HORSESHOE MOUNTAIN
13,898 ft.
September 27, 2003
By Tim Briese
I left home at 7:30 on a sunny Saturday morning with my 16 year old daughter Emily to climb Horseshoe Mountain. Although she was a veteran of nearly 20 Colorado 14ers, Emily hadn’t climbed to a high summit in a couple of years due to health problems, but she enthusiastically proclaimed herself ready now to try one once again. We drove up the Fourmile Creek Road southwest of Fairplay toward the trailhead. It was a gorgeous fall day with a deep blue sky, and flaming yellow aspens greeted us around every corner. The aspen colors this year were the finest I had seen in many years. About a mile before the road ends at a gate at Mt. Sherman’s upper four wheel drive trailhead, we turned left on another old road at about 11,600 feet that leads up into Horseshoe Gulch. This turned out to be a rather easy four wheel drive route. We decided to park near the last of the trees at 11,900 feet and hike the rest of the way because we didn’t want the climb to be too easy.
At 10:30 we struck off up the road on foot on this bright, sunny morning. Our labs Allie and Jorie ran all about, excited to be on another climb. The road took us up into a broad basin where we were afforded a fine view of Horseshoe’s namesake east-facing cirque. A young woman hiking alone up the road overtook us and asked if this was the way to Mt. Sherman! I informed her that she was in the wrong basin and told her where Sherman was, but she decided to push on upward anyway, hoping, perhaps, to follow the ridge above north to Sherman. Presently a jeep passed us driven by an older woman who appeared to be about 60 who was also alone.
At about 12,300 feet we left the road and began to bushwhack up slopes on the right side of the basin, in the direction of the saddle between Horseshoe and Peerless Mountain (13,348'). After we climbed a few hundred feet we could see a shimmering lake lying in the basin far below, which my map identified as the Leavick Tarn. The dogs saw it, too, and ran all the way down to the water for a drink, apparently not minding the extra 400 feet of elevation gain that they reclimbed when they ran back up! The woman in the jeep parked beside the lake and began to slowly hike up an old road that switchbacked to the right up toward the heights above.
At 12,900 feet Emily began to suffer from effects of the altitude and was forced to stop and rest for a while. She took a nap for about 45 minutes while I sat and gazed about at the surrounding grandeur. After awakening she felt somewhat better but not well enough to continue, so she elected to hike back down to the lake and rest while I continued on up to the summit. She took Allie with her, but Jorie was indecisive, at first following me, then running a half mile down to join Emily, before sprinting all the way back up the slope to accompany me!
I rapidly blasted up the grassy slopes to the Horseshoe/Peerless saddle at 13,180 feet. I could have hiked up the switchbacks of an old mining road all the way to the saddle but preferred a more direct approach. I heard a big rockslide a half mile away to the south in the Horseshoe Cirque, which lasted for nearly a minute, and saw a resulting cloud of dust rise into the air above its rim.
I was greeted by a stiff westerly wind when I reached the saddle and found it necessary to don another coat. I turned to the south and followed a nice trail up the crest of Horseshoe’s northeast ridge about three-fourths of a mile toward the summit. At 13,800 feet the ridge leveled off and I followed the gentle summit ridge 150 yards south to the highest point, where I arrived about 2 p.m. It took about 45 minutes to reach the summit from the point where I had left Emily at 12,900 feet.
The summit was broad and flat, and I found it a pleasant and inviting place to rest for a while. I gazed about with great interest at the fabulous views all around in the super-clear air. Vast stands of yellow aspens were visible below Mt. Elbert around Twin Lakes off to the west. To the northwest was Holy Cross, and two miles to the north lay the rounded hump of Mt. Sherman. I could see a half dozen or so climbers standing on its summit. I thumbed through Horseshoe’s summit register and noted that the peak is one of the more popular Centennial 13ers I have visited, with over a hundred visitors so far this year, although only one had signed in during the last three weeks. With my binoculars I could see Emily stretched out on the grass beside the lake far below. About 300 yards south of the summit I noticed a stately old mine shack standing in lofty solitude.
After a half hour on top I tore myself away from this fine summit experience and hustled back down the trail, not wanting to leave Emily alone very long. I saw the jeep leaving far below and wondered where the woman had hiked to, for I had not seen her on Horseshoe. I soon reached the saddle and then flew down the slope to the lake, descending 1700 feet from the summit in only 35 minutes. I awoke Emily from her pleasant nap as she lay beside the lake. We sat and enjoyed the beauty of the basin for a few minutes while I rested. The water in the lake glimmered in the afternoon sunshine and the impressive walls of Horseshoe’s cirque towered above. This was quite an enchanting place.
Emily was naturally disappointed about not reaching the summit but nevertheless enjoyed this outing to visit a beautiful high mountain basin. We hiked back down the road and reached the truck at 3:45. On the drive down the road we were treated to a splendid view of Mt. Sherman up the valley to the north.
Horseshoe offered a gentle climb to a nice summit. The hike entailed only about five and a half miles of hiking and about 2000 feet of elevation gain. It was one of the easiest Centennial 13ers I have done, but was nonetheless quite a rewarding peak to climb. I may visit it again sometime when I am seeking an easily accessible high vantage point that offers fine views and expansive solitude.
