Cameron COne

Cameron's Cone-10707' with CMC 5/15/2004 6.5 miles up via Barr Trail and bushwack ~ 4 miles down via bushwack off east slope and Eagle Mtn trail 4200' gain 7 hr 15 min RT A group of 10 CMC'ers led by Carson Black successfully summitted the prominent Cameron's Cone below Pikes Peak. This peak is hard to get to, thus the considerable gain required. We parked as close as we could to the Barr TH, about a 1/2 mile down Ruxton Street. We all went our own pace for the initial switchbacks up the side of Mt Manitou. We left Barr Trail at No Name Creek at the 3.5 mile mark and took the pipeline trail to Ruxton Park. From here, we crossed the cog railway and bushwacked up the gentle Dark Canyon to a saddle west of the summit at about 9700'. From here, it was a brutal 1000' gain in less than a mile to the summit, where we were rewarded with awesome views in all directions. Only insignificant patches of snow were encountered. It looks like the snowline has risen a little above treeline. Only 6 people had summitted this prominent peak this year. I saw Matt Carpenter's name on the log, the well known runner who wins the Pikes Peak Marathon so often. He probably made it up this peak in a couple hours! After 45 minutes of resting and pic opportunities, we decided as a group to take a use trail off the steeper east slope, thinking that we could get back sooner. There were cliffs on the n.e. side that we avoided and tried following orange markers down the slope. We occassionaly got off-route, but eventually found the Eagle Mtn trail which led us back to Ruxton St in 3 hr 15 min, almost as long as our ascent! It still was a fun bushwack and we all were happy with the outing.