Redcloud Peak (14,034) and Sunshine Peak (14,001) by Brian Schultz Thursday July 29, 1999
I took yesterday off to recuperate and dry my gear after the Snowmass soaking. In Lake City I found a spacious room to drape and lay out all the damp stuff- helpful because outside it looked like it had rained for days with more on the way. After I got everything situated I went to the Poker Alice restaurant to pass some time before meeting Tim. I was looking forward to hiking with him again but feeling bad about postponing Little Bear, well actually not that bad- that one worries me every time I think about it. It could wait.
I sat outside the restaurant for quite a while talking to two Texans as the weather turned cool and threatening. More rain? Of course. I had enough yesterday though for the rest of the trip. Someone from inside called out my name and told me I had a phone call. That could only be one person. It was Tim saying he was sick and wouldn't be coming. Bummer. I'm sure glad I called him last night- if we stayed on schedule I'd be at Lake Como wondering where he was and worrying. He said he would not have gone up there feeling the way he was and I would not have ventured up Little Bear alone the following morning. No way. I set my sights on doing Redcloud and Sunshine alone, ate some pizza (truly excellent), and went back to the motel to repack my gear.
I left Lake City early and drove up the Cinnamon Pass shelf road. Just before reaching the Silver Creek trailhead a bear ambled across the road. That was pretty cool! I parked and chatted briefly with a couple who camped at the trailhead and were on their way to Handies. They hiked Redcloud and Sunshine yesterday and told me about the shortcut down from the connecting saddle, an option I knew about and was keeping open in case of bad weather.
At 6:10 I started up the Northeast Ridge route on a very easy trail, passing two older men after a while. The skies were clear and I made excellent time as I passed by Redcloud's west side. I had no desire to hike up the gullies and instead followed the trail around to the ridge. A solo hiker was way ahead of me as I continued south up the ridge, stopping for one break to put some sunblock on, and arrived on the large summit at 9:10. Impressive views in every direction made for a satisfying breather on top, which I had to myself. Even though the weather was terrific I wanted to get to Sunshine and left at 9:20.
From Redcloud it's over a mile to Sunshine but the trail is great. At the saddle was a sign posted saying "Dangerous area- stay on the main trail". This was the North Slopes route and shortcut- just before I got there I saw the solo hiker going down it. At 10:20 I stepped on top of Sunshine, exactly one hour from Redcloud. The distant clouds worried me so I stayed only 10 minutes. Two people were coming up Sunshine's ridge from the saddle. Three guys actually were in that group- they came up the North Slopes route and I made up my mind I was going down that way with the crummy weather coming in.
The trail down from the saddle was dirt and scree- very steep, loose and miserable. There's no way I would ever hike up that route and I thought those guys were crazy to come up it. At the bottom I took a decent lunch break. From there the trail was hit-and-miss but mostly good as it crossed Silver Creek to regain the main trail. Easy hiking brought me back to my car at 2:00. I no sooner took off my boots and it started raining, minutes later it was pouring. The shorter route down saved me from getting soaked this time. Driving down the shelf road in the rain was not fun- visibility was limited and mud and rocks were sliding onto the road from the side. I was glad to get out of there.
Both peaks were easy and I was glad to beat the rain, but next on the list was the Chicago Basin, known for summer storms.
Total hike time- 6 hours 50 minutes (including 20 minutes on summits and 20 minutes lunch)