Day 2 of Summer 2024 Trip to Colorado, North Fork Lake Creek Mountains, UN13291 and UN13220

by admin

The second day of my summer 2024 trip to Colorado. I prepared some challenges for the day, taking an off-trail route to climb two mountains near North Fork Lake Creek Valley, UN13291 and UN13220.

Ridge towards UN13220

I had initially hoped to include a YDS class 3 mountain in my trip to Colorado, with “The Sawtooth” between Mount Bierstadt and Mount Blue Sky as my top choice. Unfortunately, as mentioned in my previous post, weather forecast forced me to abandon that plan.
That meant I had to find a class 3 mountain close to my lodge in Leadville. Although there were plenty of mountains in the area, few were classified as YDS class 3. Ultimately, my options were: La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge, Mount Arkansas, and UN13291. Ellingwood Ridge required extensive route findings that could easily go wrong. Both Mount Arkansas and UN13291 involved off-trail hiking, but I felt UN13291’s was more suitable for a day-hike in terms of effort. So, I chose UN13291.

For the mountains I climbed today, “UN” stands for “unnamed”: essentially, they were named after their height (in feet). A testimony for the seclusion for these mountains that I first came across on a blogpost by Stav is Lost, whose route I largely followed (with minor deviations).
If your time is short:

There was one move shortly before the summit of UN13291 that was YDS class 3. Apart from that, I believed the entire route never exceeded YDS class 2.
Reaching UN13220 involved off-trail hiking through potentially muddy grassland. If you like to keep your shoes clean and the hike civilized, I recommend an out-and-back to UN13291 only.

Here’s GPS tracking for my hike:

The Trip

I started my hike at 8am. The initial part of the trail followed North Fork Lake Creek north into a valley. Much of the trail was still in the shade of Mount Champion to the east, there was even frost visible on many of the plants along the trail (p2 below).

Trailhead Parking
Frost on Plants
Destination in Sight

Less than half an hour after starting off, I saw the ridge connecting UN13291 to UN13220. Unfortunately, neither of them was in this photo.
Ridge of Continental Divide from Valley
Lackawanna Peak
Lackawanna Peak from North Fork Lake Creek Valley

The hike through the valley was uneventful. I decided to take the lollipop loop between UN13291 and UN13220 in the counterclockwise direction. That meant, I followed North Fork Lake Creek Trail on AllTrails all the way till its end.

Trail near Water Crossing

3.7km (2.3mi) from trailhead, the trail crossed a creek at a spot that’s easy to miss. As shown in this photo, it appeared more like a T-shaped intersection even to the most observant eye. Approaching from the trailhead, I followed the “incorrect” path, as the trail seemed to continue seamlessly. Unfortunately, this meant I had to make a more difficult water crossing later on.

Trail
Deer Mountain in front. I would be accompanied by its sight for the next few hours.
Mountains of Continental Divide behind Trail
Mountains of Continental Divide
Mountains of Continental Divide behind Trail
Flowers along Creek

Towards the end of the AllTrails track, the trail entered a series of switchbacks before reaching an alpine lake (p1 below), a popular destination for many hikers. From there on, I ascended the ridgeline to my left (west).

Alpine Lake
Alpine Lake among Mountains
Alpine Lake at Deer Mountain’s Foot
Mount Champion
Mount Oklahoma
Alpine Lake

Narrow Passage

After leaving the alpine lake, I should have aimed further south than the saddle point, to avoid traversing steep terrain like this.

The first navigation error of the day. I knew I should aim for a large boulder (p2-3 below), but I took a path that’s too direct. This led me to some very steep terrain (photos above). Instead, I should have aimed slightly south (purple line in this photo), which would have been a much less technical route.

The next part of the trail circumvented some giant boulders (p1 below as a summary). Initially, it passed under towering vertical cliffs (p4 below), with cairns marking the way. Once the cliffs on the right (east) ended, the trail ascended a steep slope (still only YDS class 2) to regain the ridgeline.

Path
Next portion of the path, highlighted in red. Photo taken later in the day along way to UN13220.
Boulder
Boulder
The purple arrow marking the path.
Passage Next to Cliff
A cairn marking the path.
Steep Slope

One could choose to stick to smaller screes (left) or larger rocks (right), they weren’t that different.
Steep Slope
Looking from above.

From the top of the previous steep slope, I caught my first glimpses of the summit of UN13291. The ridge leading to UN13291 featured steep drop-offs. Therefore, the path to UN13291 first sidehilled on the right (east) side of the ridge before regaining it shortly before the summit. There were no markings or cairns to guide me, so I simply chose the path that seemed the least technically challenging. The terrain was not technically difficult so it didn’t hurt getting slightly off (as long as one didn’t veer to the left/west side of the ridge).

