West Buffalo Peak Trip Report 07/11/2016

Peak(s):	West Buffalo Peak - 13,330 feet
Date Posted:	07/11/2016
Date Climbed:	06/26/2016
Author:	thecobbler

Buff Peaks Wilderness loop and WBP ascent
This has always looked like an interesting area as I've driven past it many times in the South Park area. The fact that it contained US Wilderness made it even more attractive but I was hoping for more miles of trails in the Wilderness proper. Thus, consulting a Latitude 40 map of the area revealed the Salt Creek Trail just east of the actual Wilderness boundary and made it feasible for a bigger loop option with some bushwhacking. My son, a friend of mine and his son left Denver metro at Friday noon and got to the trailhead just before 3:00. We drove through a good hailstorm on the way to the Buffalo Peaks TH, parked by an established camp area, locked up the car and proceeded south on the Salt Creek Trail (618) looking to cover a few miles before evening. The trail was in great shape, soft underfoot, the forest had the wonderful fragrance of a recent rain and it was a good start to the weekend. There is some short forest road walking but the views and locations are good. We had to walk some forest road for a little bit and due to the rains it made it a greasy, slick mess. There is one section where the road dips down and we opted for walking off road because I was sure I would be the one to fall on my behind or on my back resulting in muddy clothes and a backpack just a few miles in. The Salt Creek trail had very little evidence of use on it. There was a set of horse tracks and while the trail was not difficult to follow it was loaded with vegetation in spots. There was one T intersection which offered some slight confusion. The forest service trail sign was down but we determined that we needed to make a left here, heading in what seems to be an easterly direction, but in actuality was more southeast. After a bit we came to a parking area and North Salt Creek TH (on the Latitude 40 maps) and verified where we were. After about seven miles we made camp in a meadow just before the North Fork of the Salt Creek. It was a little damp in the morning but I only had mild condensation on the inside of my one wall Nemo Veda 1P tent. We weren't planning on big miles on Saturday so we took the time to dry things out before heading down trail. We had yet to see anybody since we had left the car. After maybe five miles you make a turn out of the timber and get a view of East Buffalo Peak. I'm not big on campfires but the 20 year olds wanted one, so the older folks relented. This was the second outing for the Nemo Veda1P. I slept with the fly back to view the stars. Wild Iris were proliferate during the three days. Some were already fading. Saturday morning view of East Buffalo Peak We broke camp just after 8:00 or so and continued south. We were making a big loop around the Buffalo Peaks and my plan was to finish Saturday somewhere on the northwest side of the peaks and then climb them at sunup on Sunday morning. The plan for the day on Saturday was to continue around and make our way up to Buffalo Meadows. At this point I was hoping to camp somewhere NW of the Buffalo Peaks and then on Sunday morning we would try and bag both 13ers, the East and West Buffalo Peaks. The trail south along the east side of the Wilderness continued to be amazing and human activity non-existent. We saw continued hoof prints of horses but no boot tracks to speak of. At one point we crossed a small stream and I saw elk tracks on the trail. We were somewhere close to where we entered the Wilderness proper. Climbing a smallish but steeper hill I heard a "crack" about 30 yards off the trail. I looked up to see the body and rack of a bull elk as he crashed away in the timber. I'm not sure if he was bedded or feeding when I surprised him. Having my son along for two trips in three weekends was a blast for me. The trail now was heading north and the Buffalo Peaks were to our north. The area had a little bit more exposure and was a bit drier in spots. We took a break around 1:00 for lunch in an aspen grove. Lunch area on Saturday near the junction of Salt Creek and Four Mile Creek trails. The columbines were looking good as well. Shortly thereafter we hit the junction of the Four Mile Creek Trail, however on the Latitude 40 map this is labeled as the Tumble Creek Trail (#617). We had yet to see another person since we had left the car. So for the entirety of the Salt Creek Trail we saw absolutely nobody. Chalk up the decision to take the Salt Creek Tr as a major win! Once we crossed the stream and got heading north we did run into four women on horses. This was 23 hours into our trip? They had been riding looking for moose and the valley here had a very "moosey" feel to it with heavy willows in the drainage. We bid them good day and began the first real climb of the trip north toward Buffalo Meadows. Nick makes his way to Buffalo Peaks Meadows with Purple Fringed flowers in the foreground. After some good huffing and puffing we hit the top and Buffalo Meadows. Mark it as full of willows, very wet and some heavy mosquito activity. We continued north through the lengthy area now west of the Buffalo Peaks which were not visible to us at this point. After a bit we came to a beaver dam and had to skirt just west to make an easy creek crossing that did not involve getting feet wet. Here we saw a trail heading down and west but I'm not sure what it was as we weren't far enough north in my opinion to be at the Rich Creek Trail (#616). We didn't really see where the Four Mile Creek trail continued and weren't too concerned as we were looking to head east and up off trail out of Buffalo Meadows. Reaching Buffalo Peaks Meadows, but not a destination for the night due to mosquitoes! There were a few reasons why we did not stay at Buffalo Meadows. It was still pretty early, the mosquitoes were bad enough it would not have been pleasant to camp here and we were still two miles NNW of West Buffalo Peak and roughly 2,000' below it. I wanted to be closer and higher so that we could just make a quick ascent of the peaks and then come down and break camp and bushwhack out Sunday. We did decide to filter extra water before heading up toward the peaks and