Day 3 of Summer 2024 Trip to Colorado, Huron Peak via Lulu Gulch Loop

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The third day of my summer 2024 trip to Colorado. I wanted to include a 14er in this trip to Colorado, so I picked Huron Peak today and climbed it following the loop trail through Lulu Gulch.

Trail to Huron Peak

Since I made this trip to Colorado primarily for outdoor adventures during the prime mountaineering season, I knew I would leave with a sense of regret if I didn’t include a 14er in my trip. Today was the last day with good weather to attempt one. There were several mountains over 14000 feet near my lodge in Leadville to choose from. Mount Elbert was probably too popular to find parking, Mount Massive was too close to the two peaks I visited the previous day, La Plata Peak with its Ellingwood Ridge was too technical, and Missouri Mountain / Mount Belford / Mount Oxford, which could potentially form a loop, would be too long. So, I decided on Huron Peak.

The standard route to Huron Peak started from South Winfield Trailhead. After leaving US24, the village of Winfield was accessed via a 12-mile unpaved road. The first 1/3 of that unpaved road was in reasonable condition, the remaining 2/3 were in my opinion, bumpy and rife with potholes. Beyond the village of Winfield, the final 2 miles to the trailhead was poorer in condition that they were typically recommended for high-clearance vehicles only.
Since I didn’t have a high-clearance vehicle and found the idea of walking back and forth along this road unappealing, I researched alternative routes. I discovered that Huron Peak could also be accessed via Lulu Gulch. By combining the Lulu Gulch variant with the standard route, I could create a loop, allowing me to enjoy more scenery and only traverse the high-clearance road once.
There didn’t seem to be any technical preference for the direction of the loop, so I chose to go clockwise, hoping that after descending from Huron Peak, I might hitch a ride along the high-clearance road. (Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.)

The Trip

On the morning of Sept 1, I left my Airbnb in Leadville and headed for the trailhead of Huron Peak. Once off US24, it’s a bumpy ride as I carefully and slowly navigated around some (but not all) potholes. It took me about an hour to reach Winfield from US24, during the process I was overtaken by a few cars that were better suited for off-road. After the village of Winfield, the road made a left turn, which was soon followed by a large parking lot on the left. However, I continued driving for about 500m past the parking lot until I felt my rental sedan could no longer handle the rough road, and found an open area along the road to pull over.

Rabbit
In the bushes, next to where I parked.

Here’s GPS tracking of my hike:

After some warmup, I started the hike at 8:45am. About 500 meters in, I reached a fork where the road to Lulu Gulch branched off from the main road. The intersection was not hard to spot, as Lulu Gulch Road was otherwise fenced off.
This intersection was 1km from the large parking lot, and I used my car to save myself half the walking, not bad.

Road
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Binary Tree along Trail

The road to Lulu Gulch went through a few switchbacks in the woods, until it narrowed to a trail and views of Lulu Gulch emerged out of the trees.
I found it reassuring that, once out of the woods, the mountains surrounding Lulu Gulch were the same ones I was about to pass through on my way to Huron Peak. It’s as if a clear roadmap had been presented in front of me.

Trail
Out of the trees where mountains around Lulu Gulch came into view.
Trail
The only wet part of the trail, where it crossed a creek.
Browns Peak
Mountains
Mountain
Ridge extending to the north from Virginia Peak.
Trail Switchbacks

Once in Lulu Gulch, I followed the “standard” route as described by AllTrails. This path included a few switchbacks before crossing Middle Mountain to reach Browns Peak. Unbeknownst to me, there is also a “direct” route, detailed by 14ers.com (the Browns Peak variation). This alternative is shorter and steeper, requiring more off-trail hiking on talus fields.

Scenery-wise, I thought the “standard” route was certainly better. The beautiful views of mountains ahead somewhat eased the effort of climbing the switchbacks (slideshow below).

Browns Peak from Trail
Overlooking Lulu Gulch
View of Mountains from Trail
Mountains to the West
Virginia Peak
Lakes in Valley
Flowers along Trail
Trail
Looking down at Trail Switchbacks
Small Hill
Near the top of the switchbacks, that also served as an overlook.

