UN 12900, Emma Burr Mountain (13,538), Mt Kreutzer (13,095), "Chalk Rock Mountain" (13,055) by Brian Schultz Wednesday July 31, 2013
Roundtrip mileage: ~12 miles loop from junction of Forest Service roads 344 & 344A west of Cottonwood Lake
Elevation gain: ~3,400'
Start to finish: 8 hours 45 minutes
I drove the Cottonwood Pass road from Buena Vista to the well marked road to Cottonwood Lake. I stayed on Forest Road 344 and continued for 9.5 miles to the junction of Forest Road 344A, my starting point for completing the loop without repeating any of the peaks. I camped overnight at a large open area off Forest Road 344A (elev. ~11,200').
The weather was clear, calm, and sunny when I started at 6:40 AM and would remain so all day, a welcome forecast with this route's long mileage. From the road junction I continued on Forest Road 344 to its end, where two vans were parked and where I would've parked as well if only climbing Emma Burr Mtn. I headed straight up the talus ahead and made my way to the saddle between Emma Burr and UN 12900.
I reached the saddle at 8:15 and after a short break decided to add the unplanned twelver to the ininerary since the weather was so nice. It's a mile one way to its summit on easy terrain and I arrived on top at 9:05. I stayed only long enough to take a few photos (photo 1, photo 2) and departed. I got back to the Emma/12900 saddle at 9:35 and visited with a young couple taking a break there. The saddle was their destination as they were only out for a hike and not climbing. John hailed from Leadville and did trail work here five years ago, Stephanie was from Redcliff.
At 9:45 I headed up the intimidating looking ridge of Emma Burr. The roughest part of the ridge, about a quarter mile from the summit, had me wondering how it would go but it went nicely and had some fun class 3 scrambling near the top. I arrived on the summit at 10:45 and when I signed the register I saw that two others had already signed in ahead of me today. I walked over to the other end of the large summit area to see if it was higher but it wasn't.
I left Emma Burr at 11:05 for the very long two mile ridge run to Mt Kreutzer. This ridge has countless ups and downs on a mix of talus and grass and I could really feel it on my knees. I was relieved to finally make the summit at 12:45 and stayed for twenty minutes. There is a terrific view of Mirror Lake below Kreutzer's slopes.
The ridge to "Chalk Rock Mountain" was straightforward but had a rock section below the summit that looked a bit challenging. It turned out to be easy though and I strolled to the summit, arriving at 2:00. I stayed on top for 15 minutes before descending straight down the slopes from the summit to the lake below. The tracks of an old road led to Forest Road 344A and I followed the old road back to my truck, completing the loop of the four peaks and finishing at 3:25.
