White Dome (13,627') & Peak One (13,589') by Brian Schultz Wednesday July 29, 2009
Roundtrip mileage: ~6.3 miles from Kite Lake (Beartown)
Elevation gain: 2,700'
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz
I didn't think we'd ever return to Beartown after climbing Jagged Mountain four years ago but here we were again, chasing after the bicentennial peaks in the area. After meeting in Creede, Tim and I drove the Rio Grande Reservoir road to the Ute Creek trailhead, where we dropped off my car before continuing on in Tim's truck. The drive up Timber Hill was rough and slow but manageable, same as in 2005.
From Beartown we drove up to Kite Lake to check out the route for the morning and met two fellows camped up there. They'd backpacked from the direction of Eldorado Lake and told us where to pick up the trail east of Kite Lake that leads up and over the Continental Divide. We drove back down the road a short distance and easily found the trail on the north side of the road, and set up there for the night. Finding the trail ended up saving us a bushwhack in the morning but we would've intersected the trail anyway at some point.
Skies were cloudy when we began at 5:50 AM and it was cold; even after the sun rose later, strong winds kept us chilled. The trail up to the Continental Divide was very good and provided a fine view of White Dome from the top. Our aim was for the saddle west of White Dome, which meant traversing around the north side of White Dome instead of taking it on directly. We began descending but stayed above Eldorado Lake by contouring on grass and rock to the base of a talus-filled drainage. We reached the talus at 7:00, the saddle above at 7:30, and after a short break continued up the imposing ridge to White Dome's summit. It turned out to be easier scrambling than it looked. We stayed on the left side until reaching a small saddle and switched from there to the right side, following it up all the way to the summit. We arrived on top at 8:05.
Although it was sunny, heavy clouds in the early morning were worrisome. But we stayed until 8:25 enjoying the remote area's terrific views and noted that few people apparently climb this peak, at least according to the register. Only three parties signed in ahead of us this year.
We descended back to the saddle and ventured up to Peak One, somewhat differently than how Garratt & Martin suggest. When we reached the 13,401 ridge point we did a class 3 climb up and over it instead of skirting it on the right side. The scrambling got easier from there by staying mostly on top of the ridge to the summit but there was plenty of loose rubble to contend with. We made the summit of Peak One at 9:40, where views of the Trinities, Vestal, and Arrow were simply outstanding. Our stay was moderately short as clouds were ever threatening, and at 10:05 we headed down. It started raining while we were descending the talus-filled drainage and we quickly put on rain jackets and pack covers before continuing.
We made quick time past Eldorado Lake and back up the Continental Divide, and just as we reached the truck at 12:25, it started hailing. It was the beginning of three hours of constant storm activity as we waited in the truck, wondering whether or not we'd get a chance to start our Mt Oso backpack.
Trailhead to White Dome- 2 hours 15 minutes
White Dome to Peak One- 1 hour 15 minutes
Peak One to trailhead- 2 hours 20 minutes
Start to finish- 6 hours 35 minutes