Just a few steps away from the top of the switchbacks, there was an overlook (last photo of the slideshow above) with gorgeous views. A stunning range of mountains stretched across the valley, with the village of Winfield nestled at its base. The depth of the valley was a testament to the progress I had made.

Mountains around Overlook

Mountains to the North
La Plata Peak
Mount Hope
Quail Mountain
Peak
A nameless one.
Mountains to the West
Virginia Peak
Overlooking Winfield
A few cottages and some parking lots.
Browns Peak
A tiny bit of Huron Peak visible behind Browns Peak.
Trail onward to Middle Mountain

Leaving the overlook, the trail largely followed a ridge towards Middle Mountain.

Trail along Ridge
Trail
Trail
Grassland on Hillside
Trail along Ridge
Middle Mountain in the center left of this photo, just steps from trail.
Trail along Ridge
Lake Fork Valley

Just as the trail passed next to Middle Mountain, I started to feel a bit uneasy, as if my body and legs were reluctant to move. This was likely due to the altitude, although at that time I was below 4000m / 13000ft, and I was under the impression that I should be better than that. Additionally, the trail grew faint after leaving Middle Mountain. Whatever faint traces that I could find led to a small hill (UN13462).
Given the state of my body, I decided not to follow the trail up and over UN13462. Instead, I would aim for the saddle point between UN13462 and Browns Peak, essentially sidehilling across UN13462. This was the AllTrails route. The side of UN13462 was rocky, but the camber was small. Crucially, the relatively lack of elevation gain meant it wasn’t straining my body.

Sidehilling towards Browns Peak
Sidehilling towards Browns Peak
Hillside against Mountainous Backdrop
Grassland on Hillside
Rocky Hillside

At the saddle point between UN13462 and Browns Peak, I stopped and took a 10-minute break. Somehow, I felt completely rejuvenated afterward, as if the altitude sickness had vanished.

Ridge to Browns Peak
Hill
UN13462, one that I bypassed.
La Plate Peak
Mountains
Peak
To the southeast of Huron Peak, unnamed.
Mountains to the South
Huron Peak as the tallest in the right of the frame.

Leaving the saddle point, I decided to sidehill across Browns Peak rather than climb over it, saving myself some energy. With Browns Peak behind me, for the first time of the day, I saw Huron Peak in its entirety.

Hill
Looking back at the path that I just took.
Browns Peak
To save some elevation gain, I bypassed its summit.
Trail to Huron Peak

The first time of the day when I saw it in entirety. The switchbacks visible in this photo were its standard route which I would take on my descent.
Sidehilling towards Huron Peak
Cairn
The only cairn that I saw for the entire day.
Looking back at Browns Peak
Ridge between Browns Peak and Huron Peak
Mountains to the West

Finally, at 12:35pm, I joined the standard route to Huron Peak. It seemed I was the only person that day to summit Huron Peak via Lulu Gulch, which puzzled me. This variation wasn’t that much longer if one had a low-clearance car, and it came with more diverse scenery along the way. I could hardly think of the brief off-trail sections on rocks to be a deterrent.

Looking back at Browns Peak

Taken from the summit of Huron Peak. The red line indicated the approximate route that I took, before joining the standard route. To avoid unnecessary elevation gain, I avoided the two peaks along the way.

At this time, there was 400m (0.2 miles) of trail with 150m (500 ft) of elevation gain ahead of me. I launched my drone, which followed me for this homestretch before Huron Peak’s summit. Here’s a video:

Summit of Huron Peak

Just past 1pm, I reached the summit of Huron Peak. I wanted to follow my tradition and use a drone helix video to commemorate the moment. Unfortunately, my drone seemed to have a mind of its own and refused to follow the pre-set flight paths.

Despite this minor setback, I was thrilled to have reached the top of Huron Peak and was rewarded with breathtaking views. It felt like I was at the heart of the Colorado mountains, as I identified 16 of the state’s 14ers around me (slideshow below). It’s as if they were welcoming me to the club, after a 2-year hiatus.

