CRYSTAL PEAK
13,852 ft.
October 17, 2001
By Tim Briese
The season was getting late, but I wanted to continue climbing mountains as long as conditions permitted. I now faced shorter daylight hours, windier weather, and some snow at higher elevations. I chose Crystal Peak because it was a new mountain for me that was fairly close to home, and one that was supposed to be rather easy for a high summit. I was also attracted by the fact that I could ascend one route and descend another, giving me the chance to explore two new valleys that I had never visited before.
I left home at 5:10 a.m. and headed off into the mountains. I went over Hoosier Pass just as the sun began to rise and reached the Spruce Creek Trailhead south of Breckenridge a few minutes later. I hit the trail with my two labs at 7:45 in the chilly October air. There were a couple of inches of snow on the lower portions of the wooded trail that had been packed down by numerous hikers on previous days. I picked my footing carefully to avoid slipping on icy spots.
After about a mile and a half I reached a lake in a meadow and the junction with the Wheeler Trail. I went right at this junction and followed the trail a short distance until I reached an old road which I followed up the valley. I discovered later that I could have gone left at the junction and continued on up the valley on the Spruce Creek Trail toward my destination, but my map did not show this. At the end of the old road I got on the Mohawk Lakes Trail and began to switchback steeply up a rocky headwall past the Continental Falls to a basin above. This headwall is very similar in elevation and form to the one in McCullough Gulch, the next valley to the south, and the one in the Crystal Creek valley to the north. I wondered what geological phenomenon came into play in their formation.
When I reached the top of the headwall I arrived abruptly at beautiful Lower Mohawk Lake, set in a scenic rocky basin at about 11,800 feet. The trail curved gracefully past the lake and climbed another rocky slope to Upper Mohawk Lake at 12,100 feet. Interestingly, the lower lake was covered with ice, while the upper one was not, apparently because the upper lake was more exposed to winds that kept it ice-free a little longer. The wind was indeed whipping up waves on the upper lake, as I sat in the shelter of a big rock on a shelf above the water and took a break. It was a cold, biting wind, and I feared for the worst when I would reach the higher exposed terrain near the summit. I was concerned about the wind even before I began the hike, for this was the day before a front was to arrive, when winds are typically on the increase.
After resting for a bit and putting on warmer gear, I continued on into the valley above. This was a beautiful place, a high valley above timberline, broad and nearly flat, with several lakes along the way. The sharp, pointed summit of Pacific Peak up at the head of the valley caught my eye, and I admired it all the way up the valley. There were many patches of snow, most of which I was able to skirt around, avoiding the need to use my gaiters. There was only a faint trail in places in this valley, so I resorted to bushwhacking about a mile and a half from Upper Mohawk Lake to where the terrain began to steepen. I passed three or four lakes along the way, all but one of which were frozen over.
Crystal Peak lay above the end of the valley to the right, with a formidable steep slope guarding easy passage up to its summit. I selected a line up the slope and left the comfort of the valley at 12,700 feet and made a grueling 500 foot ascent on rocks and grass up to a point where the angle relented. From there I hiked on up to Crystal’s west ridge and followed it past a field of snow about 200 yards to the summit. I was pleasantly surprised to find the wind quite moderate and reasonable along the ridge.
I reached the summit at 12 noon, and sat down to eat and rest. It was a relatively pleasant 31 degrees on top, and to my amazement the wind was nearly calm. I had envisioned hunkering down behind a rock for protection against howling winds up there. The views were beautiful in all directions on this sunny day. Most impressive was the dramatic northeast face of Pacific Peak across the valley to the south. Off to the southwest lay the Sawatch Range, with the snow-laden Elks beyond. To the west in the distance was Holy Cross, with Notch Mountain and its characteristic notch in the foreground. Below to the northwest just a few miles away I could see the Copper Mountain ski area parking lots along I-70. I realized that Crystal Peak was the high summit I had seen from down there on the highway so many times. To the northeast, less than a mile away, lay Peak 10, with the Breckenridge ski area on the other side of it out of my sight. Below to the east lay the Crystal Lakes and the valley through which I would descend. I studied my route down as thoroughly as I could, for I had never been that way before.
At 12:30 I roused my resting dogs and began the descent down the northeast ridge. This was an easy class two route, with many patches of rather deep snow that I was just able to avoid. When I reached the saddle between Crystal and Peak 10, I headed down a steep grassy slope toward Upper Crystal Lake. At the lake I had to choose between the snow covered Crystal Trail or a steep shortcut to descend to Lower Crystal Lake. Based on long experience, I chose the trail, reasoning that it would be easier. In spite of having to wade through six to twelve inches of snow on many stretches of the trail, I was pleased with my choice, when I saw later how steep and rough the bushwhack route would have been. The Crystal Trail neatly bypasses the rugged headwall between the upper and lower lakes as it angles gently down the slope above to the north.
At about 1:30 I reached Lower Crystal Lake and sat down on a grassy meadow at 12,000 feet to rest. Father Dyer Peak (13,615') towered grandly above to the south. Another hiker approached the lake from below and waved to me as he walked around to the other side of the water. He was the only other hiker I saw all day. From the lake I headed down the rough four wheel drive road that descends down the valley.
When I reached timberline I saw a turnoff for Francie’s Cabin, one of the huts in the Colorado mountain hut system that are used primarily to shelter skiers and snowshoers in the winter. I had often heard about these huts but had never seen one in person, so I hiked 200 yards up a spur trail to take a look. I was surprised to find a fine structure that looked more like a palatial resort cabin than a hut. It was a three story cabin with numerous windows, a steep metal roof, and a fresh coat of stain on its log siding. Outside was a solar collector and a separate outbuilding that housed a sauna. I walked around the vacant cabin and peered into several windows and saw a kitchen, fireplace, several pine tables, cushioned benches, and separate bedrooms with bunk beds. It looked like it had served as a cozy shelter for many a backcountry winter traveler. A sign along the trail to the cabin warned that it was illegal to take dogs within 200 feet of it, because the occupants used melted snow for drinking water. I think I would use a water filter anyway.
I headed on down the steep and rough four wheel drive road, carefully picking my way across frequent patches of packed, slippery snow, and reached the trailhead at 3 p.m. It was warm and pleasant in the mid afternoon sun, although I noticed that the frozen ground had not thawed out in the shade beside my truck.
It had been another great hike to explore a new place in the mountains. The eleven mile hike was a little more grueling than I had anticipated, for I had fallen into the trap of thinking that a 13er should automatically be easier than a typical 14er. I could have made the hike easier, though, by driving on to the higher trailhead for the Mohawk Lakes Trail, if I had not been interested in touring the entire loop I had taken. I was glad I had done it this way, though.
