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Ascent of Black Mountain on 2013-09-25

Climber: Ken Jones

Other People:

Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain

Date:

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Motorized Transport to Trailhead:

4x4 Vehicle

Peak:

Black Mountain

Location:

USA-Colorado

Elevation:

11654 ft / 3552 m

Ascent Trip Report

I suspect that my route is the easiest hike on Black Mountain, but I think there are more reasonable drives to other hiking routes which may be more time-efficient in combination. Here's a description of what I did.

Drive:

Route A -

0.0 Intersection Colo Hwy 9 and County Rd 88, just south of MP 33. Take CR 88.
6.0 Fork, go right on CR 107 (Note: staying left on CR 88 should take you to FR 272 in 2 to 3 miles, and a south-side approach to the peak. I did not check this out.)
7.5 Enter USFS land at a gate, road is now FR 107
10.4 FR 268 on your left, reset odometer

Route B -

0.0 Colo Hwy 9 near MP 32, head SW on FR 108 signed for Agate Creek, Dicks Peak, and Black Mountain. Stay on main road past numerous junctions.
5.4 Turn left on FR 107 signed for Rye Slough and Black Mountain
6.8 FR 268 on your right, reset odometer

Routes A & B -

0.0 Turn off FR 107 onto FR 268. You will want high clearance from this point, and 4WD before you are done.
0.2 Pass through a gate (I won't mention all of these, but be prepared to jump in and out of your vehicle to open and close them)
2.6 Keep right
3.0 Keep right
3.3 Right fork is dead end, go left (signed 268)
4.0 Another gate, sign indicates leaving Pike NF
6.2 A bit beyond where the map shows it, go left (road rerouted)
6.6 Cross cattle guard near sign indicating state access route
7.7 Reach open gate on ridge. Pike NF map shows road ending here, but it continues as on topo. Bear left (but not hard left, which is posted as closed to vehicles).
9.2 Unmapped track on left goes to ridge - take it
9.4 Park where track dies; this is where my GPS track starts

Route B is the easier drive to FR 268, but all the difficult driving is on FR 268 and beyond. I don't think even Andy Martin could drag an Accord to where I parked. There are steep, loose sections that I needed 4WD and high clearance for.

The hike:

Head east up the ridge through generally open woods. If you go a little to the north you will get better views over the cliffs, and the vegetation is even thinner. Short, nice hike.

Summary Total Data
Elevation Gain:	834 ft / 255 m
Route:	W Ridge
Trailhead:	End of track on W Ridge 10820 ft / 3297 m
GPS Data for Ascent/Trip GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/long Peaks: climbed and unclimbed by Ken Jones Click Here for a Full Screen Map Note: GPS Tracks may not be accurate, and may not show the best route. Do not follow this route blindly. Conditions change frequently. Use of a GPS unit in the outdoors, even with a pre-loaded track, is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Peakbagger.com accepts NO resposibility or liability from use of this data. Download this GPS track as a GPX file

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