Douglas Mountain (9,550) & Tenderfoot Mountain (11,441) by Brian Schultz Friday June 12, 2015

Douglas Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: 2 miles

Elevation gain: 850'

Start to finish: 1 hour 45 minutes

Participants: Brian Schultz and grandson Tyler

We drove to Empire and turned south on Main Street to an obvious parking area at Douglas' southwest ridge. We scoped out this approach yesterday after hiking Genesee and UN8100 and wanted to climb Douglas but it was raining steadily when we got there. With slippery rock conditions, we thought it best to wait until morning.

We began at 7:55 AM and followed a good trail that stayed below a large rock wall a quarter mile in. But instead of continuing all the way around it, I asked Tyler if he wanted to try some scrambling. He was all up for it as he'd never done anything like that before and we found a class 3 weakness that he handled like a pro. He really liked it and it was fun to introduce him to a new experience.

Once on top of the ridge, we continued on easy terrain over several false summits before arriving on the true summit at 8:45. For a low elevation peak, there are some nice views from the top with a good look toward Georgetown on I-70.

We signed the register placed by Mike Garratt in 1999 and departed five minutes later, descending the same area we scrambled up. We arrived at the truck at 9:40 just as another truck pulled up, whose occupants were highly hoping to spot a bear in the area. We had lots of time yet to climb another peak so we headed to Dillon.

Tenderfoot Mountain ( 11,441):

Roundtrip mileage: 4.5 miles from Tenderfoot trailhead (~9415')

Elevation gain: 2,030'

Start to finish: 3 hours 35 minutes

Participants: Brian Schultz and grandson Tyler

Traffic was moving slowly on I-70 just before the Eisenhower Tunnel (road work?) so we exited and took US 6 over Loveland Pass to Dillon and the Dillon Reservoir. We turned right on Evergreen Road and then right on CR 51 to the end of the road, where signs indicate a trail but not for Tenderfoot Mtn. Just before reaching the parking area at the end of the road, I'd noticed a gated road that looked like it might work for a starting point so we turned around and parked near it. The sign on the gate said "foot traffic only" so we deemed it the trailhead and began hiking at 11:30. It was a steep grunt up this road but it was heading in the direction of Tenderfoot and we stayed on the road until it trended away from the summit. We began a bushwhack at that point and for 0.6 miles followed my GPS bearing to the summit. There was some deadfall to contend with but it was manageable and we arrived on top at 1:35. We stayed for twenty minutes before reversing our route back down.

 

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