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Two climbs had consecutively been aborted in the last month on Crestone Peak
because of weather, and Mount Columbia because of snow and routefinding issues.
I thought Horseshoe Mountain would be a good choice because of the perceived
ease of routefinding. I parked at the Fourmile campground to ensure a 3,000'
vertical ascent. At 7:30 a.m. I began the 15 mile hike with subdued optimism.
About 15 minutes into the hike, Greg Helmerick & Co. passed me in the Dodge Dakota
he told me told look for. It was 2.5 miles to Leavick, where I intercepted Greg at
their parking spot. The snow on the road was well packed, which was a welcome
characteristic after my snowshoe postholing stint on Mount Columbia. On the right
is a view of Horseshoe from the road below Leavick. My large North Face pack was convenient for the Snowshoes, but I was beginning
to question the need for them.
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Catching up to Greg, we hiked up the remainder
of the road before the turnoff to the South. For about 100 yards, my snowshoes
were put to good use, after which the snow was consolidated again or non-existent.
The trail into the basin below the Sheridan / Horseshoe saddle was well covered
with snow, so a little routefinding did come into play - at least it was above treeline.
Traversing snowfields led me to the upper stretches of the basin and pointed towards
the right direction to the saddle. On the left is a view of Horsehoe from midway up
the slope to the saddle.
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A distance of about 300 vertical feet remained to the saddle when the wind really
started to pick up. I had to turn 180 degrees a few times to avoid blowing snow
crystals. At the saddle, it was quite cold and very windy, shifting my body to the
left a few feet at times. The view of the route from the saddle is shown on the
right. At this point, my pack was beginning to feel quite heavy, as I had never
hauled anything but a 10 lb day pack above 12,000' before. The route was quite
obvious once beginning the ascent from the saddle. The views of Mount Sherman and
the Sawatch range were fantastic, although I didn't appreciate the wind from the
direction the vantages were available from.
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Finally a summit after two failures. I met John Prater on the summit at 11:30 a.m., and we shared
a few words and descended, as the wind was somewhat uncomfortable. Needless to say,
the descent was much faster than the ascent, and I was glad to arrive at my truck at
2:30 p.m. Snow ascents tend to take a lot more out of me, and it was probably my toughest
day since North Apostle in September. This was the only highest 100 climb besides North Apostle
I have been on where I encountered other people, but this was somewhat planned.
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