Mt Hope (13,933 ft) East Ridge Route by Brian Schultz Tuesday July 22, 2003
After the Clinton and Traver outing yesterday I drove to Buena Vista to meet friends Art and Mark. They'd expressed an interest in getting together for a hike before leaving Minnesota and decided to join me on Mt Hope. I told them to be ready for an early start.
We drove up to the Sheep Gulch trailhead in my car and hit the trail at 5:50 AM. It didn't take very long before the excellent trail began its steep ascent through the trees, reminding me of the standard route on Mt Yale. And the higher we went, the better the views opened up to the Sawatch. I set a slow but steady pace and was impressed with Art and Mark's desire to keep moving and not need long breaks. Our weather was exceptionally fine as we plodded along, and after breaking timberline we saw the first of several wildlife sightings. I thought the fluttering birds we spooked were quail because of the namesake Quail Mountain nearby but Art said they were chukar partridges.
Shortly afterward we spotted a mule deer silhouetted against the sky up at Hope pass- it would've made for a great picture if not for the distance. We continued and at 8:30 reached the pass and took a fifteen minute rest to view the remainder of the route and the surrounding area. The summit had been visible from lower down but the pass presented a much clearer look at the route to get there. Art noticed several bighorn sheep on the south ridge of Mt Hope and although it was too far again to get a picture, it was exciting to see them. The view of Twin Lakes below was impressive and I also enjoyed looking down at Highways 82 & 24, roads from which I've glanced up many times to this peak we were now climbing.
There was no trail up the east ridge when we started again at 8:45. We contoured around the first hump of the ridge on the left side and stayed below the ridge proper from that point on. Mark and Art slowed somewhat on the grass and talus and just before we reached the summit gully, Mark slipped. Bruised and shaken, he considered calling it a day but after a short break decided to continue on. We soon approached the gully and I pushed ahead of the guys. The steep gully was not pleasant- it was full of scree and loose rock and the left side was banked with snow. I hollered down to climb the more solid rock on the right as I moved ahead. Most of the moves were Class 2+ with a couple easy Class 3. After exiting the gully I followed the easy ridge over a rise and made the summit at 10:38. The weather was wonderful with only puffy clouds floating about as I headed back to see how Art and Mark were doing. They'd just topped out of the gully when I got there and before long we were all on the summit.
Art had a good time pointing out the fourteeners around us and was thrilled to have climbed this centennial thirteener, even though it meant giving up a new fourteener. Mark felt the same and we stayed on top enjoying the fine day until 11:39. Our descent back to Hope Pass went slowly and we stopped for a break on the trail just below the saddle. We visited with some passing hikers who were conditioning for an upcoming run by hiking the trail from Sheep Gulch to Willis Gulch. The sunny, warm day had us spending our next break in the shade of some trees, where we were treated to another fine vista of the high Sawatch peaks. After two people riding horseback passed by, I pushed ahead and reached the car at 3:50.
We were never rained on today. Art and Mark said Mt Hope was their hardest peak to date but that would be shortlived. After getting weathered off of La Plata two days later, they went on to successfully summit Harvard, Massive, Holy Cross and Longs. Meanwhile, I was looking forward to a rest day and meeting Tim in the San Juans.
Trailhead to summit- 4 hours 47 minutes
Summit back to trailhead- 4 hours 11 minutes
Total hiking time- 10 hours including all breaks