5/26/07 – Horseshoe Mountain & Peerless Mountain – Northeast Ridge, South Ridge

7.7 miles, 2700'


Erin and I wasted no time getting back to the high country after completing the drive from Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Picking up four drive-up state highpoints along the way only whetted our appetites for some hiking. I had planned to make Dyer Mountain our first climb of the year, thinking, "When else would we enjoy that peak more than after spending two years away from Colorado?" But late in the week, we thought about how we had already been to Iowa Gulch a few years ago to climb Sherman and Sheridan. Between our desire to go someplace new and some concerns about the snow, we decided on Horseshoe Mountain instead. We woke at 2:30 to start the familiar drive down US-285. We passed through Fairplay and turned up the Fourmile Creek road, a place which draws many 14er climbers but which we had not yet visited. We decided not to drive to the four-wheel drive parking area to get in a longer hike, but realized too late that we had already passed the Leavick townsite. Oh well! We just parked in a convenient flat area perhaps halfway between the townsite and the junction ahead, underneath a beautiful view of the Horseshoe cirque. Erin and I were both grinning ear to ear – we were back home!

An SUV whizzed by us while we got ready, and soon after, so did a Honda Element, but the Element braked and backed up. A would-be Sherman climber asking for directions perhaps? The window rolled down, however, and Jeff Valliere shouted, "Erin and Ryan?!" How fun to see a familiar face! We hadn't hiked with Jeff in almost three years when we climbed Little Bear. Jeff's party had the Boudoir Couloir on the agenda, but we could share the approach together at least. We hit the road at 6:00, and after we made the brief hike to the fork in the road, we saw Jeff's group getting ready. We met fellow FourteenerWorlder, Dave Hale, his wife Emily, and Jeff's wife Allison, plus the couples' dogs, Scooby, Shep, and Sierra.

We chatted while hiking up the road closer to Horseshoe's cirque. Jeff invited Erin and I to join them on the snow climb, but we hadn't brought our crampons and weren't mentally ready for a snow climb. We'd been dreaming of a gentle hike and decided to stick with the plan. Allison and Emily opted to join us, and they took responsibility of the dogs. As we talked, we lost track of Shep and realized that he had dashed halfway down the cirque towards Papa Hale. After some calls and encouragement, Shep raced back uphill to us. Ah, to have such boundless energy!

Allison and Emily decided to get some crampon practice in on the slopes below Horseshoe's northeast ridge, so Erin and I hiked on ahead toward the ridge crest. Despite all our time away in the lowlands, the two of us were feeling surprisingly, nay, shockingly good. Aside from walking around Pittsburgh, we had done little to stay in good hiking shape. All the same, here we were keeping a good, steady pace up one of Colorado's highest one-hundred peaks. I truly thought we'd be starting in a bigger hole upon our return! My heart beat rapidly with anticipation as I awaited the views across the Arkansas valley to the Sawatch Range. I gazed in awe at Mount Massive's massivity and peered over Peerless Mountain over to Sheridan, Dyer, and Sherman. Horseshoe's glorious cirque kept us company as we climbed higher, and Erin pointed out that we could see Jeff and Dave about to top out in the couloir about a half-mile away.

We pushed on and reached the top at 9:00. Woohoo! Our first Colorado summit in over ten months! We saw Jeff and Dave at the summit cabin to the south, and they soon joined us. We congratulated each other on our respective climbs before thinking about seeking shelter from the brisk winds at the summit cabin while waiting for Allison and Emily. Erin and I realized, though, that with the good time we'd made on the hike, we still had a good shot at getting to a barbeque we'd been invited to. We said our goodbyes, and then left for Peerless Mountain. Normally, I'm not too motivated by unranked 13ers like Peerless, but it was so close, it seemed like a perfect way to get some practice in for multi-peak climbs. I still maintain that there's nothing harder than beginning to ascend again after being lulled by the comforts of a descent, and Peerless was no exception. Those couple-hundred feet hurt! Atop Peerless's diminutive summit, Erin noticed a cool rock that looked a lot like petrified wood!

For the descent, I had my eye on a glissade down Peerless's east slopes. Erin didn't like the looks of things, so I was thinking about just following her back down the ridge when the wind got a hold of my visor and blew it fifteen feet down the slopes. Well I can't just go leaving it there, so I tucked away my poles, brought out my axe, and timidly worked my way down to it. It had been a while since I'd been on snow like that, so I took great care easing my way down. You can see me just a few feet from my hat in this shot that Jeff snapped. Once I retrieved my trusty visor, it was time to glissade down to Erin. What a hoot! It had been far too long. We picked a few more short but choice glissades and were down in the basin quickly and once again admiring Horseshoe's mighty cirque.

We dealt with some minor postholing in the basin, but made good time back to the car, completing just under a five-hour round-trip in paradise. We were back in Colorado, and it couldn't have felt better!