it, it’s very dilapidated and the roof is very short.  There was a couple of tarps and candles in there.  I’d take a tent any day over the mice and ghosts that are certain to roam around in there!

After hanging out at the cabin for a while, we headed up the valley.  Johnson said he wanted to hike up to the next shelf.  So, I stashed my pack off the trail and brought only my camera along.  We hiked around and the trail started to fade fast.  At a large meadow that was full of Parry’s Primrose, the trail completely stopped.  We kept wandering around.  As we approached some of the upper tarns, a prominent 12er at the end of the valley began to look appealing.  I suggested that maybe I could go on ahead and try to climb the 12er.  They said they would try to follow. Just before I took off, we saw some people on the saddle between this 12er and North Traverse Peak.  Amazing!  I never see anybody up here. I went on ahead and spied my route.  I would climb a short scree gully then traverse across grassy ledges to the ridge then head to the top.  The scree gully was a real pain.  It was very loose and because I wasn’t planning on hiking very far, I left my trekking poles way back down by the cabin.  Oh well, I continued on and emerged on to the more comfortable grass slopes.

The hikers coming down were yelling down at Bill and Johnson trying to have them point out the best route down from the saddle.  Going straight down the saddle led to cliffs so they had to traverse.  Because they were asking directions, they must have come from the other side.  The clouds looked really really dark emerging from the other drainage.  Not hearing any thunder or feeling rain, I continued up and arrived on the ridge.  As I approached the summit, I realized that I would see Keller off in the distance.  At this point I had great views of East Thorn, Willow, and Mount Valhalla, the latter of which is a very prominent mountain.  I got a shock on the summit – there was a higher mountain right in front of me barely 100 yards away.  I realized that I was indeed on Keller! The day before I was planning on going up Pitkin Valley so I brought the Pitkin map…so I didn’t have the chance to really look at the map of Bighorn Valley and Johnson’s map cut off early.  At the top of this peak, which was actually a shoulder of Keller, I took my remaining pictures.  I took a lot of panoramas, picking out the peaks in the heart of the Gores to the Northwest and then the southeastern section.  I went up to the southern summit of Keller.  At first, I thought this was the true summit but after looking at the map later, I realized the true summit was still a ways off although it was only thirty feet higher than the summit.

I was almost positive that Bill and Johnson turned around so I started back down. I caught up with the other hikers at one of the snowfields at the head of the valley and they informed me that they were still up there.  I don’t know how, but I passed them.  The other hikers were 5 college students who had hiked from Rock Creek to Bighorn, a pretty short but neat shuttle hike.  We stayed at the cabin for a while then they headed out.  About forty five minutes later, Bill and Johnson showed up.  Johnson ended up staying in the valley but Bill had climbed to the top of the 12er.  As we hiked out, we got rained on and the dark clouds made the scene pretty gloomy…but it was really neat to hike in and a reprieve from the hot sun.  This was a really fun hike.  I’m hoping to return here and camp out near the cabin the attempt the Grand Traverse the following day.

We waited until late June to attempt a neat looking couloir on “Corner Peak” (Point 12,709) and the connecting ridge that led to Mount Powell’s saddle (aka “Cataract Points”) so that Dan could come along.  Dan, Ken, and I left Denver around 1pm and took a leisurly approach to Piney Lake near Vail.  When we arrived at Piney Lake Ranch, we discovered that they were now charging $5 to enter!  Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be too strictly enforced because the guy attending the gate said we could just hike around on a new trail that paralleled the ranch and we were welcome to come in the other direction.  So, we packed up, put on our sunscreen, threw on our packs and headed out.  
 
This was maybe the 6th or 7th time I’ve made the hike along the flat slopes along Piney River.  I enjoy it every time I go.  

It was 53 weeks ago that Ken and I were here attempting Peak “C” and Mount Powell.  I don’t know if it was the extra week, but there seemed to be less snow on the mountains this year.  We definitely had more snow this year but perhaps this June was extra hot and melted out the snow a lot faster.  I have pictures from late July of 1997 where there was even more snow than there was this year, three weeks earlier. 

Anyway, we took a break at the falls where we climbed down to the base and took some pictures.  Dan was duely impressed with the waterfall.  This is one of the best falls that I’ve seen in the state.  We headed down to the base of the main section of falls for pictures (left).  The cataracts continue on steeply down the rocks past this, but this is the tallest section.  These two falls you see in this picture probably total about 75 feet.
 
After branching off of the main trail about 5 minutes past the falls, we began the steep ascent up to the spot that I had picked out on the map – the confluence of the main creek coming off of the Mount Powell/Peak “C” basin and the smaller perennial stream coming off of Corner Peak.  After plowing through the classic dense foliage and filthy black mud, we arrived at the spot which featured a perfect campsite as well.  Dan and I scouted around a little more up on the slopes towards Corner Peak perhaps trying to find a more private campsite since this one was almost right on the trail.  We found some nice spots but they were so far from a water source that they actually would have been more of a pain, although one had quite a spectacular view (below).

