Mt Sheridan (13,757) & Round Hill (11,242) by Brian Schultz Tuesday July 23, 2024

Mt Sheridan:
Roundtrip mileage: 4.50 miles
Elevation gain: 1,800'
Start to finish: 3 hours 45 minutes

The only reason I climbed Mt Sheridan again is because LiDAR moved the highpoint further along the ridge from the map highpoint. When I climbed the peak 24 years ago I went to the first point located on the ridge. The LiDAR highpoint is only 9 feet higher and a very short distance from the map point. It seems ridiculous to put in the effort for only 9 feet but so it goes.

I drove the Fourmile Creek road all the way to the gate (~12,080') and parked there. As to be expected, there were hordes of climbers going to fourteener Mt Sherman. I began at 9:20 AM and was the only one who cut away from the trail toward Mt Sheridan. There was a very large snowbank that I had to get around to get to Sheridan's slopes but the hiking was easy once I got around it.

I arrived on the summit at 11:10 and stayed 20 minutes. Skies were sunny but hazy from the fires burning on the west coast. On the descent I passed by a climber heading up Sheridan who told me he wanted to get away from the crowd climbing Mt Sherman. I saw one more climber heading up Sheridan but wasn't close enough to say hi.

The large snowbank I bypassed on the way up had me thinking it would be better to get to the Sheridan/Sherman saddle and descend from there. It still required dealing with the snowbank (photo 1, photo 2) and getting below it to the trail. I stepped carefully on top of it for a short distance and then straight down about 20 feet to the trail. It wasn't very steep but several people were slipping on the snow. I was back at my truck at 1:05.

Round Hill:
Roundtrip mileage: 3.15 miles
Elevation gain: 920'
Start to finish: 1 hour 55 minutes

After getting back to Hwy 285, I turned south and quickly reached CR 5 (Weston Pass Road). I turned onto a soft dirt road that headed north toward Round Hill with lots of turns until reaching a junction just south of the peak. I parked at the junction and walked the road to a gate. I entered the woods where lots of deadfall that made the going especially slow and once I reached the summit, the highpoint was hard to discern. I walked all over but no particular highpoint stood out. Once I was back on the road on the descent, a fellow on an ATV came up behind me and stopped to talk for a minute. He was setting up for hunting. Nice weather today for both climbs.