Unnamed 13627 Trip Report 08/23/2017

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Unnamed 13627 - 13,627 feet
Date Posted	08/23/2017
Modified	08/26/2017
Date Climbed	08/23/2017
Author	Hoot

Pt 13,626 from Alpine Cemetery
Unnamed Point 13,626 (Colorado # 184) 23 August 2017 Climbers: Patrick and me Trailhead: Alpine Cemetery Distance: 8.2 miles Elevation gain: 4,166' Round trip: 6 hours, 13 minutes Pt 13,626 was the first Colorado bicentennial peak (Colorado rank 101-200) since last November and Patrick was a great partner. Pt 13,626 is 1.4 miles west of 14er Mount Princeton. Based on at TR Patrick found we used the Alpine Cemetery trailhead at the end of FR 292B just east of the private Alpine Lake off Chalk Creek Drive (CO 162) west of Nathrop. This is a small trailhead (2-4 cars) surrounded by private property but on Forest Service land. This trail starts at 9460' at the old Alpine Cemetery and climbs to the east to Grouse Canyon where it joins the Mount Princeton Grouse Trail at around 10,000'. We did not actually see where the trails joined, but our start from the cemetery must have been much less steep. We started hiking at 8:08am. The initial trail into Grouse Canyon was well-maintained and very easy to follow. Once we entered Grouse Canyon and started to climb the trail was much less well-defined, but I think we were on a trail much of the way to tree line. We actually saw a few cairns along the way. But even if off the trail, the general direction is pretty clear â‘ head up the Grouse Canyon drainage and then aim northeast to enter the large basin southeast of Pt 13,626. Once above tree line, you can choose how steep you want your route to the summit to be. We ascended a moderate slope mostly on grass after considering a more direct but considerably steeper approach which would have put us on Pt 13,626's south ridge. Hiking at a pretty casual pace, we reached the summit at 11:36, 3.5 hours after leaving the trailhead. We considered heading along the ridge to the west to catch ranked 13er Pt 13,317, but with our late start and with clouds moving in we decided to head back the way we came. After spending half an hour on the summit, we headed back down starting down the northeast ridge and descending into the basin on gentler, mostly grassy slopes. While a little less direct, this route made for a more pleasant descent. At about 11,400' we linked up with our ascent trail and followed it back down Grouse Canyon and the trail leading to the Alpine Cemetery. We got back to the trailhead at 2:21, for a roundtrip time of 6 hours and 13 minutes. As soon as we got to our cars it started raining. Originally, we considered a shuttle hike starting here we did and ending at a car positioned at the St Elmo town site. This would have allowed us to pick up the ranked 13ers Pt 13,317 and Pt 13,078 west of Pt 13,626. However, in St Elmo we found a sign saying that the Poplar Gulch trailhead had been moved 1 mile west up the 4WD road to Tin Cup Pass. And there were a lot of âno parkingâ signs in St Elmo. With an earlier start and good weather, this 11-12 mile shuttle route looks like a good way to climb three ranked 13ers including Pt 13,626. 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):

Pt 13,626 from Alpine Cemetery

Unnamed Point 13,626 (Colorado # 184)
23 August 2017
Climbers: Patrick and me
Trailhead: Alpine Cemetery
Distance: 8.2 miles
Elevation gain: 4,166'
Round trip: 6 hours, 13 minutes

Pt 13,626 was the first Colorado bicentennial peak (Colorado rank 101-200) since last November and Patrick was a great partner. Pt 13,626 is 1.4 miles west of 14er Mount Princeton. Based on at TR Patrick found we used the Alpine Cemetery trailhead at the end of FR 292B just east of the private Alpine Lake off Chalk Creek Drive (CO 162) west of Nathrop. This is a small trailhead (2-4 cars) surrounded by private property but on Forest Service land. This trail starts at 9460' at the old Alpine Cemetery and climbs to the east to Grouse Canyon where it joins the Mount Princeton Grouse Trail at around 10,000'. We did not actually see where the trails joined, but our start from the cemetery must have been much less steep.

We started hiking at 8:08am. The initial trail into Grouse Canyon was well-maintained and very easy to follow. Once we entered Grouse Canyon and started to climb the trail was much less well-defined, but I think we were on a trail much of the way to tree line. We actually saw a few cairns along the way. But even if off the trail, the general direction is pretty clear â‘ head up the Grouse Canyon drainage and then aim northeast to enter the large basin southeast of Pt 13,626. Once above tree line, you can choose how steep you want your route to the summit to be. We ascended a moderate slope mostly on grass after considering a more direct but considerably steeper approach which would have put us on Pt 13,626's south ridge. Hiking at a pretty casual pace, we reached the summit at 11:36, 3.5 hours after leaving the trailhead. We considered heading along the ridge to the west to catch ranked 13er Pt 13,317, but with our late start and with clouds moving in we decided to head back the way we came. After spending half an hour on the summit, we headed back down starting down the northeast ridge and descending into the basin on gentler, mostly grassy slopes. While a little less direct, this route made for a more pleasant descent. At about 11,400' we linked up with our ascent trail and followed it back down Grouse Canyon and the trail leading to the Alpine Cemetery. We got back to the trailhead at 2:21, for a roundtrip time of 6 hours and 13 minutes. As soon as we got to our cars it started raining.

Originally, we considered a shuttle hike starting here we did and ending at a car positioned at the St Elmo town site. This would have allowed us to pick up the ranked 13ers Pt 13,317 and Pt 13,078 west of Pt 13,626. However, in St Elmo we found a sign saying that the Poplar Gulch trailhead had been moved 1 mile west up the 4WD road to Tin Cup Pass. And there were a lot of âno parkingâ signs in St Elmo. With an earlier start and good weather, this 11-12 mile shuttle route looks like a good way to climb three ranked 13ers including Pt 13,626.

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

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Vimana Aircraft	!!!!!!! 8/24/2017 8:07am Nice route!!! Much Respect!!!!
Trotter	nice 8/25/2017 1:12am good beta
Bigperm	Used your report 6/14/2020 7:23pm We used your report and gpx today. It was a very helpful alternative to the cottonwood creek side which was running very high. We used your descent route for both the up and down and found it a very reasonable yet steep mostly class 1 hike. Thanks for loading it!

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