RINKER PEAK
(13,783')September 7, 2007
By Tim Briese
I left home at 4:30 a.m. with my lab Allie and drove to the Willis Gulch Trailhead along Highway 82 about two miles west of Twin Lakes. This September day promised to be sunny and pleasant, my favorite kind of hiking weather. At 7:25 I left the trailhead and hiked south across Lake Creek on a nice bridge. There were multiple trails and junctions, mostly unsigned, during the first mile or so after I crossed the creek. These had the potential to be confusing but my Trails Illustrated map guided me well.
There are two viable routes to Rinker, both accessed from the trail I was on. One option is to leave the trail and bushwhack steeply up the ridge to the southwest through the timber and follow the ridge all the way over Twin Peaks to eventually reach Rinker. This involves approximately three miles of bushwhacking each way. The longer and gentler route is to follow a trail all the way up Big Willis Gulch to about timberline before climbing 1600 feet to the ridge on grass and scree with a short finish to the peak. I found the second option more appealing.
I followed the trail a mile to the southeast as it made an ascending traverse around the shoulder of the aforementioned ridge. Groves of aspen were just beginning to hint of their fall glory. An elk bugled loudly somewhere in the woods nearby. Just after the trail crossed Willis Creek I came to a junction and turned to the right onto the Colorado Trail. After climbing vigorously along the creek for a third of a mile I reached another junction and left the Colorado Trail to go to the right on the Big Willis Gulch Trail. I made good time hiking up this nice trail, mostly on comparatively gentle grades. It was fun to visit a scenic valley I had never visited before. As the trees began to thin out I could see Mt. Hope above to the left. Later on Pt. 13,616 became visible straight ahead at the head of the valley.
When I reached about the last of the timber, at around 11,500 feet, I picked out a spot to leave the trail and climb the slopes to the right to the ridge above. This was about the only reasonable place to do so that I saw. At this point I had hiked about four miles from the trailhead, and the time was 10:15.
The tedious 1600 foot climb up to the ridge was the only real challenge of the climb. I found that it was possible to stay on steep grassy slopes nearly all the way up if one chose the route well. Loose, unpleasant scree slopes lurked nearby. This route took me almost directly to the 13,100 foot saddle between Rinker and Twin Peaks. From there it was a simple climb of a half mile up the ridge to the west to the summit.
I stepped on top a few minutes after noon. My eye was immediately drawn to a nice view of La Plata Peak about two miles to the southwest. Mt. Hope was directly across the valley to the southeast, and an expansive view of the Sawatch Range stretched away to the south. It was a bit hazy today, and a cool breeze blew from the southwest. Allie curled up in a ball on the ground and took a nap, and after eating lunch I lay back against a smooth rock and followed her example. I was in no hurry to get anywhere on this pleasant September day.
About 1:20 I finally decided to take leave of the summit. I considered taking another route back down for the sheer adventure of it. Perhaps over Twin Peaks and down the ridge, or maybe down Rinker's southwest ridge and dropping back into Willis Gulch further up than where I had left it. I even considered bushwhacking down Galena Gulch to the north. In the end, though, I decided that adventure was not a high priority for me today and decided to just go back down the way I came up. I went back down to the saddle and made a fast, easy descent down the slope back to floor of the valley, this time seeking out scree where it was available and avoiding grass when possible.
As I hiked down the trail I admired the surrounding scenery in the valley bathed in the golden September sunshine. After going a short distance on the trail I stopped at a clear pool of water for Allie to get a drink and cool off. I hiked on down the trail and eventually out of this pleasant valley. Shortly before returning to the trailhead I paused to admire a beaver pond along the way. I returned to my truck about 4:45. I hiked about ten and a half miles and climbed 4500 feet of elevation gain on this nine and a half hour hike. Before heading for home I sat on a rock beside Lake Creek for a while and listened to the soothing sound of the flowing water. This splendid day was one to be enjoyed to the fullest.
