BULL HILL
(13,761')October 8, 2008
By Tim Briese
8 1/2 miles, 4100' elevation gain, 7:20 roundtrip time
On a clear and crisp October morning I drove to the Black Cloud Trailhead on Highway 82 to begin the climb. The trailhead is 4.2 miles west of the village of Twin Lakes, and it could easily be missed because there are numerous pull-offs and driveways along this stretch of the road. It was marked by a tiny sign along the north side of the road which I could not recall noticing before on my many trips up and down this highway over the years. There is a nice parking area in the woods about a hundred feet off the road.
At 7:40 I left the 9700' trailhead and began hiking up the excellent but steep Black Cloud Trail with my lab Allie. Most of the aspen trees in the forest had lost their glowing yellow leaves in a cold storm which had moved through the area a few days before. The trail climbed northward along the east side of Black Cloud Creek, which was roaring in the woods nearby. After about a mile the trail crossed to the west side of the creek at 10,800 feet, and I began to look for a junction and a trail to take to the left which leads up to the old Fidelity Mine. This junction is described by both Garratt and Martin and by Roach (in his 14er guide, on a Mt. Elbert route), so I expected no problems in finding it, but when I came to a point where the trail crossed back to the east side of the creek I knew I had gone too far so I carefully retraced my steps looking more closely for the side trail. I found it this time and was surprised how faint it was. The first thirty feet or so of the side trail were obscured by sticks and brush that someone had apparently tossed over it, possibly to deliberately obscure it or perhaps inadvertently in the course of maintaining the primary trail. At any rate I cleared the sticks off the obscure path and marked the junction with a cairn to assist others who may wish to come this way. I later measured the distance from the first stream crossing to the junction and found it to be about 300 yards.
The side trail was quite faint at first but became somewhat more well defined after a few hundred yards. It switchbacked nicely up the slopes and when I neared timberline I paused to enjoy fine views of Rinker and La Plata Peaks across the valley to the south on this beautiful cloudless day. When I reached the last of the trees at 11,900 feet I passed an old cabin sitting on a hill above to the right. Just past the cabin I left the trail and struck off to the northwest up a grassy slope on Bull Hill=s lower southeast ridge. I followed the gentle grassy ridge nearly a mile to the northwest. Black Cloud Gulch lay below to the right and South Elbert towered above on the other side. At 12,800 feet the terrain steepened for a bit then I turned to the north and followed the peak=s grassy south ridge the rest of the way to the summit.
I arrived on top at 11:20 after hiking some four miles from the trailhead. I spent a pleasant 45 minutes on top enjoying the warm sunshine and gazing about at the nice views of La Plata, Casco, and Mt. Elbert. A dusting of snow from the recent storm graced the northern slopes of the surrounding peaks. I saw no register on the summit.
I am always a fan of loop hikes when they are feasible, and a possible descent route to the east down into the Black Cloud drainage caught my eye. After studying it a few minutes I decided to take the Bull by the horns, so to speak, and began bushwhacking down the peak=s eastern slopes toward the valley far below. I managed to stay on grassy slopes most of the way down on this 1200 foot descent. When I reached the upper end of the valley I paused to inspect a small emerald-colored lake at 12,400 feet before sauntering on down the drainage. I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle bushwhack down the scenic drainage on this warm and pleasant October day. Eventually I picked up the Black Cloud Trail along the eastern edge of the drainage at about 11,500 feet and followed it back to the junction I had found a few hours earlier. After a short break I cruised back down the trail to my truck, where I arrived about 3 p.m.
