Gray Wolf Mountain 13,602' and Mount Spalding 13,842' 07/09/05

With a need to get a lot of work done on a remodeling project over the weekend, I opted for a good workout close to home. I started out at Guanella Pass around 6:00 am, heading on the Bierstadt trail for about half a mile before heading northeast toward Gray Wolf's west ridge. The willow-whacking wasn't bad at all, though there were some wet areas to avoid. Soon I came across a trail and took it about a mile to a small tarn with a great reflection of Mount Bierstadt in the morning sunlight. The trail heads steeply up to the expansive slopes above small cliffs (shown on right). I thought this would be a perfect trail to take all the way back to the pass on the descent, but was ultimately punished by willows and muddy bogs where it petered out about .2 miles from the parking lot. A monotonous ascending traverse finally brought me to the west slope of Gray Wolf proper (photo below).
	It was already very warm, and I took my time on the 900' ascent to Gray Wolf's summit. The grassy slope was enjoyable compared to talus/scree romps one could expect in other ranges. The highest ground was off to the northeast of the false summit I first attained. The decent from Gray Wolf to Spalding was swift, and now 900' again separated me from another summit. The distance covered to begin ascending was slightly complicated by standing water which wouldn't have been much of a concern except I had running shoes on. Another trailless grunt up the north slopes of Spalding was rather uninspiring until the last 50 feet of gain, with great views of Mount Evans and Spalding's East Face. The highest rock was easy to board (photo below), and I soon began the ascent back to the Pass at 9:20 am, where willows still managed to reacquaint themselves with me. Though totalling 9 miles, this still seemed very easy. I was back in action on the remodel by 12:30 - gotta love the location.