"Burning Bear Peak" (12,074) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 29, 2024

Roundtrip mileage: 5.5 miles
Elevation gain: 2,475'
Start to finish: 4 hours 20 minutes

This wasn't my first choice to climb today. From an overnight in Dillon I drove I-70 east and encountered a massive slowdown on the east side of the tunnel due to an accident. That really wasn't an issue though. The problem was wanting to park on the Guanella Pass road at a switchback below the pass in order to climb UN 12967 but signage indicated "no parking" except in designated spots. Not wanting to risk a ticket, I drove up to Guanella Pass hoping I could start from there but there wasn't any parking available because of the popularity of fourteener Mt Bierstadt and its hordes of hikers.

My second choice was Geneva Mountain but that was nixed as well for the same reason as above- no parking available at the pass. So I drove down from Guanella Pass to Highway 285 and turned south to Hall Valley Road (CR 60). There is parking for several vehicles at the Burning Bear (West) trailhead but I drove further to the Sawmill Gulch road thinking the road might be an easier approach to Burning Bear Peak than a bushwhack to the peak from the Burning Bear trail. I didn't like what I saw on the Sawmill Gulch road so I went back and parked at the Burning Bear trailhead.

I began at the relatively late hour of 10:00 AM but the forecast called for sunny skies so no worries. The Burning Bear trail is excellent and I followed it to 10,200', where I departed it and began a steep but easy bushwhack through mostly open trees. Shortly after leaving the trail I saw a moose only 50 feet away but as soon as I reached for my phone to get a photo, it took off.

When the trees finally gave way to open slopes (photo 1, photo 2), the summit wasn't very far away. I arrived on top at 12:20 and stayed 25 minutes enjoying the terrific views. I departed at 12:45 and was back at my truck at 2:20. This peak has been on my to do list for a long time and it was a fun one!