closer to treeline because while the map showed a drainage I had no idea what the water situation would be at 12,000'. We pushed east and up into the timber. We could see a saddle to aim for and it was pretty steep for � mile as we pushed on, now with about 10 miles in our legs for the day. Not a huge amount but the last mile would be a bushwhack at this point. The timber was fairly dense and the steepness caused us to separate. I pointed out to the boys that we didn't want to lose sight of each other on this part, so we would stop to re-group. However, the skeeters were still thick and Ben didn't enjoy swatting them away. Before long we crossed out of treeline into an open area with unnamed peak 12,039 directly to our north. To the east was a large area of willows and I was surprised to see such a marshy area this high. I could also see elk on the mountain (unnamed 12.917) to the east, which blocking our view of West Buffalo Peak. After a 1/2 mile bushwhack heading east we arrived at treeline. There comes a point in a multi-day trip where you find the zone. You don't care about being dirty, your legs take on a healthy tired feeling, the mosquitoes don't matter and your so happy to be away from it all. We decided it would be better to be on the other side of the willow marsh and thus another half mile closer to the peaks in the morning. So we beat our way through the willows. They were chest high, it was wet and there was no trail except for game trails. My trekking poles were not a great help and I mostly held them over my head as I forced my way through, willows scraping over my legs. My feet became wet, and I didn't care at this point thankful I had trail runners and knowing that we had daylight left to dry shoes out. Ensuing in the 1/2 mile bushwhack through willows we found out we were not alone... After just a short bit I looked up and north to see elk feeding 200 yards away. They didn't seem bothered by us and likely wondered what these humans were doing up here. Well, this human was having the time of his life. The whole weekend came together in that moment. It was liberating, it was beautiful and it was amazing being in that high country among the elk, willows, mountains and openness of it all. The final 1/2 mile of the day was through wet, scraggly, chest high willows. Why not leave a little blood behind! More elk graced the unnamed peak to the west of WBP. We eventually made it out and found a fantastic campsite just after 5:00. We had plenty of time to pitch tents, cook, relax, watch more elk and see a most amazing sunset that night. We were bushed but content. Life was pretty damn good. Will and I hit the sack sometime around 10:00, with the boys rolling in around 11:00. We planned to arise at 5:00 the next morning for a quick hike over the last mile to West Buffalo Peak and the East Buffalo Peak. Yeah, this camping spot at 12,000' was nothing short of spectacular. The night brought some wind, but not any weather and I think it also ushered in some warmer air because I remained warm and dry all night. We pushed off at first light, just after 5:00 and caught yet more elk on the unnamed mountain as we headed for a saddle north of WBP. Once cresting the saddle we then saw the peak and hit the top in about an hour. 0510 departure put us on West Buffalo Peak an hour later. We came to a group decision to leave EBP for another day and hung about on WBP. After surveying East Buffalo Peak and determining that it would be a minimum two hours to make the approximately 2 mile round trip, we decided that with more bushwhacking leaving our camp we'd be better off taking a look without the actual peak bag. Obligatory selfie by the author on the peak. I'm not much of a peakbagger so I had to document it. We had something to eat, snapped off photos and made our way back to our camp. Of course on the way down we bumped into more elk that scampered within 100 yards of our camp as they made their way into the timber. While we were gone the elk were feeding above our camp. Altra Lone Peak 2.5's with Dirty Girl Gaiters got the job done even with over 7 miles of off trail walking. Camp at 12k feet, the Nemo performed admirably even with some wind at night. Once back at camp, Ben declared that he would be heading back into his tent for a nap while the rest of us lounged about on a Sunday morning having coffee and eating breakfast. We broke camp at about 10:00 and began the three mile bushwhack back down and north. I was plotting a route in the timber that was one drainage west of the Lynch Creek drainage hoping to pop out on the Tumble Creek Trail. The early part of the trek was fairly open with only sign of elk inhabiting the area. I'm guessing not many people get in this area with the exception of hunters in the fall. We did some sidehilling for quite a while and that caused my right lower calf to get a little wonky on the way down. In time we funneled down close to the creek having to cross it and we would go in and out of tight, thicker areas only to have it open up and give us some respite. Eventually we popped out on the Tumble Creek Trail just west of where trails 616, 617 and 618 come together. Only at this point did we begin to see more people on the trail. In fact besides the four horsewomen the day before we had only seen three other hikers off in the distance of Buffalo Meadows the day before. The bushwhack out put us through mostly timber and not much for views. But the forest road walk back gave us a nice view of t The walk out on the Tumble Creek and then trail 618 which led to forest service road and our car was subdued compared to the rest of the trip. The road did offer us a great view of the Buffalo Peaks and some evidence of other people in the area in the form of some parked cars and tents in some meadows. As we got to the car we had been gone a total of 47 hours. We covered 27 miles, 7 � of which were off trail bushwhacking and ascended over 6,000 vertical feet during the loop. The Salt Creek Trail is a good option if you are into a larger loop of Buffalo Peaks wilderness. Also, the off trail sections are great if you are comfortable with off trail navigation and map reading. My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Buff Peaks Wilderness loop and WBP ascent

