UN 11260, UN 11356, & UN 10282 by Brian Schultz Thursday July 23, 2020

UN 11260 & UN 11356:
Roundtrip mileage: 9.05 miles from Burning Bear Trailhead
Elevation gain: 2,165'
Start to finish: 5 hours 45 minutes

I started from the Burning Bear trailhead on the Guanella Pass road at 8:20 AM. The parking lot is on the east side of the Guanella Pass road and a short walk south along the road gets you to the marked trail (photo 1, photo 2) on the west side.

The weather forecast was good for today and it's why I started later than usual. I enjoyed the scenery (photo 1, photo 2) along the excellent trail until I departed it for a bushwhack to 11260.

There's probably a better way to get to 11260 because the bearing I took led to a brutal, steep bushwhack with lots of deadfall and dense trees. I was glad when I reached the bouldery summit at 10:45.

The distance from 11260 to 11356 is about a mile and the descent to the saddle was much easier through openly spaced areas. The ascent to 11356 was equally easy through long open stretches between the trees and was actually fun! I reached the big boulders of the summit at 11:45 and was pleasantly surprised at the views from the top.

I pondered which way to get back to the Burning Bear trail and settled on a north bearing. This bushwhack worked out well and it was a welcome relief to get back to the trail. The only other people I saw on the trail today were a couple and their dog.

UN 10282:
Roundtrip mileage: 0.73 miles from the Bruno Gulch road
Elevation gain: 460'
Start to finish: 35 minutes

The approach to this peak isn't too much farther up the Guanella Pass road from the Burning Bear trailhead. I turned left on the Bruno Gulch road and parked near the horse corral at the southwest side of the peak. Nearly every campsite along the road was taken as were the camp areas near the horse corral.

I was a bit worried about getting up this peak because of the sheer cliff walls I noticed on south side while driving by. But the west slopes looked manageable when I began at 2:45 PM. Manageable yes, but it was a ridiculously steep grunt up the slopes.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to get to the top, which had a cairn a little farther east than the waypoint I'd set in my GPS. I arrived a few minutes after 3:00, stayed less than five minutes, and was back at my truck at 3:25. This peak was Colorado (ranked) peak #500 for me.