SummitPost.org

hi

I am thinking about hiking up to Starr Peak/Mount Thorodin via the Mount Thorodin Trail (North Ridge)- but I have kind of a hard time pinpointing the trailhead - do I drive down Camp Eden Road until its end or do I take South Beaver Creek Rd/Wedgwood Rd ?

Don;t want to get "lost" in these wooden exurbs....

Not aware of any trail up there, but the best approach is from here (an old road exists, but I didn't bother):

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=39.87233,-105.43094&z=15&t=T

Tremont makes a fun scramble from there too.

Pretty sure you'll find your car towed trying to do it from the north

Also, as far as I've been able to tell, there is a jeep trail on NF land which leads up to the saddle between Thorodin and Starr, but both ends of the road are on private and heavily-signed property. This would enable an approach from the east.

thanks - I looked at the topo map and from the north (not on State Park property) there is a trail called Mount Thorodin trail leading up to the summit - when I googled it I found dozens of references to the trail itself but nothing about the trailhead - I don;t want to drive all the way up there to stand at no trespassing signs...I don't mind scrambling and bushwhacking, but my wife does - guess I will explore the area on anotehr day

quickly drove by there coming back from another mountain - all private land up there - wonder if that trail shown on the map ever existed

Yes there is a trail there. I used that trail in the 1980's to climb Starr Peak 10,511 and Sheepshead. They are both part of Thorodin Mountain although not the high points of the mountain itself. At the time I took Camp Eden Road to the Axton Ranch gate and parked outside the gate at 8,750. The trail was easy to follow at the time and was the same one you see on the Tungsten Quad. The actual high point of Thorodin Mountain is 3/4 of a mile SSW west of Starr Peak. I am not sure that this access is legal or not at this time. You might be able to still get permission by contacting the current owners.

Apologies for bumping the thread...

I found a copy of the 7th edition of "Guide to The Colorado Mountains" among old books in my dad's basement. I was looking for a peak within reasonable driving distance from Denver (about an hour or so) that I would get some sense of accomplishment out of hiking, and this one seemed to fit the bill.

Googling it I found this thread. I'm a little disappointed to see that it looks like it's all on private land now. How would you go about getting permission to hike something like this?

FWIW, in the book (copyright 1979) it says the following:

Thorodin Mountain, 10,555', with Odin, which has a tower of 10,493', gives a good off season hike to one of the best views of the Front Range. Drive up the Coal Creek road, State 72 N from Golden, S from Boulder, or through Arvada, to Camp Eden road, 1/2 mile E of Wondervu. Follow signs to Axton Ranch, past Highland Boys Camp and park outside the gate at 8750', 3 1/2 miles off 72. Walk W 1 mile on jeep road, keeping right. Trail continues to fork, 1/2 mile W, where you take left branch and zigzag 2 miles SSW through time to summit. See Tungsten Quad.

It looks like most of it is still on public land. There's another good write up here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MrYcKG9OqtYC&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Some other information formerly on the Daily Camera website, and still in Google's Cache.

Trail Tale: Mount Thorodin

TRAIL TALE: Mount Thorodin

TO THE TRAILHEAD

Drive up Boulder Canyon of Coal Creek Canyon to Colo. 119 and go south to Rollinsville. Continue five miles south to Gap Road. Turn left on Gap Road and follow signs to Golden Gate Canyon State Park and Panorama Point.

DISTANCE: 2.9 miles round-trip.

ELEVATION GAIN: 1,200 feet

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

DOGS, BIKES: No bikes. Dogs OK.

ETC.: $5 day fee or Colorado State Parks pass required to park at Panorama Point. Because there is no official trail to follow, check with park officials for any closures/private property.

DESCRIPTION

You know 10,540-foot Mount Thorodin, though you may not know you know Mount Thorodin. If you've ever drifted far enough east to see the hulking, forested peak to the southwest of Boulder's famous mountain backdrop, you've seen Thorodin. From this eastern view, the peak is frankly nondescript. There are no dramatic rock formations, though for a brief period each autumn you can see a few streaks of aspen gold along the mountain's eastern flank. Navigating to the top of Mount Thorodin requires a decent map (the USGS Tungsten quad is perfect) and some patience, though it does not involve a tremendous amount of bushwhacking. From Panorama, you can see three huge rock outcroppings, and you may find a faint climbers' trail dribbling up that direction. But you should head south of these formations through a thinly forested area. Along the way to the top, you'll see remnant trails, Starr Peak — where a fire lookout tower stood from 1941 to 1976 — and an old shack in a meadow near the summit. The views from the summit are breathtaking and comprehensive, with Longs Peak and the Indian Peaks to the north, James Peak to the west, and the backside of Boulder's mountain parks to the east.

MORE INFO: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, (303) 582-3707[/url]

More information plus photos:

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colora ... /105745789

Which mountain is Thorodin Mountain?

I, finally, made a trip up to Thorodin today... or did I?

My GPS log overlaid on Google's Terrain map shows that the mountain I ended up hiking to is not actually Thorodin, that Thorodin is actually slightly to the northeast.

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=otqtxqwvpbykfrsl

I was more or less attempting to follow the topo map posted in the guide on Thorodin Mountain, Starr Peak, and Sheepshead. The topo map there, and the summitpost page on Thorodin Mountain both show it as the mountain at 39.88452°N / 105.42875°W. The Mountain Post page shows it at 39.8828°N, -105.432°W (which may just be an accuracy issue as it's not on a summit).

USGS, however, marks Thorodin's summit in the same location as Google Maps at 39.8874871, -105.4255504, northeast of where I was at. I was surprised not to see a survey marker on the top of the summit I was on today, and this might explain why.

I'm not sure if the summit to the southwest of what USGS considers to be the exact location of Thorodin are part of it in terms of how it's defined as a mountain. But, if you're trying to get to the official Thorodin summit, you'll want to go a little further northeast of what the guides indicate.

The USGS map shows the word "Thorodin" written across the whole area. Thus the name is applied to the highest point, which is the 10540 summit. The summit to the NE is lower. The 10540 summit is the named, ranked peak. The NE summit is an unranked, unnamed bump.
http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Climbers.php?Id=2749

That's true, that map shows it there and has Thorodin written across the area. But if I go to the USGS EarthExplorer and punch in Thorodin (I can't find a way to link straight to the results) it puts it at 39.8874871, -105.4255504 (right on top of the bump). Both "the bump" and the summit have three topo lines around them. Although it looks unlikely from the map, and I know it sounds crazy, it's not impossible that the bump is slightly higher. Otherwise, why would USGS (at least in their online database) list the location of Thorodin on "the bump?" Shouldn't it be on the highest point?

For instance, if I search EarthExplorer for Mt. Massive, although it also has "bumps" around the summit, it gives the coordinates for the highest point (39.1872118, -106.475306).

There are standards used in creating lists. Here are the ones used for listsofjohn:
http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/glossary.html#Name

In general, you're correct. The NE bump interpolates to 10540 and could be higher. A serious peakbagger will go to both summits and sight-level to determine which point is higher. A slightly less serious peakbagger without a sight-level will go to both summits if they can't tell which is higher, before counting the peak as climbed.

In the case of Thorodin, the NE bump is known to be lower. Most of the people on LOJ are serious peakbaggers and report findings back to John when they make discoveries in the field, when the map is ambiguous. Maps are often incorrect, missing contour lines and everything. Some quads are notorious for this. A peakbagger cares about reaching the highest point, not what the map says. See the Field Observation section in the link above.

"Been there and done that" with a level, shot both ways, confirming that a boulder in the photo below is the true summit. It's westerly of the popular, large bowl-shaped false summit.