Ascent of Windy Hill Peak on 2018-05-19| Date: | Saturday, May 19, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | 4x4 Vehicle | | Peak: | Windy Hill Peak | | Location: | USA-Colorado | | Elevation: | 11724 ft / 3573 m |
Ascent Trip ReportPretty cool area. Could be a very short hike but we made it a day. We drove to Alma and you take the CR that takes you up to Kite Lake where all the 14er trailheads begin. The county road is signed to swing a hard right up towards Windy Hill or you can go straight to Kite Lake. Take the right. The road gets interesting before the 2 wheel parking lot. With all the spring snow melt there is a fairly deep creek that you cross. We had a Jeep Rubicon and a Nissan Frontier 4 by 4 vehicles. Both made it across easily in 4 high but not sure a Subaru would have made it with the spring flow today. There was still patches of snow in the road. Just before the 2 wheel drive parking lot conditions deteriorated. First there was a steep bank of snow blocking the way, and second it began to suddenly snow pretty hard on us. So we parked there and hiked up the 4 wheel drive roadway. Then a 4 wheel drive ATV came by and knocked the snow down and we got an idea of conditions ahead on the 4 wheel drive portion.
With Karen and I - Mike Saxton, Bonnie, and his kids. We ended all hiking to the top of the scenic area to an elevation of over 11,800 and realized we were not on the peak which is lower and over by 900 year old Bristlecone pines. Bonnie and I hiked up to the false peak (the trails led us there) while Mike and Karen watched the kids and Willie. When we got back to the 2 wheel parking area we all agreed we could have made it up further and wanted to try the vehicles. Realizing I had had hiked past the true peak and not actually visited it, we drove back up the 4 wheel trail. The road is very manageable. We both went up and down in 4 high and crossed a second creek and blasted thru a couple of soft snow banks. We could not get all the way to the final parking lot because there was a very deep snow bank with a steep angle completely covering the road at one point and we parked again. We took out sleds and disks and let the kids slide down the snow slopes. Then I hiked over the snow banks over to the true peak and enjoyed the old distorted pines. That is why I show so much gain. We hiked the entire area. I will come back again when all the snow is gone. Pretty interesting area with great view of Mount Bross.
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| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1009 ft / 307 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 635 ft / 193 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 2.6 mi / 4.2 km | | Grade/Class: | 1 | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country, Bushwhack, Snow on Ground | | Weather: | Snowing, Pleasant, Breezy, Overcast
snowed on and off but 45F | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 434 ft / 132 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 374 ft / 114 m; Extra: 60 ft / 18m | | Loss on way in: | 60 ft / 18 m | | Distance: | 0.7 mi / 1.1 km | | Route: | 4 wheel drive trail and bushwhack | | Start Trailhead: | below the 2 wheel drive parking 11350 ft / 3459 m | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 575 ft / 175 m | | Gain on way out: | 575 ft / 175 m | | Distance: | 1.9 mi / 3.1 km | | Route: | meandered up and out of park |
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