BARD PEAK
(13,641 ft.)MT. PARNASSUS
(13,574 ft.)October 13, 2006
By Tim Briese
The suggested route to climb Bard Peak in Garratt and Martin=s 13er guide involves a steep bushwhack up through dense timber from Bakerville on I-70. That didn=t sound like much fun to me, so after consulting my map I decided to try a longer and much gentler trail approach from the west. I drove three miles west of Bakerville on I-70 and parked at the Herman Gulch Trailhead on the north side of the freeway at Exit 218. It was a clear and beautiful fall day, with a westerly breeze rustling through the pines. My labs and I were eager for this hike, so we briskly struck off up the trail in the golden sunshine at 10:20 in the morning.
Heavy snows had already pummeled the mountains, so I considered taking along my gaiters, ice axe, and possibly even snowshoes for this climb, but I was pleasantly surprised to observe on the drive to the trailhead that south-facing slopes, which I would be hiking on for the most part today, were melted nearly free of snow.
I hiked 200 yards up the fine Herman Gulch Trail to a junction, where I took the right fork on the somewhat lesser-used Watrous Gulch Trail. Traffic noise from I-70 was a bit annoying at first but I climbed up away from it in short order. The trail curved northward into Watrous Gulch, and after hiking a mile or so from the trailhead and climbing nearly a thousand feet I began to look for a turnoff to the right onto the Bard Creek Trail. This was not easy to find, because the junction turned out to be unsigned, and the first part of the Bard Creek Trail is quite faint. After searching for a bit I found the junction about 40 yards past a stream crossing, at about 11,200 feet, indicated by nothing more than a tall pole.
The remarkable Bard Creek Trail contours across a couple of gullies and then contours along the grassy southern slopes of Mt. Parnassus, right at about timberline, affording fine views of Torreys Peak off to the south and the I-70 corridor far below.
At about 11,900 feet the trail dropped into the gulch that comes up from Bakerville, the one that I could have bushwhacked up had I chosen the direct line of ascent. I was glad to have reached this point at timberline via an easy trail, though, rather than the tough bushwhack up through the timber. I was afforded here my first view of Bard Peak, high above to the northeast. I dropped about 200 feet into the gulch, left the trail, and proceeded to bushwhack up the easy drainage toward the Parnassus/Bard saddle. Along the way I found a nice spot to sit in the sunshine on the grassy tundra and eat my lunch.
I could have continued up to the saddle and followed the ridge to the right to Bard=s summit, but I thought it might be unpleasantly windy on the ridge, so instead I just bushwhacked up the peak=s grassy southwest slopes more or less directly toward the summit. I was not in a hurry today and set an easy pace up the relentless slope.
At 2:20 the dogs and I stepped onto the windswept summit. There was a large snowdrift there, the first significant patch of snow that I encountered on the hike. It likely hid any summit register that might have been there. Fine views presented themselves all around, particularly of Grays and Torreys, as well as Evans and Bierstadt off to the southeast. The temperature was a chilly 30 degrees, and the steady northwest wind soon induced me to put on my wind coat.
After a pleasant 20 minute rest I left the summit and headed down the west ridge, intent on continuing on to Mt. Parnassus. An easy climber=s trail took me down to the 13,100 foot saddle. The ridge ahead up to Parnassus looked a bit more difficult but turned out to be easier than it looked. There was a big rock outcropping along the way which turned out to be surprisingly simple to deal with, by climbing directly over its top.
I reached Parnassus= summit just after 3:30, a little less than an hour after leaving Bard. I gazed about at the equally fine views from this peak, now enhanced by the golden light from the late afternoon sun. I found a summit register and noted that about 70 climbers had signed in since July, which indicated to me the relative popularity of this 13er. While I sat and enjoyed the views of Bard and Torreys, the dogs scampered about exploring the relatively flat and expansive summit.
After 15 minutes I left and headed down Parnassus= broad south ridge and slopes. The going was mostly gentle and easy, with one minor rough spot along the way. Had I veered off to the left or right very much, though, the descent would have been markedly steeper and somewhat more difficult.
In about an hour I intersected the Bard Creek Trail at about 11,700 feet, and turned to the right and followed it back down into Watrous Gulch. The sun sank behind the ridge to the west as I descended, and at 6:05 I returned to my truck. I had not seen another soul all day. The route covered about nine miles, and entailed just under 4000 feet of elevation gain.