This has always looked like an interesting area as I've driven past it many times in the South Park area. The fact that it contained US Wilderness made it even more attractive but I was hoping for more miles of trails in the Wilderness proper. Thus, consulting a Latitude 40 map of the area revealed the Salt Creek Trail just east of the actual Wilderness boundary and made it feasible for a bigger loop option with some bushwhacking.

My son, a friend of mine and his son left Denver metro at Friday noon and got to the trailhead just before 3:00. We drove through a good hailstorm on the way to the Buffalo Peaks TH, parked by an established camp area, locked up the car and proceeded south on the Salt Creek Trail (618) looking to cover a few miles before evening. The trail was in great shape, soft underfoot, the forest had the wonderful fragrance of a recent rain and it was a good start to the weekend.

There is some short forest road walking but the views and locations are good.

We had to walk some forest road for a little bit and due to the rains it made it a greasy, slick mess. There is one section where the road dips down and we opted for walking off road because I was sure I would be the one to fall on my behind or on my back resulting in muddy clothes and a backpack just a few miles in.

The Salt Creek trail had very little evidence of use on it. There was a set of horse tracks and while the trail was not difficult to follow it was loaded with vegetation in spots. There was one T intersection which offered some slight confusion. The forest service trail sign was down but we determined that we needed to make a left here, heading in what seems to be an easterly direction, but in actuality was more southeast. After a bit we came to a parking area and North Salt Creek TH (on the Latitude 40 maps) and verified where we were. After about seven miles we made camp in a meadow just before the North Fork of the Salt Creek. It was a little damp in the morning but I only had mild condensation on the inside of my one wall Nemo Veda 1P tent. We weren't planning on big miles on Saturday so we took the time to dry things out before heading down trail. We had yet to see anybody since we had left the car.

After maybe five miles you make a turn out of the timber and get a view of East Buffalo Peak.

I'm not big on campfires but the 20 year olds wanted one, so the older folks relented.

This was the second outing for the Nemo Veda1P. I slept with the fly back to view the stars.

