Sunshine Peak (14,001) & "Sundog" (13,432) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 18, 2016

Mileage: 12 miles loop from Mill Creek trailhead to Silver Creek trailhead back to Mill Creek trailhead
Elevation gain: 5,100'
Start to finish: 9 hours 45 minutes
Participants: Art Boller, Adam Boller, Mark Valen, Brian Schultz

Minnesota friends Art and Mark attempted Sunshine's East Ridge route years ago from the Mill Creek trailhead and were turned back by the weather. They always wanted to try it again and asked if I was interested. I certainly was since I could add "Sundog" to the itinerary but health issues and other matters on their end postponed it until this year. An interesting aspect of this route is the distinction of climbing the lowest fourteener and the lowest tricentennial peak.

I left Minnesota on Tuesday and overnighted in Ogallala, Nebraska, and climbed a small peak near Buena Vista yesterday before meeting them in Lake City. Art and Mark had been climbing in Colorado for several days already while Art's son, Adam, flew out to Denver on Tuesday, rented a car and drove out to Cimarron. The three of them climbed thirteener Redcliff yesterday and I waited only a short while before they arrived in town. I welcomed the offer to spend the night in their room instead of truckcamping and meeting in the morning at the trailhead.

After inadvertently driving past the Mills Creek campground, we turned around and parked our three vehicles on the campground road. We began at 6:25 AM, eyeing the steep terrain ahead of us as we walked up the road a short distance to find the trail. We found the trail near a small utility box and followed it as it weaved back and forth through the cliffy areas above. The trail is very good but there are a few hard to follow areas, especially in the talus fields. Cairns kept us on track.

Adam and I got well ahead of Art and Mark and stopped at 8:30 for a half hour until they caught up to us. Their slow pace and the forecast calling for 50% chance of showers/storms was worrisome. They agreed and decided after a break they would go up to the East Ridge and continue on to Sunshine if they had time. Also, Adam's very short trip to Colorado required him to drive back to Denver today and catch an evening flight back home, so there wasn't enough time for him to make the summit, but he wanted hike as far as he could before turning around. And if I was going to summit these peaks, I'd have to get moving so I said goodbye to them and headed up the slopes.

Surprisingly, I wasn't bothered by the altitude having just come in from the flatlands. I kept up a good pace to the east ridge, which had lots of talus hopping, but once on the ridge, a defined trail materialized. I saw some climbers approaching Sunshine from the standard route and they reached the summit shortly before I stepped on top at 11:00. The father and son didn't stay long on top and likewise, I kept my stay to just 15 minutes. The predicted storms were moving in so I headed down (photo 1, photo 2) to the Sunshine/Sundog saddle.

When I reached the saddle, it was raining in the distance. Could I make the summit before the rain hit? The skies above Sundog were still sunny but part way up the ridge I heard a distant thunderclap and then another, but no lightning flashed. I pushed on. The scrambling on the ridge was great fun and would've been more enjoyable if not for the worsening weather. I topped out at 12:40 and departed five minutes later.

I think my descent route would've been better if I'd descended back to the Sundog/Sunshine saddle and picked up the trail on Sunshine's north slopes. Instead, I descended Sundog's north ridge, which started out fine but turned out to be awful. It was terribly steep and slow going on talus/dirt and got worse when it started raining. I slipped a few times and was wet and miserable when I reached Silver Creek.

I then made the foolish decision to follow the creek for a while instead of gaining the trail above the creek because I thought I'd intersect the trail lower down. It didn't happen and only made the regain to the trail that much harder.

I was cold and soaking wet when I reached the Silver Creek trailhead at 3:30. Hoping to catch a ride down the road, I started walking and and twenty minutes later an ATV stopped to pick me up. The driver and his wife were from Louisiana and I hopped in the back, chilled to the bone but grateful because the ride saved over five miles of walking. They dropped me off at 4:10.

This was a long day even with the ride down. It sure felt like I covered more than 6+ miles and it would've been 12 if not for the ride. Glad to have an easier day awaiting me in the morning.

I met up with Art and Mark again in Lake City. They got as far as the basin below Sunshine's East Ridge and told me they watched with binoculars as I summited Sunshine. Adam turned around shortly after I headed up the slopes and we found out later he made it back to Denver in time to catch his flight.