"Harrison Mountain" (12,321) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 25, 2022

Roundtrip mileage: 5.35 miles from Woods Creek road
Elevation gain: 1,925'
Start to finish: 3 hours 45 minutes

After driving in from Nebraska and stopping for lunch in Evergreen with Dave Chamberlin, I continued on I-70 to US 40 and turned left onto Woods Creek road to the Henderson mining operations. The road passes by Urad Lake, which is near the trailhead for Harrison and is a SWA (State Wildlife Area). SWA's requires a permit to hike and fish but I called Colorado Parks and Wildlife before I left Minnesota and was told that a permit was needed for Urad Lake but not to hike the trail to Hassell Lake. This was a relief because there's a fine if caught without a permit.

One can no longer drive all the way to the Lake Hassell trailhead because the road is gated. There's a sizeable parking area at the gate and lots of vehicles were parked when I began at 2:35 pm, a rather late start, especially with the weather forecast calling for showers/storms in the afternoon. Distant thunder was rumbling and several fishermen were on their way back as I started up the road to the Lake Hassell trailhead. The road narrows to a trail and it's excellent as it angles toward Urad Lake before heading up to Hassell Lake.

I departed the trail when I neared Hassell Lake and bushwhacked up to an old road. Had I stayed on the road going west, I could've followed it as it switchbacked up to Harrison's southwest slopes but I wasn't paying close attention and followed it east. This worked out well though as it led up open slopes, steep in some areas, until it disappeared. Then it was a short jaunt to the summit (photo 1, photo 2). The weather was menacing as I headed toward Harrison's other highpoint. My GPS showed the other highpoint to be about a foot higher but LiDAR says the southern point is highest.

I had no interest in climbing adjoining Red Mountain. It's on mining property, the ridge is nasty to it, and mine employees are known to be roving up there. I wouldn't have wanted a potential confrontation. Since it's currently being mined and if the summit is subsequently gobbled up, it could lose its ranked status in the future anyway.

The imminent rain finally let loose on my descent and I was soaked when I reached my truck at 6:20.