UN 13295 & "Lake Fork Peak" (13,322) by Brian Schultz Friday July 17, 2020

Roundtrip mileage: ~12 miles from South Fork Lake Creek road (Road 391)
Elevation gain: 3,900'
Start to finish: 9 hours 30 minutes

I've driven this road (FR 391) several times over the years. It begins from the La Plata trailhead parking off Hwy 82 and continues for about 2.5 miles (rough and slow, high clearance vehicle helpful) to a three way junction. I took a sharp left on the first road and quickly arrived at a small parking area before the foot bridge that many climbers cross for thirteener Sayres Benchmark. I truckcamped here.

I began at 6:00 AM with a 50% chance of storms in the forecast and followed the old road (FR 382) into Sayres Gulch for 1.9 miles. This road (FR 382) can be driven if one takes the middle road at the three way junction and drives across the stream (4x4 here) to join up with the road just past the footbridge. It ends at a large parking area where the trail begins.

The trail starts to fade after a while, especially in a significant downfall area, and soon becomes a bushwhack. With UN 13295 looming in the distance, I worked my way across to the creek's east side and side-hilled through some willows and then many grassy areas before reaching the talus below 13295's east ridge.

The ascent to the east ridge was easy and the ridge traveled well to the summit. I arrived at 9:20. Views were nice from the summit but it was a long 2+ miles to "Lake Fork Peak" and I wanted to get going before the weather threatened. There are lots of ups and downs (class 2+) between the two summits with route choices to be made. Sometimes I went up and over the bumps, other times I went left or right.

I was tired long before I got to Lake Fork's summit (photo 1, photo 2). It took about and hour and twenty minutes to run the ridge to Lake Fork Peak, thanks to my arthritic left knee and little acclimatization since arriving in Colorado from the flatlands.

I'd paid close attention to the east slopes before reaching Lake Fork Peak and knew from a prior trip report that a viable route down would work. I departed the summit at 12:15, and after two bumps down the ridge, turned left and made my way down the grassy slopes. I encountered cliff bands but found a way through and eventually made it back to the trail.

I lost the trail in the downfall area for a while but my GPS track steered me back to it and the rest of the hike back went fine, other than light rain showers falling before reaching my truck at 3:30. Good timing because it began pouring right after I got to the truck. Other than the posted no camping areas along the private property section of the road, lots of people were camping where it was allowed.