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This weekend Diane had to stay home so I set out on my own into the San Juan Mountains to finally climb my first 14ers of the year. I planned to hike to the top of Redcloud Peak and Sunshine Peak bright and early on Saturday morning. I left work early on Friday and after stopping for a late lunch at Handlebars in Silverton, I continued up the Animas River to the top of Cinnamon Pass. I parked at the pass and took a short warm-up hike to the top of Cinnamon Mountain, an easy 13er. Short hikes at elevation and sleeping above 10,000 feet really helps me get acclimated quicker.
My first glimpse of Redcloud Peak seen from Cinnamon Pass. It would hopefully be my first 14er of the year in the morning.
Not much left of this old building near the pass. Wood Mountain is in the background (13,660).
A different view of the ruins with Animas Forks Mountain (13,722) beyond.
Cinnamon Mountain (13,328) seen from my hike up to the ridge.
On the ridge.
Great views up here as I climbed to the summit.
View from the summit of Cinnamon Mountain.
Looking down over the ghost town of Animas Forks from the top.
Whitecross Mountain (13,542) in the sunlight with Redcloud Peak (left) and Sunshine Peak (right) in the shadows behind.
Back to my Jeep at Cinnamon Pass. It was time to head down the other side and find a campsite for the night.
Driving through Burrows Park along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison. Sundog (13,432) is directly in front of the road with Redcloud and Sunshine to each side in the background.
After setting up camp near the Silver Creek trailhead I had a visitor join me for a few minutes.
Great view from my camp this evening.
I was planning on an alpine start Saturday morning, so I tried to go to bed early. This never seems to work out as well as I hope and I typically just lay in my sleeping bag for a while before actually falling asleep. This night was no exception. I'm not sure when I fell asleep (I didn't want to know what time it was, so I never looked at a clock), but when my alarm went off at 3:30am I was wide awake. I guess that means I managed to get enough sleep. After a quick snack for breakfast I started hiking shortly before 4:00am. There was no moon out this morning and the sky was pretty clear, so I was accompanied on my hike by a canopy of bright stars above with the sound of Silver Creek rushing beside me. Since the stars alone did not provide me with enough light to see, I had to use my headlamp until shortly before sunrise.
Not long after sunrise I made it to the saddle below Redcloud Peak and was finally able to start taking photos. Warm light strikes the mountain tops towards the Continental Divide.
My first destination, Redcloud Peak, is on the left. Still over 1,000 feet to climb at this point...
Morning haze with Bristol Head in the distance.
The final stretch to the summit of Redcloud Peak (14,034).
On the summit of Redcloud looking over to Sunshine Peak (14,001), my next destination this morning. It's about a mile and a half away and I'd have to lose about 500 feet of elevation and climb most of that again.
The obvious trail to Sunshine Peak.
The final rocky climb to the top.
Nice views from up here.
Finally! The summit of Sunshine Peak, my second 14er of the day and the year. Sunshine Peak has the distinction of being the shortest of all the Colorado 14ers.
After reaching Sunshine, I decided to return the way I had come, which meant I had to go back over Redcloud again. After summiting Redcloud for the second time I was treated to great views of Uncompahgre Peak, Wetterhorn Peak and Matterhorn Peak.
A closer look at Wetterhorn and Matterhorn with Coxcomb in the shadow.
Looking up Grizzly Gulch to Handies Peak (14,048), which was my very first 14er.
Nice light down in Bent Creek.
The nice thing about returning the way I had come was that I got to see what the hike along Silver Creek actually looked like since it was dark when I came through here in the morning. The afternoon storm clouds had already started building at this time.
An incoming storm behind Whitecross Mountain. It would hold off until I reached my campsite and got everything packed up into my Jeep.
One last look at Handies Peak over Silver Creek.
After finishing the hike and packing up my camp I headed over to Lake City and then drove over Slumgullion Pass and Spring Creek Pass so I could drive to the top of Bristol Head. I thought it was going to be a quick drive to the top, but the road was longer and rougher than I thought, so it took a while to get there.
I made another friend along the way.
View from the summit of Bristol Head (12,706) with storms all around. After taking this photo there was a nearby lightning strike and I quickly got back into my Jeep.
Driving back down from the summit.
The gentle face of Bristol Head seen during my drive back down to the highway.
We’re planning a trip out there in a week – Handies will hopefully be the kids’ first peak –– Via Grizzly Gulch even though it’s a bit longer. Any signs of vehicle fortification needed at the lot? Everyone’s porcupine stories concern me unnecessarily. cheers
I’ve parked my Jeep at many trailheads for extended periods of time, both above and below treeline with no precautions taken without any issues with porcupines or marmots.
All my photos were taken with a Canon 6D and then the RAW files were processed in Adobe CameraRAW/Photoshop. Mostly just levels adjustments for contrast and a little vibrance/saturation.
I’m considering this in a few weeks if I’m first successful on Uncompahgre. How close was the creek to your campsite (thinking about water access)? I’m also curious about the difference between traversing back over to Redcloud as opposed to doing the loop route I see on a topo map. Do you have any thoughts on that (difficulty, distance/time)?
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