5/16/04 – Mount Ouray – Northeast Ridge, descent via East Ridge

7.7 miles, 4470'


I've felt the pull to climb Mount Ouray since I first laid eyes on it. Given our success on Mount Hope the week before and a trip report for Ouray from Jason Halladay and company, I thought it would be a great time to give it a try. The plan was to hike the East Ridge to the summit and then see if we felt like descending the Northeast Ridge to complete a circle-tour of the Devils Armchair, a large east-facing cirque that is Ouray's defining feature. In part, this was a tough decision to make because I thought we'd be missing out on the notable groves of aspen near Ouray, which are reputed to be glorious in the autumn. But now I'm sure I'll be back, if only to climb Ouray's gorgeous neighbor.

Erin and I left the Grays Creek "Trailhead" at 6:45. I should have read the route description more carefully, but we saw a use trail leaving the small parking area and we followed it. This trail led us out of the forest quickly and into a small meadow, with a large aspen grove to our left, Grays Creek somewhere within. The morning air felt crisp and smelled heavenly, while we passed a number of rock outcrops, tiny pinhead-sized flowers and, here and there, a cactus. As we continued, our trail began to fade. We'd quickly find another, but I suspect that we switched to game trails at some point in the meadow.

Our latest trail led us back to the trees, and we headed left to find Grays Creek, which we knew we should continue to parallel. We found a small, mostly dry creekbed, and began to follow it up. This path still didn't feel right, though, so we turned left again and headed for the crest of a minor ridge. We could now look back to the Northern Sangres and Cottonwood Peak. We took a quick break to soak in the views and to try to orient ourselves. We couldn't see enough of the surroundings nearby to gauge our location, however, so we climbed higher on our small ridge. At around 10,800', we could see to Ouray, and we knew we were off route. The Grays Creek drainage was now apparent, and we could even faintly hear the water rushing down the slopes – something we hadn't heard all morning. Another smaller creek separated us from Grays. At this point, we didn't feel like bushwhacking down, up, and back down to Grays Creek to try to find a trail we didn't know we could find. Looking over the topo, I could see we had a head start on attaining Ouray's Northeast Ridge. We'd just have to climb up and over Point 11,900, and we'd be on our way.

To call the climb up Point 11,900 a bushwhack does the word little justice. Small, sparse aspens led to patches of open talus. Near the top, the trees switched over to some small pines. Along the way I decided it'd be a good idea to puncture my scalp with a pointy, dead branch. Erin tended to my wounds, and then we resumed the climb to the point's summit. I imagined Point 11,900 to be a seldom visited place, so when I reached the top, I was surprised to find three summit cairns. Our view over to UN 13,742 was fabulous, and drew us on to the saddle where we'd join the described route up Ouray's Northeast Ridge in Roach's 13er book.

The ridge was mostly dry, and we cruised on up while admiring the breathtaking view north across the valley to Mount Shavano. Once atop the first bump in the ridge, we noticed how the Northeast Ridge meanders its way toward Ouray's summit. We disturbed a couple of ptarmigan that had hunkered down, hoping we wouldn't see them. They were nowhere near as rambunctious as the ptarmigans we encountered on Hope last week! After reaching Point 12,761, the ridge became more rugged, and we stayed on the north side of the ridge to bypass this tougher section. Then it was a long talus climb to gain Ouray's upper heights. The winds picked up dramatically as we climbed. At the summit, we signed the register, took a shot of Antora Peak, which is nearly as prominent as Mount Ouray, and moved on to escape the wind. We started descending the East Ridge, and we found a wind shelter to use while we ate and rested. As we did, we noticed a guy climbing the East Ridge, the first person we had seen all day. Descending the East Ridge was a gas. We were skidding and sliding the whole way down on perfectly slushy snow, and we descended the 1400' to the ridge's broad section in a matter of minutes. I couldn't help but sneak in one more photo of the Northern Sangres before we got too low to see the San Luis Valley.

More snow aided our progress for our descent into the Devils Armchair, including two nice long patches that served as excellent switchbacks. A few more minutes and we were in the Armchair, ready to make our way to the bristlecone forest we had been looking forward to. I love being around these ancient trees, and we could soon tell we were amidst the largest stand of bristlecones we've had the privilege of walking through. Is the reason deadfall is so prevalent among bristlecones because decomposition occurs at a much slower rate near treeline? Regardless of the reason, we find the texture of the dead trees' wood to be fascinating. In the midst of the forest, we took a glissade down a very small slope and nearly careened into a pair of ptarmigan. Poor fellows, I'm sure we scared them half to death!

We found the head of Grays Creek and began to follow it down. There were just a few puddles of water in the creekbed, but as we descended, we watched it come to life. The terrain here looked reminiscent of what we encountered on Rosalie Peak with dense tufts of grass and prevalent, small pools of water. I wonder if this is another location in Colorado where Arctic tundra lives? We had a fabulous time, high in the gulch, because the creek was mostly covered with snow. We slid our way through the slush until we reentered the forest.

Grays Creek grew increasingly lovely. Now in the shade of the trees, the small stream's bed was covered in mosses, and the overall impression was one of great lushness. Soon, we were out of the gulch cut by Grays Creek, and we returned to the aspen grove that dominates this lower section of the hike. This truly would be an enchanting place to visit in September, the aspen ablaze with fall colors. Soon, we were certain that this trail was completely different from the one we used in the morning. This trail remained easy to follow all the way to our parking spot. Only near the lot is the trail ever really obscure, but look to your left and toward the large willows near Grays Creek to assist in locating the trail.

Ouray lived up to my expectations, and we had a great time spending a second weekend in a row in the Sawatch Range. It's hard not to recommend this hike for the autumn, but I did find the snow to greatly expedite the descent, which is always appreciated. Summer is returning to the hills, though, and I couldn't be happier!