Boulders
At the top of the steep slope. For the first time of the day, I saw the true summit of UN13291.
Ridge
Looking back south. This was taken from a spot off the standard path.
Sidehilling
To avoid the ridge with steep dropoffs, the standard path was to deviate to the east.
Steep Slope
To regain the ridge before UN13291.
Crux Move

Looking from below (left) and above (right). In my opinion this was the only YDS class 3 move of the entire trip. Footholds were not hard to find on the left (west) side of the slit. Somehow, I felt going down this slit was easier than up.

Summit of UN13291

Finally, 3.5 hours after leaving the trailhead, I reached the summit of UN13291 at 11:30pm. As usual, it’s followed by a snack and scenery break.
Fortunately, I had cellular coverage on top of UN13291, allowing me to share progress with friends back home.

My Backpack on Top of UN13291
Ridge
One that continues north.
Mountains to the Northeast
Mostly Mount Massive.
Marten Creek Valley
Mountains to the West
Mountains to the Southwest
Alpine Lake among Mountains

As expected, reaching the summit of UN13291 rewarded me with stunning views. Alongside Deer Mountain and Mount Champion to the southeast, which had been my companions throughout the journey, I was thrilled to see the most exciting parts of the Elk Range: Maroons, Snowmass, and Capitol. Their sight was truly exhilarating.

UN13220
My next target for the day.
Distant Elk Mountains to the West
Distant Elk Mountains to the West
Distant Elk Mountains to the West
Mountains to the North
Northern part of Sawatch Range.
Williams Mountain
Mount Massive behind Mount Oklahoma
Northwest Peak of Mount Massive

Views around UN13291

Here’s a video from the summit of UN13291:

19 seconds, 2160p30fps, 10Mbps/25MB for H265, 11Mbps/26MB for H264.

In the end, I stayed at the summit of UN13291 for about half an hour, before starting my descent just past 2pm.

Path from UN13291 to UN13220

This photo was taken from the summit of UN13220. I drew a red line to indicate the approximate route from UN13291, the dashed portions were where the route went behind the mountain/ridge.
In essence, this route roughly followed the Continental Divide, with three saddles along the way. Before the first saddle, I followed the same route back. After that, the trail largely followed the Continental Divide to the third saddle. One could veer south from the ridgeline to avoid some elevation changes. Before the second saddle there was a steep dropoff. I took a detour south around it. After the third saddle, the ridge to UN13220 was very steep, so the path diverged from the ridge and ascended UN13220 from the south.

Frankly, I felt it’s easier to get lost coming back from UN13291, as the top of the steep slope I needed to descend down was harder to find than the towering summit I aimed for on the way up. Nonetheless, with the help of photos I took on my way up, I went down the correct steep slope. After that, it’s a comfortable stroll between the first and the second saddle.

Trail
Following the ridgeline from UN13291 to UN13220.
Deer Mountain
It had become a pretty familiar sight.
Steep Dropoff

Along the ridge from UN13291 to UN13220. I took a left turn (towards the east) to avoid this dropoff.
Trail
Circumventing the steep dropoff on the right.
Alpine Lake among Mountains
Hill
Looking back at the dropoff that I just circumvented.

Just before the second saddle, there was a steep dropoff (p3 above). I read online that it’s possible to descend along this drop-off, but I took the safe option of a detour around it. It could have been faster if I aimed for the detour earlier (red arrow in this photo.)

It’s another comfortable stroll between the second and third saddle, surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Saddle Point
I drew a rough path that I took.
Trail along Ridge
Trail
A few steep steps to regain the ridge.
North Fork Lake Creek Valley
North Fork Lake Creek Valley
Where I came from.
Mountains
Of Continental Divide.
UN13220 Ahead
Marten Creek Valley
Flowers
Seemingly grown out of rocks.

The descent to the third saddle was less steep so that I didn’t need to take any noticeable detour. After that, the direct route to UN13220 was visibly steep, so the suggested path was to veer south and sidehill, before turning right upon reaching (or shortly before) Continental Divide. The red line in p1 below indicated the approximate route that I took.
One issue was that, without the ridgeline as a clear reference, it’s hard to tell how much left (south) I should go. Since heading left (south) meant I would lose elevation, which I had to eventually regain, I avoided veering too much left (south). That meant I missed a trail and had to navigate more challenging terrain ~~and wreaking havoc on the vegetation in the process~~ shortly before Continental Divide. (A picture later in the post would show my route together with the suggested route.)

