Savage Peak (13,139)   by Brian Schultz   Friday July 27, 2018

Roundtrip mileage: 9.0 miles from Missouri Lakes trailhead (elev 10,100')
Elevation gain: ~3,400'
Start to finish: 7 hours 45 minutes

This would be my second attempt on Savage Peak after turning around a year ago because of inclement weather. At that time, the cloud cover was low and it had been raining, and I couldn't even see the peak, let alone where to access the ridge to it.

This time, I began at 6:45 AM with good weather predicted until mid afternoon. The excellent trail traveled well and there was only one other hiker on her way up to do the loop route over Missouri Pass and Fancy Pass and back to the Fancy Pass trailhead.

I hiked up the trail to middle Missouri Lake and after spending some time looking at the steep cliffs of Savage Peak, I realized I'd have to backtrack in order to approach its east ridge. I departed the trail on a moderately easy bushwhack on grassy slopes through the trees, following a south bearing to the ridge. It steepened considerably as I shortcutted up to the summit ridge over steep rocks, with class 3 climbing required to get on top of it. Once on the ridge, I noticed for the return that it would be better to hike the ridge further down for a much easier descent.

I took a break on the ridge at 12,350'. The time was 10:10 and after 15 minutes, I started back up and reached the summit at 11:10. There are terrific views from the top and I stayed for 30 minutes.

My departure point off the summit ridge went well but I had to continually work around cliffy areas to get into the basin below. It was easy though and lots of flowers (photo 1, photo 2) were still in bloom on the lower slopes. I reached the trail again at 1:10 and the skies were showing signs of rain but no worries since I was on my way down. I counted over three dozen hikers ascending the trail, some with large backpacks who were likely heading to Missouri Lakes to camp. I got back to the trailhead at 2:30 without getting rained on.