UN 13078 & UN 13317 by Brian Schultz Saturday July 16, 2016

Roundtrip mileage: 11 miles from Poplar Gulch trailhead (elev. 10,255')
Elevation gain: ~5,100'
Start to finish: 9 hours 15 minutes

There are lots of camping areas along the Cottonwood Lake road and I found out how quickly they fill up on weekends. There were no sites available, even after driving several miles, so I turned around and asked two fellows at the large campsite across from the trailhead if I could truckcamp off their driveway near the road. They said yes, which was great because all I had to do was walk across the road in the morning.

I began at 6:25 AM on the excellent trail, also known as the Green Timber Gulch trail, under clear, sunny skies. Somewhat recovered from the tiring day yesterday, I set a better pace and reached the pass at 8:30. I glanced up at UN 12837 to the west and decided to skip it but would consider climbing it on the return if I felt like it. From the pass the main trail continues down to the townsite of St. Elmo but I headed east from the pass on another trail to UN 13078.

The trail led over easy terrain to the summit and I reached it at 9:15. I sat for 15 minutes and perused the register, its many signers suggest how popular this peak is. My GPS indicated 1.45 miles as the crow flies to UN 13317, my next peak, but it wouldn't be as simple getting there as it was to 13078. The two false summits along the way meant there would be a fair amount of elevation gain and loss.

Lots of talus slowed my progress, along with the ups and downs of the false summits, and I didn't reach the actual summit until 11:35. The register showed far fewer names in it than the one on 13078 but I did notice some familiar names, most notable was Bob Packard, who was 79 years old when he signed it in 2015. He's climbed lots of peaks all over the U.S. and is still climbing.

After a fifteen minute break, I departed at 11:50 and reversed my route. I wasn't looking forward to all the elevation regain but got back to 13078 at 2:00 and back down to the pass at 2:20. I took a look at UN 12837 from the pass, decided there wasn't enough time to climb it, and headed back to the trailhead. I arrived at 3:40 and drove into Buena Vista for a shower and meal before driving down to the town of Crestone. I was looking forward to meeting friend Tim Briese at the Willow Creek trailhead and getting ready for our first backpacking trip since 2012.