Ridge towards UN13220
Drawing out a (highly approximated) path to UN13220.
Path to UN13220
Mountains
Of Continental Divide.
Valley
Continental Divide
Mountains of Continental Divide

Shortly before reaching Continental Divide, I saw a clear path towards the summit of UN13220 and turned towards it. The final steps before UN13220 was steep and sandy, but not as steep as the steep slope before UN13291 and certainly harder to get lost.

Summit of UN13220

I reached the summit of UN13220 at 2:40pm, about 2.5 hours after leaving UN13291. The traverse between the two peaks was no doubt the highlight of the day.

Summit of UN13220
Mountains to the North
Two valleys in view.
South Fork Fryingpan River Valley
Ridge
Extending to the north from UN13220
Ridge
Extending to the north from UN13291.
Mountains to the Northeast
Looking back at UN13291 and the route that I took.
North Fork Lake Creek Valley
Valley

In terms of scenery, UN13220 was quite similar to UN13291, as these two mountains are closer together than most of the others visible from them. If I had to pick my favorite, it would likely be UN13220. Its prominence offers less obstructed views, revealing more lush valleys below.
Unfortunately, there was no cellular coverage on top of UN13220.

Mountains to the Southeast

Deer Mountain and Mount Champion which had become familiar sights through the day. In the center background was Mount Elbert, the highest mountain in the state of Colorado.
Mount Champion
Mountains to the South

I was particularly enchanted by the ribbon of red on the mountain in the background. It’s a mountain between La Plata Peak and Star Mountain, unfortunately, it seemed that it’s unnamed.
Twining Peak
Mountains to the West
The exciting Elk Mountains in the background.
Distant Sawatch Mountains
Mount of the Holy Cross as the highest one in the center.
Mountains to the East
UN13291 in the foreground, Mount Oklahoma in the middle left, Mount massive in the background.

Views around UN13220

Here’s a video from the summit of UN13220:

18 seconds, 2160p30fps, 10Mbps/23MB for H265, 11Mbps/24MB for H264.

I stayed on top of UN13220 for about half an hour, before starting my descent around 3:10pm.

Faint Trail

Starting from UN13220, it’s quite easy to locate this trail, which made travel much easier. Unfortunately, the obvious trail ended near the top red arrow in this photo (also see p6 below).

Final Stretch before UN13220
Looking up to UN13220
Mountains
Of Continental Divide. Twining Peak in the center.
Trail
Valley
Trail Marking
Unfortunately, it would take me another hour before I was back on a proper trail.

To reach UN13220, there was a faint trail that made travel much easier (red line). Unfortunately, the trail was hard to locate approaching from the east.
Descending from UN13220, I followed that trail until it became so faint that it disappeared. From that on, I had to cross a large grass field to get back to the established trail, which took me an hour. It was worst hour of the day as the grassland was oftentimes wet and muddy. I didn’t like getting my shoes dirty to begin with, but the abhorrence of stepping onto the grass to have it sink, with dirty water seeping out of the ground and onto my shoes and even socks, took me to the edge of losing sanity. In addition, there were shallow shrubs that I tried my best to avoid, but when I couldn’t, I had to trample over them. I didn’t like the feeling of their branches scraping over my trousers ~~or me destroying vegetation as I went along~~.
After the last trail marker, I read online that people suggested heading south into a valley and walking on a dry riverbed to avoid the worst of the grassland. That’s the approximate route I took (blue lines on the Google Earth overlay in the picture above). Unfortunately, I didn’t find any dry riverbed, and most of this route cut right through lush but muddy grassland. In hindsight, I should have stayed at higher elevation (where vegetation was sparse and the ground was rocky by dry) for longer, before turning right towards the trail (yellow line in the picture). The descent at the end of this path was steeper, but I much preferred that to bushwacking through shrubs and muddy ground. When analyzing this route further, I even found faint traces of what appeared to be a trail on the satellite image.

Grassland
Creek

While traversing the grassland, sometimes I found it easier to walk on small creeks like these, especially if they were dry.
Grassland
Grassland

Eventually, after an hour of misery, I reached the main trail at 4:40pm. Just when I thought I would have an uneventful stroll back to the trailhead, the skies darkened, and it started to rain. Weather forecast this morning indicated about 10% probability of rain in the late afternoon, so I wasn’t too surprised. Luckily, the rain was light and brief, and there was crucially no thunder around. Once the rain stopped, the soft colors beneath the clouds revealed a lush meadow scene that accompanied my walk back to the trailhead.