Knights Peak, McKinley Peak, & San Luis Peak:
Roundtrip mileage: ~3.00 miles
Elevation gain: 1,345'
Start to finish: 4 hours 35 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We drove from Cripple Creek to a parking area off Gold Camp road just west of Knights Peak. The weather was stable but it was extremely foggy when we began at 9:20 AM. After a short hike up the road we began the steep ascent of Knights Peak. Lots of rocks and big boulders defined much of the route on all three peaks but despite the obstacles we made decent time and arrived on Knights' summit at 10:05. An interesting summit register was bolted to the summit boulder and a handy attached wrench allowed for easy opening. After 20 minutes, we departed for unranked McKinley Peak.

The route to McKinley had lots of deadfall but was straightforward and we arrived on the summit at 11:18. Five minutes later we headed to San Luis Peak and were surprised to see expansive cliff walls that required finding an opening to get higher up. Once we reached the tall summit blocks we had to determine which one was the highest. We found a couple that looked highest and ascended both. The climbing was definitely class 3 but not overly difficult. Satisfied we reached the highest one, we decided to descend the north ridge to Gold Camp road and hike it back to our parking area instead of reversing our route back to Knights Peak.

This turned out to be a good choice and we saved a bit of mileage by hiking an old trail as the road looped north. We were back to our trucks at 1:55. Tim and I parted company as he needed to get back home and I went on to climb Sugarloaf Mountain.

Sugarloaf Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 1.15 miles
Elevation gain: 560'
Start to finish: 1 hour

Sugarloaf Mountain is just east from the three peaks we just climbed. From Gold Camp Road (370) I drove east past Bear Trap Road (370.A) and parked off the road on a pull-out (on the east side). This pull-out is about a quarter mile north from the trailhead, which is easy to miss unless looking closely for it. I began at 2:55 PM on the trail, following it southwest under power lines until it reached Bear Trap Road. The road is gated but not signed so I stepped around the gate and quickly found the excellent trail that switchbacks southeast to the summit.

Like the other peaks done earlier, this summit has lots of boulders and rock piles. I claimed the highest point and descended immediately. My return followed my ascent route and I was back at my truck at 3:55, an easy hour to complete the hike. It didn't rain today but that would change tomorrow.