Epaulet Mountain (13,523), "Epaulie" (13,530), Rosalie Peak (13,575), Mt Warren (13,307), & Rogers Peak (13,391)  by Brian Schultz  Friday August 24, 2012

Epaulet Mountain, "Epaulie", & Rosalie Peak:

Roundtrip mileage: 5 miles from Mt Evans road

Elevation gain: ~2,100'

Start to finish: 2 hours 45 minutes

Today's forecast wasn't the best but skies were clear when I parked at a pull-out on the Mt Evans road, almost straight north of Epaulet Mountain. I started across the tundra at 8:00 AM accompanied by a cold wind and made a beeline toward Epaulet. This was a straightforward easy hike over grass and rock and only took thirty minutes. I walked around the unranked summit for a few minutes before continuing on to "Epaulie". Fifteen minutes later I summited "Epaulie" and headed to Rosalie, much further away and requiring and elevation drop of over 600 feet to the connecting saddle.

Still, the hike over to Rosalie was pretty easy and I arrived on its summit at 9:35. In the hour and a half since leaving the car, threatening clouds were already moving in so I quickly reversed my route, hoping to get back before it rained. I ascended "Epaulie" on its right (east) side and contoured around Epaulet's right side as well, and made it back to my car at 10:45. It didn't rain but skies were getting darker.

Mount Warren & Rogers Peak:

Roundtrip mileage: 3.3 miles from Mt Evans road

Elevation gain:  ~1,000'

Start to finish: 1 hour 55 minutes

After climbing Epaulet, Epaulie, and Rosalie, I drove to the overcrowded parking lot at Summit Lake and circled several times before a spot opened up. I had a bite to eat and watched the dark clouds blow by before hiking to the northeast end of Summit Lake. My intention was to follow Warren's west ridge to the summit but the access area to the ridge was closed to foot traffic. I noticed a government truck earlier in the parking lot and turned around to find the ranger, or whoever was driving it, to see if there was another way to get up to Warren. I found him quickly and he told me to drive the road a short distance back to a large gravel lot and park there, and then head up the slopes to the peak. He'd climbed Warren several times and regarded it as a fun little climb.

I began at 11:40 PM for Warren and was surprised to reach the summit in only 17 minutes. There were several high points on top and I spent a few minutes covering them all before heading over to Rogers Peak. The terrain was easy to the Warren/Rogers saddle but large blocks of talus really slowed me down as I contoured below the left side of Roger's summit ridge. I found out on the return it would've been easier to just stay on top of the ridge. I reached the blocky summit at 12:50 and left immediately because the skies were once again filling up with dark clouds.

I descended the ridge to the saddle and angled through cliffy slopes to the road. It was raining lightly as I walked the road back to my car and I was constantly looking over my shoulder to check the traffic behind me. I didn't feel very safe on the narrow road and was relieved when I arrived at my car at 1:45. These five peaks were all easy, I'm glad the iffy weather held long enough to get them done.

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