Mount Huron

Date to Climb: June 24, 2009

Elevation: 14,003

Range: Sawatch

Latitude: 38.94550, Longitude: -106.43800

Route: Northwest Slopes ll, Class 2

Pre-Climb Comments

Huron should be an easy day. If we are strong we might exchange the Missouri trio day with this day. We are looking forward to doing Huron again which ever day we do it. We will walk the extra 2 miles each way instead of driving to the trailhead. Huron is very scenic and nicely graded and is one of the best hikes in the Sawatch Range. We will camp along the road before Winfield.

Post-Climb Comments

After a great breakfast at the bakery in Montrose, we started the long commute to Buena Vista. It was July 2nd and everyone in Colorado with a car was on the road and going somewhere. We could not believe the traffic.

Stopping in Buena Vista we did laundry and re-packed the car, a daily chore. Despite all our efforts to hurry, we were still slow leaving town. Our next stop was to try and find a campsite for Huron and the Missouri group. I thought there would be a slim chance that we could find anything, but luck shone bright on us that day and we scored on a great site.

It had rained most of the afternoon and into the night. We discussed our morning plans. We said we were going to climb Huron regardless of the weather. Jon and Laura said they would like to go, but would not go if it was raining. Nick said he would go, period.

We went to bed as soon as possible, with a designated five o’clock wake up. It was raining when we woke. Jon and Laura woke also and were ready to go. Nick slept in.

Parking at the 2WD trailhead, we had to walk an extra two miles each way. We started ahead of Jon and Laura and were one of the first to start up the mountain. After an hour or so it stopped raining, but was still overcast and the clouds concealed the high mountains. The trail was in excellent condition and we set a slow and steady pace to tree line. After a brief rest we continued to the upper saddle. Being in a cloud at the time, we could not see anything but did not feel threatened by the bad weather. It was just windy and cold, normal weather for us.

The final slopes to the top were easier than we remembered. It took us three hours and twenty minutes to summit from the 2WD trailhead. We were hoping for an easy day and were happy that the climb matched our needs.

The summit was shrouded in the clouds of morning. We could not see a thing.

Jon and Laura summited with no problems.

We met back in camp for a restful afternoon.