Rosalie Peak 13575' - Co Rank 153
"Epaulie" 13530' - Co Rank 181
Epauliet Mountain 13523' - Unranked
Tahana Mountain 11980' - LOJ
Kataka Mountain 12441' - SP, LOJ
Date: Friday, November 30, 2012
Start time: 7:15 am
Summit Rosalie: 10:15 am
Summit "Epaulie": 11:15 am
Summit Epauliet Mountain: 11:40 am
Summit Tahana Mountain: 12:20 pm
Summit Kataka Mountain: 1:45 pm
End time: 4:15 pm
Elevation Gain: 5,875 feet
Milage: ~ 18 miles
Company: Tyler aka tdawg012
Resources -
Derek's TR - Welcoming Spring : Mount Evans Wilderness
Summit Post - East Ridge via Tanglewood Creek
Nat Geo Map #104
History-
Rosalie Pk is named after Rosalie Bierstadt the wife of Albert Bierstadt; The famous 19th Century painter who Mount Bierstadt is named after. Mount Evans was originally called Mount Rosa after Rosalie but was later renamed after the Colorado Governor John Evans. Interested in more? Lots of info here
Tyler was able to get a day off work, and we decided to go for the Rosalie Group in the Mount Evans Wilderness from the Deer Creek Trailhead just outside of Pine Junction. We left Denver at 6:00 am, and arrived at the Trailhead at 7:00 am. The road to the trailhead is paved for most of the way, and then becomes dirt for the last mile. Any passenger car can easily drive it. From what I read on Summitpost, during the winter the road is usually plowed to the Deer Creek Campground, and a four-wheel drive vehicle can make it the rest of the way to the trailhead.
We started off down the Rosalie/Tanglewood Trail from the parking lot. There is a junction not far from the trailhead marked with the sign in picture #25. Stay right and continue on the Rosalie/Tanglewood Trail. Another mile up the trail you’ll reach another junction with the Rosalie Trail, again stay right on the Tanglewood Trail. Soon you’ll reach tree line where there is a grove of bristlecone pines just below the saddle of Rosalie and Pegmatite Points.
 Bristlecone Pines
A cairn with a log marks the saddle, with several bandanas tied around it. Leave the trail and began ascending the east ridge of Rosalie. It is a simple hike up to the summit, and once on top you can see Mount Evans, Mount Bierstadt and the Sawtooth to the North.
 Ridge to Rosalie
 Marker on the saddle
 Rosalie Summit, Mount Evans and Bierstadt in the background
Because of the cold wind we only stayed on Rosalie for an only a few minutes before continuing along the ridge to “Epaulie”. Once on the slope to “Epaulie” there are a few minor scrabbles up to the summit.
 "Epaulie"
Tyler had already been on Epaulet Mountain once before and said that the view of Bierstadt, Sawtooth, and Evans were worth seeing from that point so we headed over to the unranked peak. It is definitely worth going the extra half-mile to Epaulet for the views of the valley and Evans/Bierstadt. We stayed on that summit for a while taking pictures and deciding on what to do with the rest of the day.
 Mount Bierstadt and Mount Evans
 Bierstadt
 Summit handstand
Originally we were going to go back the way we came and climb Pegmatite Points and Royal Mountain like Derek did in his report. Instead we decided to go for Tahana Mountain and Kataka Mountain, and then meet up with the Rosalie Trail to get back to the trailhead.
We traveled west along the ridge to Tahana Mountain, and then down into the valley. Once in the valley there are a lot of willows, and they were still holding snow but not much. We gained the East Ridge of Kataka and followed it to the broad summit.
 Kataka Mountain from Tahana Mtn
 Kataka from the Valley
 Rosalie and company
 Mount Logan
 Summit Register
After taking a break for some food and water, we descended the slope back down into the valley and met up with the Rosalie Trail. We met another hiker with his dog back in the valley and talked with him for a little while, then started back down to the trailhead. There is an unmarked junction along this trail, which was not shown on the map. We decided to go right at the junction which eventually put us back at the first junction you come to on the way up. I believe this was the old Rosalie Trail which was rerouted to the other side of Deer Creek, if you decide to go left at the junction it should put you back on the Tanglewood Creek trail at the second junction.
 Frozen in time
My GPS watch died after almost 8 hours, and 14 miles so that is why the GPX file does not have the last four or so miles of the trip. The whole route had very little snow, and there was some ice along the trail but can be easily done without micro spikes at this point. Thanks Derek for your excellent report on these mountains, it was very detailed and a good read before doing this group.
My GPS Tracks/Waypoints on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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