September 10th, 2001, From Lost Lake Road
| Mike and I had been planning a major Gore Range trip this
weekend but our plans were dramatically changed when an early and very
strong snowstorm moved through the state. However, we decided to
take a much easier trip on Sunday where we could do a bit of scouting on
our postponed trip. We decided to climb "Piney Bristles"
which is a small, rocky point along the western ridge bordering Upper
Piney Valley. From the opposite side of the valley, "Piney
Bristles" is a pretty impressive little peak and although it's an
easy peak to climb, that doesn't degrade from enjoyment of climbing it and
the amazing views that it affords.
We left Denver very late, around 9:30. We drove down Red Sandstone Road and then took a right-hand turn on Lost Lake which is a bit bumpy but nevertheless a well-maintained road. We drove maybe two or three miles to a sharp switchback in the road where we began our hike. There was a faint logging road which we followed for a while, although we weren't on it very long. For the most part, we just used our routefinding and navigation noses to find our ways to an open meadow where we could see the ridge which we were heading for. |
Meadow along the way to "Piney Bristles". There's a very faint logging road on the left-hand side of the picture |
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Summit of "Piney Bristles" |
In some parts of the woods, we did see footprints so there
surprisingly must have been another hiker up here today or at the
earliest, yesterday afternoon. After following through the meadow,
we headed for hilly ridge coming off the main ridge which we headed
up. The climb was steep and we slogged up the slope for quite a
while until the moment when we opened up onto an open talus area which
lead to a 11,754 foot point along the ridge where we could see the rest of
our route. We could see Piney Bristles to the north, but we would
have to head slightly south to connect with the main part of the ridge
then head back north passing several points until attaining the
summit. We dropped down a short slope covered in deep snow then
emerged onto a 3rd class ridge that was partially mixed with trees; we
were still below treeline. The ridge was 2nd class the rest of the
way and was mostly a rock hop along talus, and avoiding dense trees.
There was a very pleasant hike through a high meadow before arriving at
the base of the short rocky summit of "Piney Bristles".
The climb to the summit is a short, perhaps only 100 foot, 3rd class scramble. Once on top, Mike took out his binoculars and we surveyed Ripsaw Ridge, opposite of the valley. I also took several pictures of the surrounding peaks and the valley (below). |
| Ripsaw Ridge towers three thousand feet over Upper Piney
Valley. The ridge's highpoints (Peaks "C", "D",
"E", "F", "G", and "H") are at
about 13,200 feet and the valley is at about 10,200. The ridge does
indeed look like an impenetrable wall. The valley is very gentle and
rises very slowly over about three miles. All the views we had were
perfect. The weather was perfect - very little wind, lots of sun,
and zero haze.
After spending about an hour on the top and studying various parts of the ridge and access points, we headed down. We climbed back over the ridge and climbed up the short snow slope to the point where we accessed the main part of the ridge (below). However, instead of heading back towards Point 11,754, we headed further south. By heading this way we would be able to descend a wide grassy gentle bowl and, at the same time, hook back up with the creek that we used to help us navigate in the opposite direction. |
An outstanding view looking southward into Upper Piney Valley |
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Looking back on the ridge leading towards "Piney Bristles". In the distance can be seen (l-r) Meridian Peak, Corner Peak, "Cataract Sentinel", Eagles Nest, Mount Powell, Peaks "C", "D" and "E". |
Because we started hiking so late, it was getting pretty
late (about 5:30) in the afternoon and the sun was already starting to set
some. However, we thought about climbing an unnamed 12er on the
opposite side of the bowl. Mike decided that he wanted to just enjoy
the basin beneath the peak but suggested I run up it real quick and take
some pictures. So, I headed up. So I headed back up and got
back on the ridge and the remainder of the climb consisted of talus
covered in slick fall snow. Normally, these sorts of conditions make
for much slipping and sliding but in reality, it wasn't bad at all.
I zoomed up the 700 feet to the summit and arrived up at the top in only
24 minutes. From here I had great views of the southern part of
"Ripsaw Ridge" as well as excellent, up-close views of "The
Spider".
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| (Right) Here's the nice view of the ridge from the top of
the summit. The relief of the ridge is much more obvious from this
side. The setting sun helps out a lot too.
I took several shots from the top of this summit. To the west was another summit. I couldn't really tell if it was any higher than the one I was standing on. It looked a tad higher so I strolled along a wide talus ridge covered in new snow to the second summit which indeed appeared to be higher. There was a third summit even further to the west but it was shorter and wouldn't afford better views AND it was getting late in the day so I didn't bother going. Since the views weren't as good from this summit, I headed back to the first. |
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I didn't stay on top much longer. The sun was starting to go down and we didn't have the luxury of a trail to hike out on so I headed back down to the bowl where Mike was waiting (left). We headed back out this different drainage. Before we entered the forest, I paused and took this picture looking back on the little peak I climbed. We bushwacked through a comfortable forest. Eventually we ran into something that looked like a rough blazing of a trail. We followed it for a good while and eventually ended up in the wide meadow with the faint logging road. We actually found a way to follow the road back all the way to the car. On the way in, we obviously took a right-hand turn instead of a left-hand turn and that road eventually faded into nothingness but we were still able to make it to the meadow. |
