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After realizing I had forgotten my camera at the North Lake Creek Trailhead for Lackawanna Peak, I decided to drive back to Leadville to pick up a disposable camera and try Dyer mountain. Only when I tried to put the disposable in my pack did I notice that I in fact did bring my digital after all. As a "Sweet Lemon" rationalization, I thought to myself - Hey, I need an excuse to bag Dyer anyway. That is how the day turned from sour to OK. I had for some time been curious about how to park below 10,800' in order to have a 3,000' foot ascent, but my altimeter came in handy, showing a 500 foot gain from downtown Leadville at the first stretch of shoulder on the dirt road from ASARCO mine (100 yards from the pavement). This meant starting at 10,600 and adding 3.4 miles to an already short 4.2 round trip from the end of the dirt road which I was hiking. The road section, although shorter, took more time than the actual climbing for some odd reason. On the right is a view of Mount Sherman through the trees near the start of my route at 9:00 a.m.
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The road ended soon enough, and rather than looking at the guidebook, I meandered up some very old switchbacks until I could get out of the wind. Then I realized the error of my way, and traversed into the drainage I should have been aiming for. There were a few annoying snowfields en-route to my destination - the Dyer/Gemini saddle. Post-holing was minimal compared to the last few months, but was a solemn reminder of the heavy late snowpack. I followed someone's tracks (holes) to minimize the impact and found myself heading for the South Ridge of Dyer, which was not an unappealing prospect after catching a glimpse of the standard route - lots of scree and talus since the trail was covered up. On the left is a picture from the standard route which I took on the descent.
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Climbing up 30+ degree snow without an ice axe is somewhat troubling. I'm just grateful that the steeper slopes had solid snow. The South Ridge looked like it would save some distance, though I would not try this route without good spring snow because what was under the snow was undoubtedly rotten scree. I found that ascending on steep (solid) snow consumed much less energy than toying with talus, and in short order found myself on the South Ridge. The blocks that I had seen earlier from below looked easier from this perspective, and I was ready to continue forward. The ridge was similar to that of Mount Massive from its South Ridge, with large blocks in the way, but easily climbed if desired.
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Abrubptly, the route was at its end; no false summits, and a commanding view of the Tenmile-Mosquito, Front, and Sawatch Ranges. I think this peak has the best view of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, as the location of Dyer is perfectly centered between the two. It was 11:00 a.m., and I didn't feel so bad about my morning blunders. Descending the East Ridge was a lot easier than my ascent route, though I do prefer descending versus ascending Mosquito Range scree. I was surprised to have done so well since I had been sick the last week. I was back on the road at 1:00 p.m. and looking forward to food since my only Clif Bar - from 2002? had perished.
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