Ouray Peak (12,957), UN 12743, & Star Mountain (12,941) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 27, 2020

Roundtrip mileage: 7.0 miles
Elevation gain: ~3,300'
Start to finish: 6 hours 15 minutes

I'm getting quite used to this area, having been here for the eighth time now. There are lots of thirteeners and twelvers to climb and today I'd be going after three easy twelvers. The approach from the Hwy 24/CO 82 junction is as follows: drive west on CO 82 for 14.3 miles to fourteener La Plata's trailhead and turn left turn onto South Fork Lake Creek (FR 391) for another 2.6 miles to the junction of FR 391/382.

I drove an additional half mile on FR 391 and set up for the night just before the McNasser Gulch road (FR 394). I have to say these roads are getting rougher in areas and I wouldn't drive them without a high clearance vehicle.

I began at 6:25 AM by walking up the McNasser Gulch road to its end. Instead of continuing on past the gate I turned to the right and headed up the grassy slopes. Eventually there is a trail on the slopes that goes to the Ouray/UN 12743 saddle but I kept a bearing to the bump on Ouray's ridge above the saddle for a bit of a shortcut.

The steep but very manageable slopes traveled well and the ridge to the summit was easy. I arrived on top of Ouray at 8:30. I especially enjoyed the views (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4) of all the surrounding peaks before departing at 8:45.

The ridge to UN 12743 (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3) didn't take long and I topped out on its rather flat summit at 9:25. Five minutes later I headed to Star Mountain and enjoyed the fun, curving ridge to its summit. A relaxed pace put me on top at 10:25 and I stayed enjoying the views for thirty minutes.

The weather was beautiful and there wasn't any smoke from the fires, a peaceful respite from Covid 19 and everything else going on in the country. For my descent, once I got back to the Star/12743 saddle, I exited below the tan colored slopes of 12743 and followed a trail until it faded out.

A steep bushwhack into the drainage had me switching sides back and forth because of downfall but it worked out well and I eventually ended up on the road at the junction of FR 391/FR 382. A half mile walk up FR 391 to my camp site wrapped up the day's outing at 12:40. Other than strong winds, it was a great day to be on the peaks.