6/1/03 – Electric Peak – North Ridge

15.25 miles, 5460'


A fine way to kick off the month is to start it in the mountains. The Sangre de Cristos would have nothing of this sentiment on Sunday, but Erin and I managed to sneak one by Electric Peak anyway.

We headed out from Denver just before dusk on Saturday night. We had spent the earlier evening hours with Kurt Traskos, making up for a hike up Silverheels that we three had to scratch due to car issues. He came over for an impromptu Mexican fiesta – Kurt made his signature guacamole, and we all contributed to some tasty made-from-scratch enchiladas. We were impressed with Kurt's cooking skills, and I think he was likewise impressed with our well-stocked, if cramped, kitchen.

Enchiladas and beers are not the best pre-hike food, but I've hiked on a stomach full of worse. We ate so much the night before, Erin and I barely ate during this entire trip! My full belly made me sleepy rather early in the drive, and I had to pull over a few times to shut my eyes for thirty minute spells. Fortunately, Erin was tired, too, so she wasn't annoyed by our lack of progress, but our stops meant we didn't make it to the Major Creek TH until after 2:00 a.m. The Major Creek TH is just a bit further along Saguache CR-65, not even a mile away from the Hot Springs TH Erin and I had used for Cottonwood Peak two weeks earlier. Access to this TH is similarly easy for a low-clearance 2WD vehicle.

We managed to be on the trail right at 3:00 a.m. Unlike the Hot Springs TH, where there were a handful of people who had signed in for Cottonwood Peak in the past half a year, there wasn't a single person signed in at the Major Creek TH who listed Electric Peak as their destination. I'm starting to fall in love with these more obscure peaks.

Private land blocks the most direct entrance to Major Creek. Access may have changed fairly recently, because our initial approach differed from what's described in the CMC book and the G&M book. Consequently you skirt the edge of the northern ridge that lines Major Creek before dropping 200' into the drainage. Here you pick up what once was a road, but the lush vegetation in Major Creek has overtaken it to the point where you can rarely recognize this fact. This is a trail for all practical purposes.

The Major Creek Trail is an interesting approach in that you walk for around four miles before gaining any significant elevation. It's not quite flat, but after tackling Sunshine via Mill Creek last week, it felt like it to us! One of the first things you notice, even in the dark, is that Major Creek has its fair share of beavers (Garner Creek, one drainage north, is serious beaver country, as well). Early and often, the trail serves as a secondary creekbed.

The hike was going well for the first couple of hours. Three creek crossings had gone just fine, and we only had one more remaining. Once we reached it, though, we could see with our headlamps that recent beaver activity had completely flooded the old crossing, leaving us to devise a new one in the dark. We continued on the south side of the creek, climbing slopes to dodge large aspen, which had been felled in all directions. Beaver logging is clearly an endeavor of the trial-and-error variety, but they do a remarkable job nevertheless. Dipping down again toward the ponds, I spotted a probable crossing and called Erin near. Crossing a series of logs and one portion of established dam, we got across.

The approach from here was uneventful, though we didn't like how grey the sky was as it lightened during the morning. After passing through a good many meadows, the drainage splits. Heading to the right leads you to the unranked twelver Mount Neidhardt and an alternate route up Electric Peak. We wanted to stay on the more established trail that leads to Electric Pass, so we beared left at a cairn marking the split.

After gaining around 1600' over nearly five miles, we finally started earning the substantial elevation gain that still remained. Also, we gained some nice views of Lakes Peak as we continued through the trees and more meadows. We were stunned by the lack of snow on this beautiful thirteener. Conditions had changed completely since two weeks ago, and we were thrilled with our decision to leave our snowshoes at home. We reached an upper basin that held some heavy avalanche debris. There was snow here, and we thought we'd finally need our gaiters. Almost all the snow, however, was covered with a layer of pine needles and other avalanche debris which kept the snow underneath solid enough to support us even while other snow in the area was rotten. The avalanche debris zone was also the point that we lost our trail. Our pass, however, was easy to spot, so we headed directly up what had been the path of the avalanche. Soon, we intersected the trail again, and we had fine switchbacks to follow the rest of the way to the pass. Also, the skies had been clearing, and we were encouraged by our quick progress.

