Uncompahgre Peak (14,309) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 7,1996
This was the first peak on my itinerary for the summer and I borrowed my wife's Jeep for the four wheel drive roads. I camped in Lake City and early in the morning drove up the Nellie Creek road to the trailhead. A beautiful day greeted me as I readied my pack and locked up the truck. The trail was excellent and I made good time up the path following a couple just slightly ahead of me. When I caught up to them and started a conversation, they told me they were hiking some of the nearby thirteeners. Dumb me wasn't paying attention, I missed my turnoff some ways back as I was following them.
Fortunately the area is wide open with a wonderful view of Uncompahgre and I simply bushwhacked my way over to the path, which I could see using my binoculars. With easy terrain and only slight loss of time, I resumed the trail and easily made my way up to the summit. A small cliffy area had to be climbed before the summit but it presented no problem. Others were on top and many more continued to arrive. The north side was fun to look down with its tremendous dropoff! I talked to a couple who brought their dogs with. Alan was on his second go-around on the fourteeners and Amy was on number 26.
I enjoyed the nice warm weather and the view of Wetterhorn which Amy said scared her when they climbed it. I asked about roping in near its summit and Alan said there really wasn't anywhere to tie in on the ledges so a rope wouldn't be of much use. I figured it was a peak I wouldn't be doing with its exposure. When I left, I joined up with them and the dogs. In the basin I slowed down to study the surroundings as they continued on. I pulled out my topo map and tried to identify the other peaks and my position in relation to them, something I wanted to do since last September when I got so mixed up in the Silver Pick Basin. I had plenty of time and the skies were clear so it was a good opportunity to learn something that might help me another time. Using my compass I actually matched the scene around me to the contours on the map.
I ambled down to the trailhead and visited with Paul, a former Minnesotan, and his son Justin. They wanted a photo taken by the sign after their successful hike up Uncompahgre today. They recounted how the day before they were chased down from Redcloud by a thunderstorm.
This was a very easy peak.