Divide Benchmark (12,259), Lyle Benchmark (12,489), UN 12453, & UN 12367 by Brian Schultz Monday July 19, 2021

Roundtrip mileage: ~8 miles from Hagerman Pass to Lyle Lake trailhead
Elevation gain: ~2,100''
Start to finish: ~7 hours from Hagerman Pass to Lyle Lake trailhead
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

Tim and I met in Leadville for dinner before heading to Turquoise Lake and then up to Hagerman Pass. We wanted to camp high but a rough jaws section of the road had me reluctant to take it on with my truck. So we went back down the road a short distance to a spacious parking lot and truckcamped there for the night.

Our original plan was to do a shuttle with one vehicle at Hagerman Pass and the other down at the Lyle Lake trailhead. Instead we just drove in Tim's truck to Hagerman Pass and would wing it from there. We were treated to a nice sunrise before reaching the pass. We began at 6:35 AM from the Pass (photo 1, photo 2) and hiked the very short distance to Divide Benchmark, arriving there in 25 minutes at 7:00 (photo 1, photo 2). The tundra traveled fast and after a short ten minute break we were off to Lyle Benchmark. The weather forecast for today was great, so no weather worries and subsequently no need to hurry.

The ridge to Lyle Benchmark curves west from Divide Benchmark before turning north. The distance was further than the short jaunt up to Divide Benchmark but the terrain here was also easy and we arrived on the summit at 8:40. Again, with no need to hurry, we stayed for twenty minutes (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4), departed at 9:00, and headed off to UN 12453. With the proximity of the peaks to each other, it's easy to knock off a bunch of them. We were satisfied to settle for these four.

We descended to the Lyle/12453 connecting saddle and followed the ridge northeast to UN 12453, taking only 45 minutes to reach the summit. Arrival time was 9:45. Another half hour was spent on top before heading to UN 12367. This was slightly more challenging after reaching the 12453/12367 saddle, as there were more obstacles on the ridge, but it was still easy and we topped out on the summit at 11:35. Decision time came as we sat for 20 minutes on top debating whether to add UN 12220 to the itinerary.

In the end, we agreed to skip 12220, descend 12367's west ridge, and intersect the trail leading to Lyle Lake. This worked well and we followed the trail (photo 1, photo 2) to the trailhead on Hagerman Pass road. The Lyle Lake trail is apparently popular. Several hikers were on the trail going up to Lyle Lake as we were descending.

From the trailhead there's over 3 miles of uphill to the pass and though it's all on the road, the elevation regain is over 1,000'. I was more tired than I expected and was running low on water. I told Tim if we heard any ATV's coming up the road behind us, I'd motion for them to stop and I'd beg for a ride to the pass.

It only took a few minutes before three ATV's came roaring up the road and they stopped. Lucky us, they agreed to give us a lift! I was so grateful. These friendly folks were from Dayton, Ohio and every summer they load their ATV's on trailers and venture out to remote roads in many states. It was a nice finish to our day!