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Ryan, Erin, and Kurt picked me up in Arvada at 6:00 a.m. for the quick drive out to Bailey and on to the Stoney Pass th. We started the trek into the trees at 7:30. Kurt used compass bearings to get us started in the right direction. We headed southwest through the trees upward and onward. At first, the bushwhacking wasn't too bad, but the deadfall continued to proliferate. Our first objective was a protruding granite knoll on the Northwest Slopes. The steepness of route lessened to some extent just before we arrived at our target. On the right, Ryan scrambles up the granite to survey the surroundings. Trees made it nearly impossible to locate landmarks and position.
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We found that Kurt's compass skills had put us exactly on track. We could see a low point on a much higher ridge to the southwest, which was to become our next chunk of work. The deadfall continued to worsen, though we expediently made our way up toward the ridge. We saw some bear tracks in the snow on the way up, which was surprising. The snow on the ground was less than I had expected, perhaps 2" for this part of the route. There were a few areas that required us to skirt boulders, as they were covered with a slick coating of snow. At the top of the last of these obstacles, we took a minute to take in surroundings, as we hadn't seen much but trees and ground since our granite scramble. Eventually, we arrived at the only section with a break in the trees at around 11,200' (photo on left).
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Kurt got our last bearing in order and we could just see the tiny prominence of the West Peak of Buffalo. The final 300' went by quickly, and we arrived at the East summit with a grand view of the Lost Creek, most notably Bison and McCurdy Peaks. The summit boulders were easier to navigate than I had expected, even with a fresh coating of snow. On the right Kurt stands on the West Peak overlooking the route up. It was chilly on the summit with a little bit of wind. Our quick haul up had caused some sweat, which cooled things down considerably once we were stationary. It was 10:15 a.m. when we arrived. We spent a good bit of time on top identifying peaks and perusing the register - lots of familiar names.
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We were able to follow our tracks down to about the last 1,400', when Kurt employed compass bearings again. We ascended several granite monoliths to enhance our Lost Creek experience. One in particular was unclimbable without some pro. Our route back to the vehicle did not stray at all from the proper trajectory. I was somewhat taken aback by the Bailey establishment featured in this photo. We stopped of at the Bucksnort Saloon for a great post-hike burger and pitchers. |