We made the pass between Lakes and Electric at 8:00 a.m. and were treated to the striking northeast face of Electric Peak's unnamed 13,220' subpeak. The subpeak's craggy features reminded this climber of Mount of the Holy Cross as seen from its standard route. It's a stiff 800' to the top of the subpeak, and there was minimal snow to avoid, even on this north-facing ridge. Once atop the subpeak, I was disappointed to see that Cottonwood Peak's summit was entirely obscured by clouds. A good half mile remained between us and Electric at this point, but most of this distance is covered in a quick and level tundra walk through a shallow saddle. One loses but 100' before beginning your final ascent of Electric Peak. In the midst of this traverse, conditions began to change rapidly, and clouds overtook our summit just as we were nearing its base.

Not gonna give up now, though! Onward we pushed, summmitting just after 9:00 a.m. I was bummed because I really wanted to see Banjo Lake from above – it's shaped just like a banjo. But we were cold, in the clouds, and with only about 50 feet of visibility, so we tagged the large summit cairn and turned around. We dashed back down, reaching the long saddle quickly. We could see more of the terrain ahead of us, but not too much more.

We made it back to the pass before 10:00, and spent a few minutes deliberating over our future. We desperately wanted to add a second peak for the day, and Lakes Peak stands a mere half a mile and 900 feet above Electric Pass. It remained in the clouds, though, and my barometer was dropping slowly, but dropping nonetheless. We made the painful decision to abandon our attempt. Not a huge deal, though. We just need a good weather day in the future, and we'll bag Thirsty Peak, Lakes Peak, and Eagle Peak (a 'siren' peak if there ever was one) together from an eastern approach.

Once we returned to the avalanche debris, we took a break. We put on our rain gear because it was starting to sprinkle. This turned into a more consistent shower soon, and the rain lifted my spirits because I was glad to be off the range crest. As if to confirm this notion, we began to hear some nearby thunder, as well.

Returning to the long flat drainage we got to enjoy lush Major Creek with some daylight. It's very similar to Garner Creek, except it's flatter, broader, and the beavers seem to be more established here. I like coming across what I call a 'test log,' which may be just that: a test piece for beavers entering their second year of life, when they're expected to contribute more toward the family dam-building. These fallen logs have several cuts of varying degrees and wood chips all around them. The rain had ended after about an hour-long shower, and we looked back to see clearing clouds on the range crest. Lakes Peak appeared with a fresh dusting of snow on it.

I kept looking sharp for our first creek crossing where we'd ideally use our makeshift dam crossing again. Fortuitously, I spotted it as soon as we came upon it, somehow recognizing a pattern of fallen trees that I had noted many hours before in the dark. I thought we'd have trouble with slippery logs, but they had dried just enough to afford an easy crossing.

As we neared the end of the drainage, I chanced to look back at just the right time to see Electric Peak framed beautifully by the drainage, spring green aspen trees behind us and the Peak with a fresh dusting of its own above us. It was a perfect picture, and I'm glad we took it, because Electric would snag some more clouds and wouldn't reveal itself to us again until later in the afternoon after all the snow had melted.

There's some cool rock formations near the end of the drainage on the north ridge, including a rare, natural arch in some stone we couldn't recognize. We could see the private land now, a small grouping of houses at the foot of the drainage (according to the quad, the lucky owners even have their own hot springs!).

We made it to the switchbacks that would take us back up to our TH's elevation and started ascending out of Major Creek. Electric Peak finally showed itself again here, and if you're coming in during the day, Electric is really the only peak you see from this vantage. It's long, flat northern subpeak is it's defining characteristic from this angle, and flanking Electric on its right is Mount Neidhardt.

We saw some wild asparagus along the trail as we reached some drier ground. It was beyond the point for eating, as it was far more 'open' than the stalks you're used to buying at the market, but it was cool for me to see for the first time. Erin wasn't as impressed because asparagus grew on the farm where she grew up.

We reached our car just before 2:00, giving us a nice 11 hour round trip time. After cleaning up, we took a brief detour and checked out Valley View Hot Springs. They're members only on the weekends, but after 3:00 p.m. on Sundays they're back to letting in non-members. We were tempted by their offer of a two-hour dip for $8 in their many pools, but we had to get back to Denver. Also, non-members are allowed on Fridays, they said, before 10:00 p.m.

Again I couldn't help but pull over as we departed on County Road GG. The views of the range from the San Luis Valley were striking, as always: the Blanca Group, Kit Carson, Rito Alto, Electric, Cottonwood, Bushnell, and Hunts were all basking in glorious afternoon sun. If we could have started at 8:00 in the morning, we would have spent a delightful afternoon on the range crest. Too bad you can't predict these things!