Ascent of Visitor Point on 2017-06-03| Other People: | Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Saturday, June 3, 2017 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Visitor Point | | Location: | USA-Colorado | | Elevation: | 9501 ft / 2895 m |
Ascent Trip ReportPaid the $7 fee at gate; and parked at the Visitor Center. There is a trail that heads out of the parking lot to the North that will lead to the Black Bear TH near the second parking lot. Just before the second parking lot there is small nature loop that heads slightly uphill and saves you a tiny fraction of the bushwhacking. I hiked this nature trail until it crested and then took a bearing on my compass and headed east by southeast. At first it was steep and thick and had to make my way through a grove of thick immature pine but the hillside gives way to better bushwhacking country soon. I soon was led to a small opening - a knoll that overlooks Golden Gate Canyon Road. From here, you could look up and see the true peak and its false peak to the right. I readjusted my bearing not wanting to hit a false summit and began.
Here the bushwhack was typical Colorado low peak hiking...steep with scattered boulders but no understory so you could sight a long way. I stumbled across a heavily used herd trail used by elk and deer. They were heading basically in the right direction and the herd trail avoided many rock obstacles. At first the herd trail is mild and wanders a bit more north than I had hoped but soon it swings straight up hill and is easy to follow as the herd has torn up the ground. The herd trail leads you right to the saddle between the true peak and the smaller false peak knoll. From the knoll there was no herd trail to follow and I simply headed up ridge watching daylight fall on both sides. The easier path led me around obstacles that would have required scrambling so I slid around the backside of the ridge and it summited easily with no class 3 what-so-ever in that direction and there was a large cairn on the top and nice flat spot to overlook and camp. The views were very spotty - peek a boo type.
On my journey down I followed the ridge back to the saddle and re-acquired the elk herd trail and followed it until I could tell it was not going to end up at the parking lot and deviated from it about 200 feet above the parking lot and struck the nature trial right at the bridge junction.
A fairly straightforward bushwhack but steep and over a mile. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1296 ft / 394 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 1296 ft / 394 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 3 mi / 4.8 km | | Grade/Class: | 2 | | Quality: | 4 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Bushwhack | | Gear Used: | Ski Poles | | Weather: | Pleasant
55F | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 1281 ft / 390 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 1266 ft / 385 m; Extra: 15 ft / 4m | | Loss on way in: | 15 ft / 4 m | | Distance: | 1.5 mi / 2.4 km | | Route: | Bushwhack East by SE along West Slopes | | Start Trailhead: | Visitor Center Parking Lot 8235 ft / 2510 m | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 1281 ft / 390 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 1266 ft / 385 m; Extra: 15 ft / 4m | | Gain on way out: | 15 ft / 4 m | | Distance: | 1.5 mi / 2.4 km | | End Trailhead: | 8235 ft / 2510 m | Ascent Part of Trip: Denver-7
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 6542 ft / 1994 m Total Trip Loss: 4166 ft / 1270 m |
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