Sayres Benchmark (13,738') by Brian Schultz Saturday July 25, 2009
Roundtrip mileage: 11 miles from South Fork Lake Creek trailhead
Elevation gain: 3,900'
Participants: Tim Briese and Brian Schultz
Totally whipped after climbing "Lightning Pyramid" yesterday, Tim and I changed our itinerary to climb an easier peak. We picked Sayres Benchmark over intended Clark Peak, a difficult peak that we planned on dayhiking but certainly not back-to-back with "Lightning Pyramid". With Clark Peak now relegated to a future date, we ate dinner in Aspen before heading over Independence Pass to the South Fork Lake Creek road and drove the rough road as far as my car could handle it. We parked for the night and camped in Tim's truck.
It was only a short drive in the morning to a signed road junction leading to the trailhead. We turned left at the junction and quickly reached the parking area, and at 6:25 AM began our hike by crossing a foot bridge over South Fork Lake Creek.
Even though Garratt & Martin's directions are spot on, we managed to miss the turn-off after crossing South Fork Lake Creek. We hiked a half mile up Sayres Gulch on a good trail before realizing we overshot our turn, and not wanting to turn back, we just cut across Sayres Creek and bushwhacked through the trees to meet up with the mining road. It worked out well but the easiest route to the road is as follows: after crossing the bridge at South Fork Lake Creek, turn left at the signed trail junction (392), which comes quickly, then hike 300 feet and turn left on faint tracks to Sayres Creek. A gate has to be climbed over before reaching the creek, where the road continues on the other side of the creek.
We followed the gentle road all the way to 13,000 feet, stopping for a breakfast break along the way, and descended slightly to a saddle before heading up to the summit. We arrived at 10:50 with storm clouds already building so we kept our stay to only 20 minutes. As has been mentioned in previous trip reports, the benchmark states the wrong elevation for Sayres' summit- it's off by a thousand feet. On our descent we dropped below the saddle to intersect with a lower road, hiking down the steep grass and scree slope until we met up with it. The lower road ascended slightly to meet up with the main road and our return from there was fast and easy to the trailhead. We made it back to Tim's truck at 2:00, just before light rain showers began.
I liked Sayres, which was simple and trouble-free, and just the right peak to mix in before meeting Minnesota friends for upcoming Bull Hill.
Trailhead to summit- 4 hours 25 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 2 hours 50 minutes
Start to finish- 7 hours 35 minutes