Download Agreement, Release, and Acknowledgement of Risk:
You (the person requesting this file download) fully understand mountain climbing ("Activity") involves risks and dangers of serious bodily injury, including permanent disability, paralysis, and death ("Risks") and you fully accept and assume all such risks and all responsibility for losses, costs, and damages you incur as a result of your participation in this Activity.
You acknowledge that information in the file you have chosen to download may not be accurate and may contain errors. You agree to assume all risks when using this information and agree to release and discharge 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and the author(s) of such information (collectively, the "Released Parties").
You hereby discharge the Released Parties from all damages, actions, claims and liabilities of any nature, specifically including, but not limited to, damages, actions, claims and liabilities arising from or related to the negligence of the Released Parties. You further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. and each of the other Released Parties from and against any loss, damage, liability and expense, including costs and attorney fees, incurred by 14ers.com, 14ers Inc. or any of the other Released Parties as a result of you using information provided on the 14ers.com or 14ers Inc. websites.
You have read this agreement, fully understand its terms and intend it to be a complete and unconditional release of all liability to the greatest extent allowed by law and agree that if any portion of this agreement is held to be invalid the balance, notwithstanding, shall continue in full force and effect.
By clicking "OK" you agree to these terms. If you DO NOT agree, click "Cancel"...
I'm not a big fan of backpacking, but sometimes it's necessary to reach a remote summit. Don't get me wrong; I always enjoy camping in remote areas, but you'll never catch me backpacking the entire Colorado Trail.
In looking at my older son's list of remaining bicentennial peaks, Mt. Jackson stood out because it required the longest backpack (8.5 miles one-way). With a good mid-September weather forecast, Randy and I decided to target Mt. Jackson, at least in part so we'd tackle the longest approach to a bicentennial peak that Randy had left.
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019. Randy and I arrived at the Cross Creek Trailhead near Minturn in the early afternoon. The weather forecast called for a 30% chance of rain this afternoon, 40% tonight, and then mostly sunny skies the next couple of days. We grabbed our backpacks and headed toward the first landmark: a bridge over Cross Creek after a little over a mile.
The trail was quite pleasant, with some minor ups and downs but mostly a steady gradual climb.
At 9880', we headed across the second bridge over Cross Creek and set up our tent nearby.
After cooking dinner and getting our daypacks ready for tomorrow's climb of Mt. Jackson, we headed into the tent for the night. Less than an hour later, rain began and continued for two hours.
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. Randy and I were pleased to see clear skies when we got up. We recrossed the bridge (i.e., toward the trailhead) and soon left the trail and began bushwhacking northwest up the hillside.
At 10,800', we began following a climber's trail that contoured southwest to about 11,000', where it reached the drainage from Mt. Jackson's east side. The trail fizzled out, so we bushwhacked northwest above the creek to just below a small lake at 11,660'. We crossed the creek and went around the lake on its south side. Once past the lake, we climbed the cirque on Mt. Jackson's northeast side. The rock was reasonably stable.
Once on the ridge, we turned left (south) and climbed about 300' to the summit of Mt. Jackson (13,670'). Last night's snow had yet to melt along the ridge but was not an impediment.
I knew that the Mt. Jackson summit register and canister my dad and I left on July 31, 1998 were still there in 2010 thanks to Darin Baker's 9-5-2010 trip report.
Today, however, I was disappointed to find both the canister and register gone from Mt. Jackson's summit.
We then headed toward Unnamed (UN) 13433, a neighboring tricentennial, where we were surprised to find a CMC register. No one had signed since Otina "bergsteigen" Fox was here on August 20, 2019.
In 1998, my dad and I returned to the Mt. Jackson - UN 13433 saddle, worked our way around the snow, and descended from there. Randy and I had already determined that the snow was too steep to descend safely due to the cornice, so we descended UN 13433's east ridge a few hundred feet and then headed directly toward the valley. We had to pick our line carefully to find a break through a cliffy section, but our route worked out well.
Once we reached the valley, a northeast descending contour took us through an interesting passage (that we unfortunately failed to photograph) and deposited us just west of the small lake at 11,660'. From here, we retraced our path from this morning and returned to our campsite. The next morning, we slept in until 8:00 AM before backpacking to the trailhead. We then drove to Minturn for a much-needed and well-deserved lunch at Kirby Cosmo's BBQ, where we celebrated having only two relatively easy backpacking trips left to access Randy's remaining bicentennial peaks.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
... a fine report. I am with you on the backpacking thing. Not my favorite thing to do but as you said - sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.
Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.