Point 12,644', East Buffalo Peak 13,300' and West Buffalo Peak 13,326' 07/24/2005

These peaks had been on my wishlist for a long time. It was a good weekend to fit these in since I was burnt out on long drives and wanted to do something different. I followed Jon Bradford's info on Summitpost. Getting to the trailhead was very straight-forward, and I set off at 6:45 am, trying to be expedient given forecasts. Soon mosquitoes gave creedence to the range name these peaks terminate, adding more reason not to dilly-dally. I tried following road and trails, but there were just too many of them, and they generally were going in the wrong direction. I just headed toward the southeast to reach the saddle between 12644 and East Buffalo. Soon I was out of the trees and looking at the steep northwest slopes of 12644. I opted to scramble directly up the slope in hopes of losing the mosquitoes, and getting some elevation gain out of the way. The morning light was delayed somewhat by clouds, making for a unique sunhit on East Buffalo. Where I ended up on the ridge above was not planned, but was so close to 12644, I had no choice but to bag it. The rest of the day's peaks were lined up well from the summit at 8:10 am.

I high-tailed it over to the low point on the saddle at 12,300 and began the ascent of East Buffalo's Northeast Ridge. It looked from below that the route would traverse around the rock bands on the ridge proper, but as I ascended, it was more clear from past traffic that assaulting it directly was the norm. Initially, it was loose scree, but after 50' or so, the rock was more solid and less exposed. This part went by very quickly, and the final gentle path to the summit, about 150' of vertical was a pleasant finish. There were several recent entries in the register, but no one to be found except at campgrounds below. It had looked all morning like the clouds were going to do something, though nothing ever really changed other than producing a nearly indetecable sprinkle from time to time. It began to clear up more as the day progressed.

I departed to West Buffalo, the main priority for the day at 8:50 am. The ridge was good fun, with occasional scrambling where desired. The northern side of the ridge is a sharp contrast to the southern aspect, and staying on the crest makes for a nice balance. It was warming up nicely as the morning wore on. There was a large block on the crest that was fun to ascend with some minor moves. Soon, I was treading the final mellow slopes to Buffalo's large summit. I didn't stay long and began my descent at 9:20 am. Views of Mount Harvard were interesting, though it was too early to really see much of the Tenmile Range due to sun angle. The descent was fairly obvious until getting into the trees again. I trended generally northeast to intersect my tracks trying to loose as little elevation as possible. I ended up regaining a lot of unnecessary elevation to be in a position to retrace my steps, but didn't mind too much. The predictable ATV crowd was there to greet me at the road. I got heading home at 11:30 am, appreciating the area's proximity.