14ers.com • Trip Report - Beautiful Huron

Peak(s):	Huron Peak - 14,003 feet
Date Posted:	07/13/2013
Modified:	07/16/2013
Date Climbed:	07/13/2013
Author:	hikerdawg

Beautiful Huron
I did Princeton a few weeks ago and have a short trip planned to the San Juan's at the end of July, so wanted to get one more 14er in between. I dragged my GF Lisa along for this one and we decided to drive up Friday night and camp instead of getting up early on Saturday. It was her first of the season and only my second, so we picked another relatively easy mountain in Huron and made our way to the 4WD trailhead, arriving at 9pm after some pizza in BV. The 11.8 miles on 390 has some washboard and is crowed on the weekends but nothing too bad. The last couple miles to the 4WD trailhead is rough with some large dips and I could see it getting very muddy if there's a lot of rain. Our Rav4 made it fine going slow but I wouldn't try it in anything with less clearance. There's plenty of camping areas around the parking area. We went through a huge thunderstorm on the way that stopped about 10 miles outside of BV. The forecast didn't look good for the night and next day but we got lucky and only had high humidity and no rain. After packing up Sat morning, we hit the trail with a lot of other people just after 6am. Maybe 10 vehicles up there at the start. Because of the location and "ease" of the hike, this is a popular climb. I would guess 60-80 people were on the trail during our hike at some point and it was great to talk with many climbing their first. This is a beautiful hike starting on a great path of switchbacks through the trees. I was expecting a steeper beginning but the switchbacks made it a nice gradual climb up above tree line where the views become even better and you get a great look at the summit and the Three Apostles. As you follow the trail away from the trees, you climb some rock steps and continue up, over, and through a great open area with wildflowers and awesome views. Once you make your way to the ridge crest at 13,450, the trail moves to the rocks and although a trail has been cut up through the rocks, it's narrow and can be loose in places. The final 500 feet of elevation is steep and can become a bit of a bottleneck with all the people going up and down. This section and the summit are where you're really feel crowded on the hike. We made it to the summit in 3 hours (9:10), took a few pics, and headed down after less than 10 minutes on top. Lisa got her 4th summit in the last 4 years and we'll see if I can get her to snag 1 or 2 more this summer. Back to the car by 11:30, up to Leadville for lunch, and east towards home. This is a great hike with terrific views. The only thing keeping me from doing this hike many more times is getting to the TH. Highly suggested hike for everyone and a perfect first 14er if anyone is trying to make the leap. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Beautiful Huron

I did Princeton a few weeks ago and have a short trip planned to the San Juan's at the end of July, so wanted to get one more 14er in between. I dragged my GF Lisa along for this one and we decided to drive up Friday night and camp instead of getting up early on Saturday. It was her first of the season and only my second, so we picked another relatively easy mountain in Huron and made our way to the 4WD trailhead, arriving at 9pm after some pizza in BV. The 11.8 miles on 390 has some washboard and is crowed on the weekends but nothing too bad. The last couple miles to the 4WD trailhead is rough with some large dips and I could see it getting very muddy if there's a lot of rain. Our Rav4 made it fine going slow but I wouldn't try it in anything with less clearance. There's plenty of camping areas around the parking area.

We went through a huge thunderstorm on the way that stopped about 10 miles outside of BV. The forecast didn't look good for the night and next day but we got lucky and only had high humidity and no rain. After packing up Sat morning, we hit the trail with a lot of other people just after 6am. Maybe 10 vehicles up there at the start. Because of the location and "ease" of the hike, this is a popular climb. I would guess 60-80 people were on the trail during our hike at some point and it was great to talk with many climbing their first. This is a beautiful hike starting on a great path of switchbacks through the trees.

I was expecting a steeper beginning but the switchbacks made it a nice gradual climb up above tree line where the views become even better and you get a great look at the summit and the Three Apostles.

As you follow the trail away from the trees, you climb some rock steps and continue up, over, and through a great open area with wildflowers and awesome views.

Once you make your way to the ridge crest at 13,450, the trail moves to the rocks and although a trail has been cut up through the rocks, it's narrow and can be loose in places. The final 500 feet of elevation is steep and can become a bit of a bottleneck with all the people going up and down. This section and the summit are where you're really feel crowded on the hike.

We made it to the summit in 3 hours (9:10), took a few pics, and headed down after less than 10 minutes on top. Lisa got her 4th summit in the last 4 years and we'll see if I can get her to snag 1 or 2 more this summer.

Back to the car by 11:30, up to Leadville for lunch, and east towards home. This is a great hike with terrific views. The only thing keeping me from doing this hike many more times is getting to the TH. Highly suggested hike for everyone and a perfect first 14er if anyone is trying to make the leap.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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