Wild Iris were proliferate during the three days. Some were already fading.

Saturday morning view of East Buffalo Peak

We broke camp just after 8:00 or so and continued south. We were making a big loop around the Buffalo Peaks and my plan was to finish Saturday somewhere on the northwest side of the peaks and then climb them at sunup on Sunday morning.

The plan for the day on Saturday was to continue around and make our way up to Buffalo Meadows. At this point I was hoping to camp somewhere NW of the Buffalo Peaks and then on Sunday morning we would try and bag both 13ers, the East and West Buffalo Peaks.

The trail south along the east side of the Wilderness continued to be amazing and human activity non-existent. We saw continued hoof prints of horses but no boot tracks to speak of. At one point we crossed a small stream and I saw elk tracks on the trail. We were somewhere close to where we entered the Wilderness proper. Climbing a smallish but steeper hill I heard a "crack" about 30 yards off the trail. I looked up to see the body and rack of a bull elk as he crashed away in the timber. I'm not sure if he was bedded or feeding when I surprised him.

Having my son along for two trips in three weekends was a blast for me.

The trail now was heading north and the Buffalo Peaks were to our north. The area had a little bit more exposure and was a bit drier in spots. We took a break around 1:00 for lunch in an aspen grove.

Lunch area on Saturday near the junction of Salt Creek and Four Mile Creek trails.

The columbines were looking good as well.

Shortly thereafter we hit the junction of the Four Mile Creek Trail, however on the Latitude 40 map this is labeled as the Tumble Creek Trail (#617). We had yet to see another person since we had left the car. So for the entirety of the Salt Creek Trail we saw absolutely nobody. Chalk up the decision to take the Salt Creek Tr as a major win!

Once we crossed the stream and got heading north we did run into four women on horses. This was 23 hours into our trip? They had been riding looking for moose and the valley here had a very "moosey" feel to it with heavy willows in the drainage. We bid them good day and began the first real climb of the trip north toward Buffalo Meadows.

Nick makes his way to Buffalo Peaks Meadows with Purple Fringed flowers in the foreground.

After some good huffing and puffing we hit the top and Buffalo Meadows. Mark it as full of willows, very wet and some heavy mosquito activity. We continued north through the lengthy area now west of the Buffalo Peaks which were not visible to us at this point. After a bit we came to a beaver dam and had to skirt just west to make an easy creek crossing that did not involve getting feet wet. Here we saw a trail heading down and west but I'm not sure what it was as we weren't far enough north in my opinion to be at the Rich Creek Trail (#616). We didn't really see where the Four Mile Creek trail continued and weren't too concerned as we were looking to head east and up off trail out of Buffalo Meadows.

Reaching Buffalo Peaks Meadows, but not a destination for the night due to mosquitoes!

There were a few reasons why we did not stay at Buffalo Meadows. It was still pretty early, the mosquitoes were bad enough it would not have been pleasant to camp here and we were still two miles NNW of West Buffalo Peak and roughly 2,000' below it. I wanted to be closer and higher so that we could just make a quick ascent of the peaks and then come down and break camp and bushwhack out Sunday.

We did decide to filter extra water before heading up toward the peaks and closer to treeline because while the map showed a drainage I had no idea what the water situation would be at 12,000'.
We pushed east and up into the timber. We could see a saddle to aim for and it was pretty steep for � mile as we pushed on, now with about 10 miles in our legs for the day. Not a huge amount but the last mile would be a bushwhack at this point. The timber was fairly dense and the steepness caused us to separate. I pointed out to the boys that we didn't want to lose sight of each other on this part, so we would stop to re-group. However, the skeeters were still thick and Ben didn't enjoy swatting them away. Before long we crossed out of treeline into an open area with unnamed peak 12,039 directly to our north. To the east was a large area of willows and I was surprised to see such a marshy area this high. I could also see elk on the mountain (unnamed 12.917) to the east, which blocking our view of West Buffalo Peak.

After a 1/2 mile bushwhack heading east we arrived at treeline.

