| Peak(s): |
Huron Peak - 14,006 feet Browns Peak - 13523 |
| Date Posted: | 08/23/2008 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/12/2008 |
| Author: | Pappy |
| Peak(s): |
Huron Peak - 14,006 feet Browns Peak - 13523 |
| Date Posted: | 08/23/2008 |
| Date Climbed: | 08/12/2008 |
| Author: | Pappy |
| Huron and Browns Peak via Cloyses Lake |
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Peaks: Browns Peak 13,523 ft Huron Peak: 14,003 ft Trailhead: Cloyses Lake Trailhead Total Elevation Gain: 3,266 feet Total Mileage: 6.0 miles 8/12/08 - Colton, Shane, and I head out from Cloyses lake trailhead (10,860 ft) at about 3:00 that afternoon. The 4WD trek from Rockdale wasn't bad, however high clearance was needed to ford Clear Creek. From the trailhead it is about a half mile before reaching Cloyses Lake. Less than 1/4 mile prior to Cloyses Lake.  Cloyses Lake  Cloyses Lake and route heading south prior to ascent to Lois Lake.  Once reaching Cloyses Lake there is no clear trail, just a sporadic system of game trails that lead west to Lois Lake (11,740 ft). Lois Lake and route around west side.  From Lois Lake the route turns into a lengthy stretch of boulder hopping up to the saddle separating Browns and Huron Peaks. Route through boulder field to pass.  If you ever smell something pungent while hiking through the rocks, it could very well be sky pilot. An attractive flower by sight, not so much by smell.  Looking back down on Lois Lake.  Ascending up to the saddle is tedious due the steep slope and an abundance of loose rock. There was still a small patch of snow below the saddle, but we were able ascend up the right side where there was a narrow strip void of snow. Once reaching the saddle at 13,400 ft. I traversed around to Browns Peak and back to the saddle adding about 1 mile to the trek. An easy traverse with an elevation gain of a whopping 123 feet. Yellow Bellied Marmont wondering where in the world did we come from.  Top of pass/ view towards Missouri Mountain.  From the saddle we ascended to the summit of Huron Peak, summiting at about 6:00 pm. As we ascended Huron we noticed the obvious South Fork Creek trail, commenting that this route would have been much easier. Once at the summit we hung out for about an hour, enjoying the vista and great weather. Looking down on Browns Peak - route to Browns Peak and up connecting ridge to Huron.  Huron summit view towards Missouri Mountain  Huron summit view south  Three Apostles  Huron Summit view SE.  We descended back down the saddle and instead of retracing our route back, opted to stay to the left connecting the dots between various patches of tundra. We eventually dropped down on the north side of Lois Lake, but found a network of game trails that led us down valley staying high prior to descending down to the north end of Cloyses Lake. It looked as if there was a maintained trail through this section at one time. This turned out to be a much better route than what was described in Dawson's Guide. Looking back up at pass.  Descent route down to Lois Lake  We arrived back at the truck at about 8:30 pm. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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