Drift Peak (13,900) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 16, 2006
Last year I skipped climbing Drift from Fletcher Mountain because of snow conditions in the couloirs. This year, Mark Valen, a Minnesota friend who was with me last year on the Fletcher climb, and I chose the Mayflower Gulch trailhead on the easier west side and four-wheeled up to the old cabins at 11,560 feet, just past the side road where the route begins. Skies were clear when we started at 6:30 AM on the Villa Ridge "classic" route.
The Villa Ridge route is short, less than two miles from the (4x4) trailhead to the summit, and has just 2300 feet of elevation gain. With the minimal elevation gain and mileage and class 2 rating, Drift was an ideal peak for Mark to join me on, having arrived in Colorado the day before. We set a slow pace on the road, crossed a large snowfield half a mile later to reach the flat area above the road and from there hiked a short distance to the talus slope of the ridge. Very straightforward, very easy.
We found and followed the miners trail up the talus and when the trail faded, we traversed on the west side to gain the ridge top. After grinding up this steep section we stopped for a rest and agreed the exceptionally beautiful sunny morning would allow for an unhurried day. As we sat, Mark spotted a large group of elk on the move in an open meadow below and a few minutes later we too were on the move, continuing along the ridge over several humps to the summit slope.
When we reached the summit slope, Mark was leery about going straight to the summit because of the steepness, so we kept to the right side and scrambled around a tower. I didn't mind because we had plenty of time and good weather but the tower itself was surrounded by a large steep snowfield, and a class 3 move was required to descend its right side to avoid the snow. We then contoured over lots of loose talus to reach the ridge south of the summit. This was very slow because of the shifting talus and considerably harder than the route directly to the summit but once we reached the south ridge, the scrambling to the summit was loads of fun. I stepped on top at 10:00, followed shortly by Mark.
The weather remained wonderful and we enjoyed the summit and its views for 50 minutes. When we departed at 10:50, Mark decided the talus slope below the summit didn't look so intimidating after all and it's the way we descended. The descent of the ridge went well. We met a couple hiking in the flat area and talked briefly with them, and reached the truck at 1:30. Our leisurely day was filled with lots of breaks and we both had a great time. I liked the route even with all the talus hopping.
Trailhead to summit- 3 hours 30 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 2 hours 40 minutes
Start to finish- 7 hours (including lots of breaks)