Mt Marcy (13,490), "Silver Peak" (13,513), "Peak of the Clouds" (13,524), & Spread Eagle Peak (13,423) by Brian Schultz Friday August 30, 2013
Roundtrip mileage: ~17 miles from Gibson Creek trailhead (elev. 9,250')
Elevation gain: ~6,400'
Start to finish: 12 hours 35 minutes
I left Minnesota on Wednesday morning and arrived at the Gibson Creek trailhead on Thursday night. I was looking very forward to climbing in the Sangre range again as I set up for the night at the trailhead. Other than a truck and an empty horse trailer in the parking area, I had the place to myself.
The weather forecast called for just a 20% chance of thunderstorms so I didn't feel a need to get up super early. I was on the trail at 6:35 AM and hiked one-tenth of a mile to the Rainbow Trail, then turned right for 0.6 miles to the Swift Creek trail. I turned left on the signed Swift Creek trail and followed it to the first of the three lakes called "Lakes of the Clouds". It took two hours from the trailhead to reach the first lake. The trail continues past the second lake to the third lake, where I took a long break before beginning again at 9:30 on a bushwhack toward the Marcy/Silver saddle.
The bushwhack involved dense willows and I lost a lot of time thrashing through them. When I finally cleared the willows it was easy hiking to the saddle and I arrived there at 10:40. The climb to Mt Marcy's summit only took 30 minutes and I stayed on top for twenty minutes. The trek to "Silver Peak" was fast and easy and I topped out on its summit at 12:15, lounging around for another twenty minutes enjoying the views and wondering how the connecting ridge to "Peak of the Clouds" would travel.
In the end, I wasn't comfortable taking on the ridge by myself so when I departed Silver, I descended to the Silver/Peak of the Clouds saddle and dropped into the basin to 12,500'. The terrain was tough going over talus as well as through some cliffs but I eventually made it to the slopes below the Peak Clouds/Spread Eagle saddle and headed up. The slopes alternated between solid and loose rock and I could really feel it in my legs when I reached the saddle at 2:20.
After a short break, I started up the ridge with skies rapidly getting darker and reached "Peak of the Clouds" summit at 2:50. Light rain showers dropped intermittently and after five minutes, I descended back to the Peak of the Clouds/Spread Eagle saddle.
The rain quit as I started up Spread Eagle's ridge. An exposed notch higher up turned out to be a non-issue as a well marked trail skirted it on the right side, and I easily arrived on my final summit at 3:50. I sat down for a much needed break.
I departed Spread Eagle at 4:10 and descended back toward the Peak of the Clouds/Spread Eagle saddle. I cut down the slopes to the lakes below before reaching the saddle on what looked to be a doable route, it worked out great and there were even a few cairns along the way. After regaining the trail at the lakes, I made the long haul out on the rocky trail and arrived at the trailhead at 7:10, totally whipped but feeling good to get all four peaks in.