After setting up camp, building a small fire, and eating some chow, I decided to use the remaining light to scout the route, which is totally undocumented.  I went up to the confluence and crossed to the right (south) side. Actually we were camped maybe 100 yards below the confluence.  I climbed up about 100 feet to a small saddle to find another charming little basin to camp in.  I then turned westward and climbed up 3rd class ledges about 200 more feet to an aerie with a commanding view of the basin.  From there, I took several nice sunset shots, but more importantly I was able to spy most of the route on Corner Peak.  To my dismay, I noticed the couloir was almost entirely melted out.  No precipitation and a hot June was obviously the culprit.  The couloir looked very steep and intimidating from here so I was a little relieved that it was indeed melted out.  I went back to report the bad news to the other guys.  We were all bummed about the news and the two of them didn’t really want to attempt Corner Peak but I did.  They had a good point by saying that we ought to wait and try the couloir next year when it was in better shape as opposed to “forcing” a climb of the ridge.  I was a little more bummed but understood.  Dan was all fired up about climbing Peak “C”, which still seemed to be in good shape since it’s climbing couloirs faced north and west.  So, Ken decided that he’d lead Dan up Peak “C” and I decided to explore the basin and take pictures and maybe try traversing the ridge backwards.

Ken and Dan were planning on getting up at 5am.  Of course, the alarm didn’t go off and we all slept until 6:30.  We got ready really quickly though and headed out.  

My first plan was to climb up the the small notch above Kneeknocker Pass on the route to Mount Powell and take pictures of the stunning view of Peak “C” from there.  Last year, my lens was broken and my Peak “C” pics didn’t come out very well.  At the base of the first couloir we split up.  I made quick progress up Mount Powell and was able to take some neat shots of Dan and Ken climbing the first couloir (below).  At the notch on Mount Powell’s south ridge, I took several pictures of Peak “C” with different settings to ensure that I’d have a good picture, then headed back down.
 
Back near the base of the basin, I started heading west towards the western Saddle of Mount Powell where I would have a good view of the upper Cataract Creek Basin, which is the basin used to climb Eagle’s Nest. From the saddle, I started to climb the Cataract Points. The first one wasn’t very big but was pretty tough – difficult 3rd class. The next one was a very high point, the one along the ridge east past “Cataract Sentinel”, Point 12,626.  This Cataract Point was way too difficult for me to attempt alone and as the terrain got really tough (difficult 4th class), I backed down and headed back to camp.  Along the way I took several stunning shots of Peak “C” and Ripsaw Ridge.  I figured I’d head back to camp and meet Ken and Dan there.  I arrived at 11 am convinced that they would be back at camp.  The weren’t. So, in the meantime, I had a little food, laid out in the sun, then refreshed myself with some creek water.  When they weren’t back by noon, I started to think that something was wrong so I decided I would climb up on the slopes of “Cataract Sentinel” (Point 12,626) so I could have a commanding view of the basin.  I left my pack at camp, drank a lot of water, then strapped on my camera and fanny pack.  I zoomed up the peak.  About halfway up, I saw Ken glissading down the 1st couloir and then I saw Dan slowly backing down.  They were OK so I decided I would at least back this peak so I continued up.  I blew my whistle at them but they didn’t hear me.

This peak is a joy to climb and I highly recommend it.  The lower ramparts consist of grassy ledges that are solid and a pleasure to hike up.  The upper part of the climb is very craggy and a great 3rd class scramble.  I’d recommend following my route:  From the confluence of the two creeks (the one coming from Powell, and the smaller one coming off of the Corner Peak basin) head up the steep grassy slopes on the left side of the creek.  Cross the creek and move onto the lower slopes of Cataract Sentinel when it becomes easy.  Traverse past some smooth rock slabs then start up the grassy slopes. Soon, I realized I was in a grassy gully that’s easy to follow.  If you’re consistently follow the easiest, grassiest section, you’ll eventually pop out on top of a rocky ridge.  I started climbing the rocky ridge which was an awesome 3rd class scramble. From here, the views are stunning.  I still couldn’t see Corner Peak from here but I followed the ridge up to a false summit and then could see it.  However, this being a false summit, the ridge hooked to the right and continued up.  A very steep tower appeared to be the top.  I continued on and reached to top of the tower and realized that this was another false summit.  I could see the real summit beyond this point about a hundred yards.  There appeared to be a cairn!  After this final scramble I found myself on the top. A bout one hour and 1800 feet later, I was on top!  There was even a summit register!  Of course, only a handful of people had signed it, a few of which I recognized as guidebook authors and others who have climbed all of the 13ers!  In other words, some major hikers and climbers!

I took a picture of Peak “C” from the top…a neat angle to view the peak.  After sitting around for about 10 minutes, I headed down.

I headed down a different route.  I saw a gully that looked like it went straight down to the Peak “C”/Mount Powell basin.  I figured that if headed down to the basin that would be about 300 feet of trail that I could use to descend.  This route was further east than my ascent route and was a little trickier.  For one thing, the gully was a bit looser as there was a good bit of scree.  Also, near the bottom, I had to wander of mini maze of cliffs but was able to pick a safe route to the base.  I hooked back up with the creek and trail and followed my way back to camp where Dan and Ken were waiting.  It all worked out in the end.  We all enjoyed our respective climbs.  The hike out was rather grueling.  We were all spent by the time we arrived back at Dan’s truck at Piney River Ranch.