Garfield Peak (13,780)   by Brian Schultz   Friday  September 16, 2011

Roundtrip mileage: 6.15 miles from McNasser 4x4 trailhead

Elevation gain: 2,400'

Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

Tim and I drove to the parking area on Highway 82 for La Plata Peak and dropped my car off before continuing on in his truck to the McNasser 4x4 trailhead. Tim had already climbed Garfield eight years ago and I really appreciated his willingness to climb it again, even more so after I tried to access Garfield from the Lincoln Creek road last month and found the road so deteriorated that my two wheel drive car couldn't manage it.

After waving to some hunters camped near the gate, we began at 7:55 AM under cold, gray skies, a bit concerned about snow conditions up high as we hiked the old road to the mine at 12,000'. We were using the Roaches' directions (Grizzly Peak's south ridge route) to approach Garfield and continued past the mine to the talus slopes on Garfield's east side. We were careful on the talus because the rocks had enough snow on to be slippery and we eventually angled away to try the scree leading up to the saddle. This turned out to be a good move as the scree was compacted nicely from the cold temperatures and traveled well.

We took a break at the 13,540' saddle. Clouds were fogging in as we continued up the ridge and just below the summit we scrambled through a fun class 2+ section before stepping on top at 10:35. We spent 15 minutes in the low cloud cover enjoying what few views could be seen before it started snowing lightly. The snow picked up in intensity on our descent but by the time we reached the mine on the road, the skies started clearing and sunshine greeted us for the remaining hike out. We arrived at the truck at 12:35 and drove back to the Highway 82 parking area.

We visited with a ranger who'd been walking around the parking area and after Tim headed for home, I stayed a few more minutes to talk. She mentioned being newly hired to work in this area and was trying to locate the La Plata register. I pointed her toward the La Plata trailhead and headed off to Frisco.

Trailhead to summit- 2 hours 40 minutes

Summit to trailhead- 1 hour 45 minutes

Start to finish- 4 hours 40 minutes

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