Split Rock, 10127, Grouse Mountain, followed by Mt. Bailey

A nice circuit near Bailey - Stats & peaks.

Stats: 7+ miles, 2500' gain.

Peaks:

Split Rock

10,127'

Grouse Mountain

Then Mt. Bailey



1.2 miles RT, 375' gain.

Partner: Greg Hakes

Description of the hikin'

We parked in the public parking area outside of the gates at Platte Canyon High School. We talked about the hike, and the unfortunate burn that took place back in April, 2002.

Fire Report

Bummer. We walked up past the road, and took the gully to the saddle-ish area, crossing over into the National Forest. From there, we went NW and found the old closed road, following that west and north to the slope of Split Rock. From there, we ascended the steep, burned, and a little loose slopes of Split Rock, and found a hidden weakness (which is obvious when you get up there). The winds weren't too bad until we got on top of Split Rock, but still not as bad as forecast. A quick summit stay, then off and uphill to 10127. Not a bad traverse, since most of the work is done gaining Split Rock. Relatively quick and easy, the fire cleared the top of the ridge, but did not descend down into the other (north) side. We arrived on the summit, but there were 2 spots competing for "summit" honors. I busted out my handlevel, and determined the summit area from sighting and backsighting, and then we found a register at the same spot. It was trashed, so we replaced it with a glass container. Off to Grouse, we descended east to the saddle, and found a nice area occupied by a cabin. Unfortunately, we also found some trash, and packed out as much as we could. A hundred feet away, we found the remnant of a canvas tent, basically left there to rot. Another bummer. We continued our ascent up to Grouse, which was also relatively easy and pleasant. We arrived at the summit area to find 3 points competing for "summit" honors, and busted out the hand level again. We determined the highest point to be the west-most point. It was equal height with the enormous cairn (but is man-made and thus not recognized). We placed a register at the HP of Grouse as well. After another brief summit stay, we descended our ascent route, and then continued down the treed gully. From there, it was some sidehilling and descending back to the old road, which we followed back down and out.

Afterwards, we went back east bound, and then stopped and went east to the base of Mt. Bailey, which Dad had not done. We parked at the trailhead, and made quick work of Bailey's prominent peak. We descended back to the car, and went home. A good day!

Pics

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View Split Rock, 10127, Grouse Mountain, followed by Mt. Bailey Image Gallery - 17 Images