|
.:Getting to the trailhead:. To get to the Denny Creek trailhead, drive from Denver to Buena Vista. The most straightforward route is SW on US 285 through Fairplay to Johnson Village, then north for 2 miles on US 24 into town. You can also drive I-70 west to Copper Mountain, then south on CO 91 over Freemont Pass through Leadville, then US 24 30 miles south to Buena Vista. From the stoplight in Buena Vista (there's only one!), drive west on the Cottonwood Pass Road (Chaffee County 306) for 12 miles. The trailhead parking lot is on the north side of the road and well-signed. The road is usually maintained and passable to this point even in winter, where it's used largely as a staging area for snowmobilers. .:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. After a remarkably cold and snowy winter in Denver, it was time to get into the mountains for the new year. Yale seemed like a good choice...easy trailhead access, straightforward route, and while the avalanche potential on the main route on Yale isn't zero, it's a lot lower than other routes on other peaks. The weather forecast on February 3rd was for snow showers in the morning and windy conditions. The drive from Denver down US 285 started out uneventful in the predawn hours, and became hair-raising once we entered the South Park area. Known for it's strong winds, we were almost literally blown off the road several times, and visibilities dropped to zero. Still, we made it to Buena Vista unscathed and to the trailhead by 7:30. In the winter, the Cottonwood Pass road is generally maintained as far as the Denny Creek trailhead, and we didn't have any trouble getting there. We headed up the trail in a light but steady snowfall. The trail had obviously been used fairly recently, and there was a well-packed base under a couple inches of fresh, dry powder. The trail was well-defined all the way to the stream-crossing at 12,000', where it was abruptly lost in a patch of willows. We spent the next two hours slowly breaking trail through the willows and up the steep southwest slopes to treeline. Breaking trail was exhausting work as we postholed up to our waist in unconsolidated snow. As we pushed higher the light morning breeze turned into a stiff wind, and by treeline the winds were howling. Luckily, that translated into largely windswept terrain and hardpack snow conditions. We were more than happy to ditch our snowshoes at treeline and continue picking our way up the rocks. Of course, above treeline is where the winter really asserted itself, as the temperature dropped near zero and the wind blew at 50-55 mph. Glimpses of blue sky above the blowing snow told us the weather was breaking up, but it didn't to anything to lessen the brutal conditions. Making our way slowly through 12,600', we encountered a big herd of mountain goats, barely standing out as white dots in the blowing snow. I was amazed to see the herd of 30 or so, wandering around the tundra without a care or concern for the conditions. Of course, one look at us sent them quickly in the opposite direction, and we shortly found ourselves trudging through a minefield of goat droppings and small patches of yellow snow! The summit of Yale showed itself intermittently though the blowing snow, tantalizingly close. But at we hit 13,000' (give or take), it became apparent that the weather was going to win today...we were fighting for every step and not exactly making great progress. So reluctantly we turned back and called it a day. The descend back to treeline was challenging enough in the blowing snow and reduced visibility, but it the descent off the steep southwest slopes was really tough. Even though we'd blazed the trail on the way up, the snow was loose and dry enough that it was still treacherous going. Finally, on the valley floor we were able to go into cruise-control back to the trailhead, which was now packed with snowmobilers, tearing up and down the road. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
