Mt Blaurock (13,616) by Brian Schultz Saturday July 24, 2010
Roundtrip mileage: 6 miles from Winfield townsite
Elevation gain: 3,365'
The rainy weather of late didn't concern me because today's route would be a short one and I planned on finishing, or at least being off the summit, before any inclement weather moved in. I parked off the main road in Winfield (two wheel drive trailhead) and started up the 4x4 road at 7:00 AM. This is the same approach for popular fourteener La Plata Peak and it didn't take long before I had to step aside to let other vehicles pass by. I was invariably asked by the drivers what I was climbing and wasn't surprised to hear that they were all climbing La Plata.
I hiked the road to an open field between Grey Copper Creek and Black Bear Creek and followed grassy slopes up the ridge between the two drainages. It was an easy bushwhack through the trees and once above timberline, the route continued ahead to the Blaurock/Ervin ridge. The ridge was slow going on sharp talus all the way to the summit but not overly difficult. I stayed mostly on the crest, which entailed lots of ups and downs with several discouraging false summits, and arrived on top at 10:35.
The register was soggy but I managed to scratch my name in. The views of Rinker Peak and Mt Hope were especially fun to see after standing on Rinker last year and looking up this way from that direction, and mighty La Plata Peak dominated the skyline to the north. Thirty five minutes later I departed with the intention of climbing Ervin Peak but I dropped too far off the ridge and my sidehilling stopped me at a rather deep cut, which meant either climbing back up to the ridge from there, or descending further and climbing back up on the other side. Neither appealed to me. I continued my descent and boot-skied the loose scree while angling back over to the ridge between the Grey Copper/Black Bear drainages.
I stayed in the Grey Copper Creek drainage a while before turning back into the trees, reached the road at 1:00, and twenty minutes later was at my car and on my way to Leadville for lunch. It was pouring rain when I arrived. No regrets for skipping Ervin Peak as the now dark skies over the Sawatch peaks would've been trouble but I enjoyed this route and will definitely come back for Ervin another time.
Winfield townsite to summit- 3 hours 35 minutes
Summit back to Winfield- 2 hours 10 minutes
Start to finish- 6 hours 20 minutes