Warrior Mountain (11,273), Chief Mountain (11,709), Papoose Mountain (11,174), & Squaw Mountain (11,486) by Brian Schultz Wednesday August 13, 2014

I wasn't sure I'd have time to climb any peaks today after driving in from Nebraska and having lunch in Denver with Dave Chamberlin. Dave was a team member on my first summit attempt on Aconcagua in 2007 and he and I periodically meet up when I'm passing through Denver. We've also climbed together a few times, the most recent being last month on James Peak. The Aconcagua connection today didn't end with Dave. Tonight I'd be having dinner with Colin Levey, a team member on my second Aconcagua climb in 2012, and whom I'd be climbing with over the next four days.

Warrior Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: 0.13 miles; elevation gain: 55', start to finish: 9 minutes

After lunch, I drove to Evergreen and turned onto Highway 103 (Squaw Pass road). Skies were getting quite dark as I drove up a side road to Warrior Mountain and it was raining lightly when I parked at the top. I laughed to myself when I realized how close the summit was. I started at 3:00 PM and reached the summit three minutes later. Do they get any easier than this? I spent three minutes on top and three minutes to get back to my truck.

Chief Mountain & Papoose Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: ~ 3 miles; elevation gain: 1,090'; start to finish: 1 hour 20 minutes

At least these two peaks were a bit more sporting. I drove back down the Squaw Pass road a short distance and parked at a pullout opposite the signed trail to Chief Mountain. I started at 3:30 on an excellent trail that goes to the top and arrived on the summit (photo 1, photo 2) around 4:00. I departed quickly. Once I got back to the Chief/Papoose saddle it was an easy bushwhack to unranked Papoose's summit, where I arrived at 4:30. There are several large rock outcrops that could qualify as the high point and I hopped up each one to be sure. I departed Papoose at 4:35 and got back to my truck at 4:50. It didn't rain at all on this hike.

Squaw Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: 2.4 miles; elevation gain: 800' (including other high points); start to finish: 1 hour 5 minutes

Again, it was a short distance down the Squaw Pass road to a side road leading up to Squaw Mountain. A locked gate stopped me from driving up to the top so I parked in the spacious parking area at the gate. Two fellows at the parking lot had rented the lookout tower on the summit for the night and were eager to get up there but were wondering what to do with a lost dog that approached them. They decided to drive back to Evergreen to get into cell coverage and attempt to find the owner.

I headed up the road at 5:00 and reached the lookout tower at 5:30. It was raining lightly. Some of the other rock towers (photo 1, photo 2) looked like they could be higher so I climbed them as well. I made it back to my truck at 6:05 and contacted Colin when I got into cell coverage to let him know I was on my way to Boulder.

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