There comes a point in a multi-day trip where you find the zone. You don't care about being dirty, your legs take on a healthy tired feeling, the mosquitoes don't matter and your so happy to be away from it all. We decided it would be better to be on the other side of the willow marsh and thus another half mile closer to the peaks in the morning. So we beat our way through the willows. They were chest high, it was wet and there was no trail except for game trails. My trekking poles were not a great help and I mostly held them over my head as I forced my way through, willows scraping over my legs. My feet became wet, and I didn't care at this point thankful I had trail runners and knowing that we had daylight left to dry shoes out.

Ensuing in the 1/2 mile bushwhack through willows we found out we were not alone...

After just a short bit I looked up and north to see elk feeding 200 yards away. They didn't seem bothered by us and likely wondered what these humans were doing up here. Well, this human was having the time of his life. The whole weekend came together in that moment. It was liberating, it was beautiful and it was amazing being in that high country among the elk, willows, mountains and openness of it all.

The final 1/2 mile of the day was through wet, scraggly, chest high willows. Why not leave a little blood behind!

More elk graced the unnamed peak to the west of WBP.

We eventually made it out and found a fantastic campsite just after 5:00. We had plenty of time to pitch tents, cook, relax, watch more elk and see a most amazing sunset that night. We were bushed but content. Life was pretty damn good. Will and I hit the sack sometime around 10:00, with the boys rolling in around 11:00. We planned to arise at 5:00 the next morning for a quick hike over the last mile to West Buffalo Peak and the East Buffalo Peak.

Yeah, this camping spot at 12,000' was nothing short of spectacular.

The night brought some wind, but not any weather and I think it also ushered in some warmer air because I remained warm and dry all night. We pushed off at first light, just after 5:00 and caught yet more elk on the unnamed mountain as we headed for a saddle north of WBP. Once cresting the saddle we then saw the peak and hit the top in about an hour.

0510 departure put us on West Buffalo Peak an hour later.

We came to a group decision to leave EBP for another day and hung about on WBP.

After surveying East Buffalo Peak and determining that it would be a minimum two hours to make the approximately 2 mile round trip, we decided that with more bushwhacking leaving our camp we'd be better off taking a look without the actual peak bag.

Obligatory selfie by the author on the peak. I'm not much of a peakbagger so I had to document it.

We had something to eat, snapped off photos and made our way back to our camp. Of course on the way down we bumped into more elk that scampered within 100 yards of our camp as they made their way into the timber.

While we were gone the elk were feeding above our camp.

Altra Lone Peak 2.5's with Dirty Girl Gaiters got the job done even with over 7 miles of off trail walking.

Camp at 12k feet, the Nemo performed admirably even with some wind at night.

Once back at camp, Ben declared that he would be heading back into his tent for a nap while the rest of us lounged about on a Sunday morning having coffee and eating breakfast. We broke camp at about 10:00 and began the three mile bushwhack back down and north. I was plotting a route in the timber that was one drainage west of the Lynch Creek drainage hoping to pop out on the Tumble Creek Trail. The early part of the trek was fairly open with only sign of elk inhabiting the area. I'm guessing not many people get in this area with the exception of hunters in the fall.

We did some sidehilling for quite a while and that caused my right lower calf to get a little wonky on the way down. In time we funneled down close to the creek having to cross it and we would go in and out of tight, thicker areas only to have it open up and give us some respite. Eventually we popped out on the Tumble Creek Trail just west of where trails 616, 617 and 618 come together. Only at this point did we begin to see more people on the trail. In fact besides the four horsewomen the day before we had only seen three other hikers off in the distance of Buffalo Meadows the day before.

The bushwhack out put us through mostly timber and not much for views. But the forest road walk back gave us a nice view of t

The walk out on the Tumble Creek and then trail 618 which led to forest service road and our car was subdued compared to the rest of the trip. The road did offer us a great view of the Buffalo Peaks and some evidence of other people in the area in the form of some parked cars and tents in some meadows.

As we got to the car we had been gone a total of 47 hours. We covered 27 miles, 7 � of which were off trail bushwhacking and ascended over 6,000 vertical feet during the loop. The Salt Creek Trail is a good option if you are into a larger loop of Buffalo Peaks wilderness. Also, the off trail sections are great if you are comfortable with off trail navigation and map reading.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Kapelmuur

Sweet trip!
7/11/2016 12:22pm

An admirable addition to the 0.01% Club!

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