"Petroleum Peak" (13,505) & Larson Peak (12,908) by Brian Schultz  Saturday July 22, 2017

Roundtrip mileage: 6.3 miles from Petroleum Lake trailhead
Elevation gain: 2,800'
Start to finish: 6 hours 35 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We changed plans because of the monsoon weather pattern. Originally wanting to climb in the Sangres, but with a forecast calling for 80% chance of showers/storms over there, we chose the better odds of success in the Sawatch range with only 40% chance of storms.

The Lincoln Creek road was slow to drive with all the potholes but easy and only required high clearance. It took around 45 minutes from Highway 82 to reach the Portal Campground (6.2 miles) and we both pulled over for the night at a nice camp site just past the campground. The road was much rougher from this point to the trailhead (3.3 miles) so it was good to have Tim's truck with 4x4.

After driving across Lincoln Creek we parked at the trailhead and began at 6:20 AM on a very good trail. The route is straightforward. Once above Petroleum Lake, we angled over to a broad grassy ridge and followed it up to Petroleum's south ridge. A short jaunt from there put us on the summit at 8:50 and we stayed on top for 25 minutes. The ridge to Larson Peak looked a bit sketchy from Petroleum but we knew the difficulties were minimal.

At 9:15, we descended our ascent route and reached the Petroleum/Larson saddle at 10:05. The ridge up to Larson was pretty easy and we arrived on top at 10:35. The weather was holding nicely and we took a twenty five minute break enjoying the views. On our descent we saw a climber ascending the ridge and stopped to talk with him. I recognized his name when he identified himself as "tdawg". Tyler Miller is climbing peaks fiendishly and I've signed in behind his name on several other peak registers. After a visit of over 30 minutes, Tim and I continued down and reached the trailhead at 12:55. The skies darkened and later rained on the drive into Leadville.