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| East Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 39.04250°N / 106.5969°W Route Type: Hike, Scramble Time Required: Most of a day Difficulty: Class 2+
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| Page By: Aaron Johnson Created/Edited: Aug 21, 2005 / Sep 4, 2005 Object ID: 166402 Hits: 1175 Loading... Page Score: 86.19% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
See the GETTING THERE section on the MAIN PAGE.
A 4WD vehicle is recommended to reach the end of the jeep road, which is gated, and shorten your hiking distance from 8.2 miles to 6 miles. Otherwise, just park at the turn-off at 10,740 ft. The trail follows an old jeep road up the beautiful McNasser Gulch. Grizzly Peak will make a grand appearance after walking through a couple bands of forest.
Proceed up through some mining properties. Stay on the road and do not tamper with the mining equipment. The road then ends and you must now make your own way.
Route Description
Grizzly's east ridge extends toward you on the right. Ascend these steep tundra slopes at an angle, gaining the ridge as expediently as possible, steering over a cliff band as you go. This version avoids willow wacking and steep scree at the expense of some side hilling, and keeps erosional impact of your activities to a minimum. The mountain's eastern aspects is covered in fine scree.
A variation suggested by SP member Kane involves a steep direct ascent as follows:
Stay low and follow the shallow creek drainage with a little bushwhacking up to the base of Grizzly. Follow the creek to the base of the mountain. Once at the base of Grizzly you can see the rest of the route to the south ridge. It is steep. Locate a route that ascends up through grassy benches, this will save you from all the bouldering. The grass eventually turns to steep scree. At this point, take care of the mountain and locate the best trail to keep the erosion under control. Some route finding will yield a very faint trail zigzagging up to the east ridge. After about 1000-ft of steep class 2 hiking, gain the ridge crest of Grizzly's east ridge.
The views are suddenly more impressive, and the terrain before you will keep you entertained. Stay on the ridge crest, expect mostly class 2+ scrambling, followed by packed scree to the summit ridge.
Once on the summit ridge at the base of a rock escarpment, proceed due south along the wide ridge top to the summit cone, comprised of sturdy black rocks. A scrambling route is evident, but many possibilities exist to make the final pitch more interesting. The scene from the summit is awe inspiring!
Return the same route.
Essential Gear
SUMMER & FALL: Standard dayhike gear will do.
SPRING: And ice axe and crampons along with winter gear is recommended.
WINTER: Due to high avalanche potential on the East Ridge's south slopes and serious access issues, an winter ascent is not recommended. If executed, a winter ascent would require dramatic distances and full winter expedition gear.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
Images
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Sawatch Range