Mountains to the North
Mountains to the East
Mountains to the Southeast
Mountains to the South
Distant Elk Mountains

Additionally, there were some other noteworthy mountains, such as the rocky faces of the Apostles that looked both solemn and inviting.

Ice Mountain and the Apostles
West Apostle
Alpine Lake
La Plata Peak under Clouds
Looks pretty glommy.
Distant Town of Leadville through Gap between Mountains

In comparison, the mountains to the west were generally more approachable, with deep valleys allowing lush trees and forests to decorate their slopes below the treeline.

Mountains to the Northwest
Mountains to the Northeast
Mosquito Range mountains in the background right.
Mountains to the Northwest
Mountains to the Northwest
Virginia Peak right across the valley.
South Fork Clear Creek Valley

Marmot
I was joined by this creature on the summit of Huron Peak. It didn’t seem tired at all as it kept running around all the time.

Views around Huron Peak
from the ground (top) and from my drone (bottom)

I stayed at the summit of Huron Peak for about an hour before starting my descent just after 2pm. After reaching the trail intersection from Lulu Gulch, the standard route of Huron Peak featured numerous switchbacks through an alpine tundra that had already donned its autumn colors. This was one of the rare occasions when I actually enjoyed the switchbacks: the gradient of the trail wasn’t steep enough to require my full attention, so it’s a comfortable stroll watching the pleasing colors of vegetation around me.

Side of Huron Peak
Mountains to the East
Iowa Peak and Emerald Peak, in the background between them was Mount Harvard.
Trail
Trail
Trail against Browns Peak Background
Looking up to Huron Peak
Looking up to Huron Peak
Looking up to Huron Peak

As I descended to a lower elevation, the colors around the trail shifted back to green. Just before reaching the treeline, I enjoyed one last expansive view of the surrounding mountains, from La Plata Peak to the north to the Apostles to the south.

Trail through Meadows against Mountainous Background
Mountains beyond Meadow
Mountains to the North
La Plata Peak
Huron Peak
Peaks
Granite Mountain
Ice Mountain and West Apostle
Virginia Peak

Once below the treeline, the trail again entered a series of switchbacks as it descended the steep western face of Huron Peak. At one point, slightly off the trail where the trees were sparse, I found a spot to rest my legs on some rocks while enjoying glimpses of the mountains.

West Apostle
Mountains to the South
Mountains to the West
Granite Mountain

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail

At about 4:30pm, I reached the South Winfield Trailhead, which was the standard trailhead for Huron Peak. This was 2.9km (1.8mi) from where I parked. Since no one else was finishing their hikes at the same time, I couldn’t hitch a ride and had to walk back to my car. Honestly, the walk along Clear Creek Valley wasn’t that bad, especially the initial part where I found myself in a lush meadow dotted with pine trees that offered open views. It reminded me of the previous day in North Fork Lake Creek Valley, where I could unwind after a hectic day.

Granite Peak from Valley
Granite Peak from Valley
Virginia Peak from Valley
Mount Blaurock and Ervin Peak
Hill

Road

This was the typical road condition on my walk back. I felt that with a reasonable driver, any car with good ground clearance (around 8 inches or 20 cm), whether 2WD or 4WD, could reach the South Winfield Trailhead in the summer. Along the way I saw a Volkswagen Atlas and a Honda CRV. The worst part of the road was just before the intersection to Lulu Gulch Road, the remaining 2.4km (1.5mi) after the intersection was in better shape and flatter.

In the end, I got back to my car at 5:10pm. Including all rests, I finished this hike in under 8.5 hours. After that, I crawled out of the gravel road and returned to Leadville, calling it a day.
END

Day 3 of Summer 2024 Trip to Colorado, Huron Peak via Lulu Gulch Loop by Huang's Site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Category: Hiking, Summer 2024, Colorado, Travel Tags: San Isabel National Forest

Huang's Site

Fluctuat Nec Mergitur

Day 3 of Summer 2024 Trip to Colorado, Huron Peak via Lulu Gulch Loop

The Trip

Summit of Huron Peak

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