PEAK 10
(13,633')PEAK 9
(13,195')October 17, 2008
By Tim Briese
8 miles, 3300' elevation gain, 6 hours roundtrip time
I drove up the Spruce Creek Road south of Breckenridge about two and a half miles to a point where the Wheeler Trail crosses the road. I parked at a pull-off and began hiking north up the trail at 8:35 with my lab Allie. The elevation here was about 10,900 feet. The trail at first went up an old road that was gated off and then it left the road and climbed up through the woods to the left. After half an hour or so I crossed Crystal Creek and came to a junction where I took an old jeep road to the left up the valley to Lower Crystal Lake, at 12,000 feet. There was some snow on the ground and the lake was mostly covered with ice. From the lake I followed the excellent Crystal Trail to the north and west across the slopes directly below Peak 10. The day was sunny and cool but quite windy, so one of my main objectives today was to select a route that minimized my exposure to the strong west wind. I might have climbed to the Crystal Peak/Peak 10 saddle and followed the ridge to the summit on a calmer day, but to avoid the worst of the wind I elected to leave the trail at 12,900 feet and bushwhack directly north to the summit. This south facing slope was still free of snow. This route turned out to be quite reasonable, with good footing on grass at first and then easy talus.
I stepped on top at 11:10, completing the ascent from the trailhead in two and a half hours. Curiously, a couple of tattered U.S. flags were rolled up on a pole that lay across the summit rocks. The wind had died down somewhat by now which made for a much more enjoyable survey of the surrounding grandeur on this perfectly clear day. An impressive array of peaks adorned in a partial mantle of white lay off to the south, including Crystal, Pacific, and Quandary Peaks. Breckenridge lay directly below in the valley to the east, and vast swaths of rusty brown dead lodgepole forest stretched away to the northeastern horizon. Peak 9, my next objective, lay only a half mile away to the north, but it looked rather diminutive from this lofty vantage point since its summit is over 400 feet lower.
I pondered a direct descent down Peak 10's north slopes to the Peak 10/Peak 9 saddle, but the talus looked very steep and was partially covered with snow and ice, so I planned instead to go down the gentle east ridge to easier terrain. After half an hour on the summit I left and strolled down the east ridge a short distance to a communications tower perched at about 13,400 feet, then hiked down switchbacks on a snow-covered access road to the north. At about 12,900 feet I left the road and bushwhacked northwest across friendly talus and then grass directly toward Peak 9, dropping slightly below the saddle as I passed below the east side of it. After an easy ascent on grass I stepped onto the summit at 12:40, completing the hike from summit to summit in one hour. I did not find a register on either peak today. After an enjoyable 15 minutes on top I left and went back down the grassy slope and struck off to the southeast across a pleasant grassy basin toward the Wheeler Trail, which I spied about three-fourths of a mile ahead. Sauntering across such high alpine basins is the epitome of mountain peacefulness to me. Along the way I passed a short snowy slope where people had apparently been practicing their snowriding skills, and I wondered if members of the Breckenridge Ski Patrol had recently been here honing their skills for the upcoming season.
I presently reached the Wheeler Trail and followed it to the south up over Peak 10's broad east ridge and back down into the scenic Crystal Creek Valley. I had never been on this wonderful National Recreation Trail before, and after noting that it traverses many miles across scenic terrain above timberline, I put it on my mental list of places to come back and hike with my wife on some fine summer day. I continued on down the trail and returned to my truck at 2:35.
