Ascent of Crooked Creek Hill on 2018-09-03| Other People: | Solo Ascent
| | Date: | Monday, September 3, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | ATV | | Peak: | Crooked Creek Hill | | Location: | USA-Colorado | | Elevation: | 10773 ft / 3283 m |
Ascent Trip ReportKaren and trying out the new ATV for the first time and ended up on FR 194, Parking where the road splits and it is ATV only to the right and all 4 wheels driving to the left, we drove up 4 miles to the terminus and found a nifty way to back into hiking Silverheels, Palmer, and Little Baldy. But today it was drizzle rain and cloudy...all day not a good day for high alpine ascents. On the way back to the truck/trailer I saw a hill that looked like a sporty bushwhack with potential nice views. Itching to climb something before the next rain, I hopped off the ATV and made a bee-line for the "summit" of the apparent hill. Who else but an avid peakbagger would go after some non-descriptive hill along the forest but it looked like it might have prominence.
It was a steep climb but i dispatched with it quickly but to my amazement, two others were climbing it for the views too and their dogs! I asked, did they see at the summit a distinct crown? or was I heading for another false hill that is actually part of a long shoulder. They assured me there was a crown. The hike is pretty open till the top where the aspen became gnarly. I did find a distinct summit and the ground fell away in all directions so OK it is a hill - I thought. The aspen were so thick I could not tell if the "saddle" was 15 feet below me or 300? I did not have time to go investigate the saddle as Karen was still awaiting me on the ATV at the bottom.
When I got home and checked the USGS map I was first pleased and then bummed. The USGS map also recognized this as a potential peak and someone set a USGS point on it. But the contours do not even pick up one interval meaning the prominence is less than 40 feet thus, it really is not a peak. It is a feature. Well, what can I say, a surveyor, me, and two other 4-wheelers were all drawn to the "summit" because of how it looked below at the ATV road. Still a good bushwhack climb in CO. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 673 ft / 205 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 1.6 mi / 2.6 km | | Grade/Class: | 2 | | Quality: | 3 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Bushwhack | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 673 ft / 205 m | | Distance: | 0.8 mi / 1.3 km | | Route: | Bushwhack straight up | | Start Trailhead: | 4-wheel drive road 10100 ft / 3078 m | | Descent Statistics | | Distance: | 0.8 mi / 1.3 km |
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