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.:Getting to the trailhead:. The drive to the conventional trailhead requires a 4x4 to get the entire distance. From Denver, drive southwest on US 285 all the way to Johnson's Village, then north on US24 through Buena Vista to Chaffee County 390 (Clear Creek Reservoir Road) for 11 miles. This dirt road is fairly well maintained, with a little washboard action, but nothing severe. At 11 miles you'll come to the Winfield townsite, and from there take a left across Clear Creek. Non-4x4's will need to park about 1/4 mile along, where there's some obvious parking. 4x4's can continue about 2 miles along a bouncy narrow road to the Forest Service's closure gate. .:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. Time for a little fall/winter climbing. With a few early season snowstorms having left their mark, Huron seemed like a good option that wouldn't present too much difficulty with variable snow conditons. The only question for this day would be whether or not driving all the way to the trailhead would be feasible. The dirt road that is Chaffee County 390 was almost completely dry all the way to Winfield. But from Winfield the 4x4 road was a little more challenging than usual. Being mostly shaded, the road was both snow and ice covered, making for a challenging approach in the predawn darkness. Still, it wasn't too difficult to navigate all the way to the closure gate. It was unseasonably warm as the sun rose, near to 40 degrees. I had timed it to the point that it was just light enough to hike without a headlamp. The trail heads off to the east (left) right at the closure gate, and almost immediately begins a series of moderate switchbacks, thanks to the efforts of the Colorado Fourteener Initiative trail crews some years back. The trail was mostly clear at the start, but gradually became snow-covered as we climbed higher and especially into the trees. Approaching treeline, the incredibly panoramic vista of Ice Mountain & the Three Apostles comes into view, along with your first views of Huron itself....a mellow, symmetric peak rising 2000 feet straight to the east. The snow-dusted peaks were all shrouded by a thick haze, effects of the massive fires burning in California during the fall of 2007. Past treeline there is a large, open basin beneath Huron's summit, and there was a bit of postholing to do here, thanks to tha accumulated snowfall. The trail continues across the basin and begins once again to test your legs as it climbs and switchbacks up the slopes of Huron. From a saddle point around 13,600', the trail stays on or just below the NW ridge all the way to the 14,003' summit. As is often the case, the light breezes around 11,000' translated to sharp, stinging cold wind above 13,000', and I was thankful that I'd remembered a down jacket and balaclava. Approaching the summit, the wind actually decreased back to a lighter breeze, making for a very pleasant day on the summit. The views of the rest of the Sawatch range were muted by the smoky haze, to the point the only identifiable peaks that I could see were Missouri Mountain straight east, and LaPlata to the north. Due to the wind, we didn't stay on top for very long. The descent was a bit on the tricky side, since the recent couple inches of snow did little more than make the rocky trail slippery. I took a couple minor pratfalls on my butt, but nothing serious. Once we were back to treeline, the trail had become a muddy, slippery mess as the temperatures rose into the mid-50s. Still, it wasn't too long before we had picked our way back to the trailhead. It was just about noon when we got back to the trailhead. Ben and Dex plopped down in the back of the jeep and were almost immediately asleep, and I enjoyed the ambient sound of labrador snoring as I made my way back to Denver. |
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