"Heartbeat Peak" (12,251) & Mt Epworth (11,843) by Brian Schultz Saturday August 28, 2021

Heartbeat Peak:
Roundtrip mileage: 3.3 miles from Rogers Pass trailhead
Elevation gain: 1,141'
Start to finish: 2 hours 15 minutes

From Winter Park, I drove the Corona Pass road (CR 80/FR 149), also referred to as the Rollins Pass road, to the Rogers Pass trailhead. It's a slow drive with some rough areas, high clearance vehicles recommended. I parked at the trailhead, which has room for two or three vehicles by the Rifle Sight train trestle, but plenty of parking is available along the road past the trestle.

I began at 8:10 AM under clear sunny skies. Others were already ahead of me on the excellent Rogers Pass Trail and it traveled fast. When the trail began switchbacking below the summit, I cut up straight to the summit on mostly grassy terrain and arrived on top at 9:20. I had the summit to myself and watched hikers on the trail below continuing to Rogers Pass. It's a nice summit (photo 1, photo 2) with terrific views of the surrounding peaks, including James Peak. I stayed for 25 minutes.

I left at 9:45 and encountered even more hikers on the trail. One young fellow with fishing gear was heading to Heart Lake. He asked if I owned the vehicle with Minnesota license plates and when I said yes, he mentioned he was soon heading to Minnesota to attend college. When I got back to the trailhead at 10:25, there was a lengthy line of cars parked on the road and lots of motorcyclists who'd stopped to look at the trestle.

Mt Epworth:
Roundtrip mileage: ~2 miles from Corona Lake trailhead
Elevation gain: 830'
Start to finish: 1 hour 50 minutes

The road from Rogers Pass trailhead to Mt Epworth (photo 1, photo 2) is slow and rocky. I parked off the road at the Corona Lake trailhead and began at 11:10 AM. The trail descends to Pumphouse Lake and once past the lake, I bushwhacked through some dense willows to gain a lower part of Mt Epworth's northeast slopes.

The willows bushwhack was totally unnecessary as there are plenty of wide open areas to avoid them, which I found out on the return. There is a mix of grass and talus on the slopes but overall it was easy terrain and I arrived on the summit at 12:00 noon.

Views from the top were impressive and despite strong gusting winds, I stayed until 12:20. The descent went quickly and I easily avoided the willows before meeting up with the trail. The hike up to the trailhead required a short amount of elevation regain and I was back at my truck at 1:00.