Rolling Mountain (13,693) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 28, 2008
Distance: 9 miles
Elevation gain: 3,033 feet
Weary from back-to-back backpacks, I was still interested in climbing today but only if I didn't have to drive too far, if the weather forecast was favorable, and if the peak was easy. Rolling Mountain looked to be a good fit so I drove from Durango to Silverton this morning, leaving early enough to avoid the Highway 550 traffic, and reached the South Fork Mineral Creek road without a hitch. I was able to drive my car 1.5 miles past the South Mineral Campground, reducing the 12 mile roundtrip described by Garratt & Martin to 9 miles.
I parked at a pull-out at 10,660 feet, about a half mile east of the Bandora Mine and right before a rough section of the road that any high clearance vehicle would have no problem with. I headed out at 8:05 AM under clear, sunny skies, passing by the Bandora Mine and an old cabin in short order and making good time to the signed Rico Silverton trail. Climbers with high clearance vehicles can drive the excellent road all the way to this trailhead and shorten their day considerably. I saw one vehicle parked along the road, another in the large parking area by the trailhead, and wondered if I'd have company today.
The Rico Silverton trail led through the trees to the open area at South Park (photo 1,photo 2) and continued past Rolling Mountain's east side to a stream crossing at 11,600 feet, where Garratt & Martin suggest leaving the trail and hiking up the drainage. I didn't like the terrain and stayed on the trail to a slabby rock section at 11,800 feet, where a higher contour of the drainage looked better on grass. The slabby area was marked with large cairns and I exited the trail to begin the bushwhack, following handy grassy alleys through the willows until reaching the loose scree and rock of the drainage.
As I neared the drainage, a slight descent to a large snow patch in the drainage correctly positioned me several hundred feet below the 13,200' saddle. A faint trail led to some sketchy snow patches higher up but I found a way around them to reach the saddle. While ascending I could've sworn I heard voices off to my right but I didn't spot anyone, and when I reached the 13,200' saddle at 11:20, I was heartened to see the remaining route didn't follow the rugged ridge on my immediate right but weaved ahead to gain the ridge before turning right to the summit. It was steep and loose but the finish was fun and I stepped on top at 11:50.
I had the summit to myself for all of two minutes. I didn't expect to see anybody coming up from the east ridge and was totally surprised to see a woman suddenly pop up on the summit. So I wasn't crazy after all when I heard voices, it was just her vocalizing out loud her displeasure with the awful scree on her route. Sharon Crawford has climbed many peaks in Colorado and outside the U.S. and we talked for an hour and thirty minutes under perfect skies. She was a very engaging person but I needed to start my descent if I wanted to get to Poncha Springs at a reasonable hour.
When I left at 1:20, Sharon stayed on top for a few more minutes and said she'd catch up to me on the descent. I was moving quickly and followed the same contour I took earlier below the saddle, looking back periodically to watch for her, but I never saw her again. I reached the Rico Silverton trailhead at 2:50 and was back at my car at 3:10. I really appreciated this easy peak after six days of tough climbing and backpacking.
Parking spot (10,600') to summit- 3 hours 45 minutes
Summit to parking- 1 hour 50 minutes
Start to finish- 7 hours 5 minutes