Missouri Mtn (14,067) by Brian Schultz Wednesday July 29, 1998
After climbing Lindsey on Monday I drove to Poncha Springs and stayed at the Poncha Lodge, whose owners, Ken and Marilyn, apparently won't ever forget me or my bad sunburn from 1995. I slept in late and poked along up to Buena Vista. This was my day to relax and I wasn't in any hurry; my legs were sore and I was tired from doing six fourteeners in six days. I found a room at the Lakeside Motel and in the parking lot was a familiar looking vehicle. Its owner turned out to be the same fellow at the Westcliffe Inn who was asking about the South Colony Lakes road. We chatted a bit and I changed my schedule to hike Missouri with him. Don was from Los Angeles and has hiked many fourteeners, coming out several times each summer to climb, just like myself. I napped in the afternoon and did basically nothing other than studying up a little on the route.
We left early in the morning for the Cloyses Lake trailhead, the route recommended by my friend Tim. I wouldn't have done this one alone but with company I felt assured. As it turned out I would have been fine on my own- the routefinding wasn't a problem at all. The crux was crossing Clear Creek in the Jimmy before we even reached the trailhead - the water was deep and I thought for sure it would come through the doors!
We parked and started out at 6:45 under dark gray skies but no rain. The trail was steep, opening up terrific views of Cloyses Lake and Huron Peak as we gained elevation, but the trail disappeared when we reached timberline. We made our way up to the ridge on grass and rock and from there a good trail resumed. We followed the easy ridge all the way to the summit, dropping down around some towers, and stepped on top at 10:05- 3 hours and 20 minutes from the trailhead. It was windy and freezing cold on the summit; for the first time on this trip I pulled out and put on long pants.
We had the summit to ourselves and stayed until 10:30, trying to keep warm and eating a bit but it was too cold. We took it slow on the descent and the sun finally emerged as we rested on the grassy slopes of the west ridge. The weather warmed up and pleasant skies made for a nice hike back to the truck. We got back at 1:15.
The Cloyses Lake trail was a great choice. We never saw anyone until it joined up with the Northwest Ridge route. It saved a fair amount of elevation gain and was much easier on the knees than the approach from other side, which I took for Belford and Oxford last year.
Total hike time- 6 hours 30 minutes (including 25 minutes on top)