Mt. Sherman Trip Report 07/05/2014

Peak(s):	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted:	07/05/2014
Modified:	06/30/2016
Date Climbed:	07/02/2014
Author:	rmichelson

Sherman: with Two First Timers
I've been up to Sherman four times, and once my climbing partner, his sister-in-law and I could not stand on the saddle, so therefore that trip included no summit. Wednesday was not like that at all, and the winds were manageable. They sure seem to vary here and on Quandary. I worried over and over that our 8-year-old son would not keep up the pace, but he did it! Sherman is funny because you're able to park up so high, so you really don't get slowly adjusted into the elevation gain, but rather just begin gaining right after getting out of the car. At the gate and beginning of trail I'm sure that it is the easiest 14er, so that makes it suitable for a first time one, but it does mean that you may huff and puff from the get-go. I think that this one is good for kids because of the mining remains--they add historical fun, and also things to see along your way while you're hiking a 14er. I was shocked how much the shacks that are over a century old have only recently deteriorated as well. I'm a new 14er hiker, and only started in 2008 with Bierstadt and Democrat, but I can actually remember when more of these mines were standing! This day with my partner and son, marked my third summit of this sometimes windy mountain, and I noted that our heavy snows and rains we've had recently have taken down more of the mining buildings. We parked just below the gate, which is on the road prior to the Dauntless Mine. Nothing remains that resembles a mine front now. In fact, I had to look through my previous FB albums from '09, '11, and last September to see the differences. It was humbling to realize that some weather conditions result in quick changes to buildings, and made me feel better about turning around on the saddle 5-years-ago. Even the "easiest" of these, give pause, and demand respect. If buildings can come down that quickly, the old shale on the trail can certainly follow suit. No frame anymore on the Dauntless Mine Then we started really gaining elevation. My son kept telling our dog to "respect the tundra" and I was encouraged that a wet past fall and spring snows also meant that in the middle of the trail much of the way up wildflowers, native grasses, and ground covers were peeking up on a well-worn trail. We had worked hard and finally could see well the Hilltop mine, and I was glad to have a level area with no more elevation gain for awhile, and also the ability to see a mine still standing. Hilltop Mine in the distance After we reached this mine, that began the more challenging aspects of our hike for our son, complete with lots of elevation gains and obscured trail given snow between the saddle of Sheridan (a 13er) and our destination. After some elevation gain, we see light hitting the beautiful White Peak In fact, I'd never seen this much snow on a popular 14er, and we couldn't find the trail at intervals, so stopped taking pictures. In retrospect, I don't think unless we had encountered the kindness of a party of three that we would have reached the saddle at all. There were sections of the trail that we couldn't see due to snow, so a man with trekking poles on his descent helped my son up to a ridge. (I love the people who you meet on a day up a 14er. I thanked him for his kindness.) I was very glad when one of the women in their party told us that would be the last of the snow. From this angle, it was hard to see where the trail actually was We stopped many times, and met a Dad with a 10-year-old--there were only two kids on Sherman this day--who on his descent encouraged my son by saying, "You're about his age, right?" and my son said he was 8, and he said, "Well, what do you think other 8 and 10-year-olds are doing today? They're playing video games!" He was right, so we continued on. After my son and my partner learned the meaning of false summits or not quite being at the top, we finally made it. We had a leisurely lunch and my son and our dog played for about twenty-minutes on the summit snowfield as we were the only ones who remained on the summit. I had also never been on a summit for this long either--usually the weather doesn't seem to hold. Playing near the sign in tube The day was clear and there was no snow or rainstorm; although, we did not begin our descent until 1:20. We cut some time off of our dissent too, as we crazily followed our son glissading down where we had a troublesome ascent. I'm proud of our son and my partner! They did their first 14er last Wednesday! I hope that those of you who follow them have a little less snow above 13,000 or you have poles, and an ice ax. We all cheated on the way back down I added a picture from 2009 when the mining shack was still standing: From 2009 on different trip Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Sherman: with Two First Timers

I've been up to Sherman four times, and once my climbing partner, his sister-in-law and I could not stand on the saddle, so therefore that trip included no summit. Wednesday was not like that at all, and the winds were manageable. They sure seem to vary here and on Quandary. I worried over and over that our 8-year-old son would not keep up the pace, but he did it! Sherman is funny because you're able to park up so high, so you really don't get slowly adjusted into the elevation gain, but rather just begin gaining right after getting out of the car.

I'm sure that it is the easiest 14er, so that makes it suitable for a first time one, but it does mean that you may huff and puff from the get-go. I think that this one is good for kids because of the mining remains--they add historical fun, and also things to see along your way while you're hiking a 14er. I was shocked how much the shacks that are over a century old have only recently deteriorated as well. I'm a new 14er hiker, and only started in 2008 with Bierstadt and Democrat, but I can actually remember when more of these mines were standing! This day with my partner and son, marked my third summit of this sometimes windy mountain, and I noted that our heavy snows and rains we've had recently have taken down more of the mining buildings.

We parked just below the gate, which is on the road prior to the Dauntless Mine. Nothing remains that resembles a mine front now. In fact, I had to look through my previous FB albums from '09, '11, and last September to see the differences. It was humbling to realize that some weather conditions result in quick changes to buildings, and made me feel better about turning around on the saddle 5-years-ago. Even the "easiest" of these, give pause, and demand respect. If buildings can come down that quickly, the old shale on the trail can certainly follow suit.

Then we started really gaining elevation. My son kept telling our dog to "respect the tundra" and I was encouraged that a wet past fall and spring snows also meant that in the middle of the trail much of the way up wildflowers, native grasses, and ground covers were peeking up on a well-worn trail. We had worked hard and finally could see well the Hilltop mine, and I was glad to have a level area with no more elevation gain for awhile, and also the ability to see a mine still standing.

After we reached this mine, that began the more challenging aspects of our hike for our son, complete with lots of elevation gains and obscured trail given snow between the saddle of Sheridan (a 13er) and our destination.

After some elevation gain, we see light hitting the beautiful White Peak

In fact, I'd never seen this much snow on a popular 14er, and we couldn't find the trail at intervals, so stopped taking pictures. In retrospect, I don't think unless we had encountered the kindness of a party of three that we would have reached the saddle at all. There were sections of the trail that we couldn't see due to snow, so a man with trekking poles on his descent helped my son up to a ridge. (I love the people who you meet on a day up a 14er. I thanked him for his kindness.) I was very glad when one of the women in their party told us that would be the last of the snow.

From this angle, it was hard to see where the trail actually was

We stopped many times, and met a Dad with a 10-year-old--there were only two kids on Sherman this day--who on his descent encouraged my son by saying, "You're about his age, right?" and my son said he was 8, and he said, "Well, what do you think other 8 and 10-year-olds are doing today? They're playing video games!" He was right, so we continued on.

After my son and my partner learned the meaning of false summits or not quite being at the top, we finally made it. We had a leisurely lunch and my son and our dog played for about twenty-minutes on the summit snowfield as we were the only ones who remained on the summit. I had also never been on a summit for this long either--usually the weather doesn't seem to hold.

The day was clear and there was no snow or rainstorm; although, we did not begin our descent until 1:20. We cut some time off of our dissent too, as we crazily followed our son glissading down where we had a troublesome ascent. I'm proud of our son and my partner! They did their first 14er last Wednesday! I hope that those of you who follow them have a little less snow above 13,000 or you have poles, and an ice ax.

I added a picture from 2009 when the mining shack was still standing:

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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