NORTHSTAR MOUNTAIN
(13,614')WHEELER MOUNTAIN
(13,690')August 15, 2007
By Tim Briese
I left home at 3:40 a.m. and drove to Hoosier Pass, where I met Dallas in the parking area about 6:00. We drove a couple of miles down to the Montgomery Reservoir Trailhead and left his car there for a vehicle shuttle later that day. Returning to the pass, we began the hike at 6:30 and headed on foot up a four wheel drive road that climbed up through the trees to the west. Presently we were passed by a 4-Runner crawling up the road with a hiker from Nebraska, and he rolled down his window and visited with us for a couple of minutes. We followed the old mine road for about two and a half miles as it traversed below the south side of the ridge all the way up to an old mine at about 13,000 feet. At this point the road ended and we followed a faint climber=s trail that climbed about 400 feet to the northwest up through talus to the crest of the ridge above.
Once we gained the crest of the ridge we followed it to the west toward the summit of Northstar, which was a little over a mile away. Looking back to the east along the ridge I noted that we had avoided climbing over a significant point by following the mine road as far as we had and not getting on the ridge sooner. I thought it was a great deal of fun hiking along the ridge, with some minor rock scrambling sections here and there. The ridge, on which the Continental Divide runs, was a spectacular vantage point, too, with deep valleys on either side and high peaks beyond. To the left lay Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Democrat directly across the South Platte River drainage, and to the right Quandary Peak towered above the Monte Cristo Creek drainage.
The summit of Northstar is at the western end of this lofty ridge, and we arrived there about 9 a.m. So far, so good, I thought. From this vantage point we had a fine look down at Wheeler Lake in the valley below. We studied the ridge to Wheeler Mountain, which lay about three-fourths of a mile to the west-northwest, and noted that the terrain appeared considerably rougher than what we had been on so far. After a ten minute rest on Northstar we left and began descending the ridge toward the Northstar/Wheeler saddle. For a while this involved some fun Class 3 rock scrambling in some sections, but when we neared the saddle our progress was abruptly stopped by a cliff that dropped away in front of us. We peered over the edge to the right looking for a way around, then elected to carefully descend to the left on some grassy ledges with a couple of Class 4 moves to get down to the saddle. From that point we slowly scrambled back and forth from one side of the ridge to the other, mostly staying on the south side, looking for a reasonable route through the rugged terrain. Dallas expertly led the way, scampering about on the rock like a mountain goat, at one point commenting, AThis is a blast!@ He is a skilled rock climber and mountaineer, and I had specifically chosen this difficult route for our annual Colorado climb together, in the hope that it would be an interesting and enjoyable challenge for him. Personally I was glad to have his company on this route, for it is one I consider best not done alone. Dave Cooper describes this route in his AColorado Scrambles@ book, and says that Acareful routefinding is necessary to keep the difficulty at no more than Class 4.@ His comment is right on.
We had a short rope along but never saw fit to use it, although we briefly considered it when faced with a steep 75 foot climb up grassy ledges on the south side of the ridge. The weather was deteriorating and soon some sleet began to fall, and thoughts began to turn toward a possible escape. We could have set up slings and rappelled off the ridge to safer terrain below to the south, but fortunately that never became necessary.
Finally we regained the crest of the ridge at a point about a hundred yards southwest of the summit of Wheeler. Looking below to the south, I noted that this whole thing could have been made somewhat easier by dropping down from the saddle and traversing to the west on scree before climbing back up to the ridge on slightly easier terrain, but that would have taken the fun out of it! We followed a climber=s trail along the west side of the summit ridge and finished with a sharp scramble to the top. We arrived a few minutes after 11, about two hours after we had left Northstar. The rugged summit was small and rocky, uncharacteristic of this part of the state, reminding me more of some summits in the San Juans. The summit register showed that about 15 climbers had been here before us at various times this year, and it read like a Who=s Who from 14erWorld: Sarah T., John Kirk, Cynthia Adams, Forrest Thorniley, Ryan and Erin, etc.
After a nice half hour summit sojourn we left and descended along the rugged ridge that led to the southwest, finding a little Class 3 scrambling in some places. We picked out a spot to leave the ridge and then began our descent to the south into the basin that held Wheeler Lake. Dallas whacked his knee on a rock and saw fit to ice it a couple of times on banks of snow that we encountered. We picked our way down through the rocks, then descended a rocky couloir before finally arriving on pleasant grassy slopes that we followed on down to the shore of the lake. There was one jeep parked at the lake, and its occupants were lounging on the opposite shore. Following a short break we followed the Wheeler Lake Road down the valley toward the trailhead. We met and chatted with several hikers coming up the road, including a trio of women from Wisconsin who were attempting to climb Mt. Democrat from this approach, since the standard Kite Lake approach was closed this year. Dallas and I marveled at the incredibly rough rock steps on this vicious four wheel drive road on the final mile or so before the trailhead. We tramped back to his car at 3 p.m., after covering about ten miles and climbing 2900 feet of elevation gain today.
At the trailhead were four identical new white pickup trucks with Michigan license plates, apparently part of some manufacturer vehicle test, with their youthful drivers preparing to attempt to drive up the Wheeler Lake Road. We joked with them as I warned them about what they were getting into, cautioning them that only specialized 4WD vehicles with a short wheel base should attempt the worst places. We left before they embarked up the road, but I suppose they took my words as a challenge and tried it anyway. After saying goodbye to Dallas I left for home, and drove through rain much of the way back to Colorado Springs.
