Mount Lady Washington Loop.

It's been a little while.  My shoulder has gone back toward better and then back toward worse.  It doesn't feel one hundred percent yet, but I think that is close.  With this in mind, great weather predicted, and calendar winter set to end in about a week and a half, I HAD to get out.
Of course, the problem is now that I have largely climbed out the east side of the park.  There are a few odds and ends here and there that I am either saving for later, or waiting for better conditions on.  In the meantime, I have been poking around on Lists of John looking for any destinations I may have missed.  And I discovered one- a small, unranked high point that Gerry Roach named Pine Ridge.  This is at the extreme northern end of the ridge that extends north east from Granite Pass, the large pile of rock that marks the intersection for the Longs Peak trail to turn up into the Boulder Field.
It seemed silly to go up just for this.  I thought it would take me no more than six hours.  As I left the house, I kept in mind the option of making a loop by adding on Mount Lady Washington.
The trail up was in pretty good shape.  I ended up taking the shorter winter trail, which basically heads straight uphill instead of switch backing.  This of course cuts some distance off, but is significantly steeper.

Soon enough I was approaching Chasm Junction and had some great views coming.  This was my first time since mid-November above treeline and I wondered how it would go.  I was feeling pretty great so I decided to go for Mount Lady Washington first, and then take the north ridge down to Granite Pass and head out to Pine Ridge.

The quality of the sights increased. 

I started up the east ridge of MLW.  Here you can see Mount Meeker, The Loft, and Ships Prow.  With mostly larger and stable talus, this route up to the summit is second class.  You pretty much go directly up the ridge, staying north of any steep stuff.  It's around 1700 feet of elevation gain and .8 mile from Chasm Junction to the summit.

Across the bowl of Jim's Grove, I got some views of the rest of the days destinations.

They are hard to pick out, so I labelled them here.

At first I thought I'd go all the way out to Pine Ridge and then back to Granite Pass to take the trail back down.  But I spied what looked like a good route heading down towards Jim's Grove. 

Here is the approximate route I took.  Nibbles?  We'll get to them later...

The summit of MLW provides some spectacular views of Longs.  Here is Lambs Slide.

And the North Face/Cables Route.

And of course the Diamond as a whole.  It is amazing how huge it looks from here.  It is truly astounding, certainly one of the best views in the whole of RMNP.

Mount Meekers' Iron Gates.  I had a quick snack.  I could not find the summit register.

Looking down the north ridge, which looks a whole lot like looking down the east ridge.  Again, larger and mostly stable talus.  I stayed to the west side to keep out of the drifted snow.  I rejoined the trail pretty close to Granite Pass, and then went around to the north side to ascend to the high point.

From here I could see out to my final goal. 

And had a good view of the peaks to the south. 

I had to marvel at the amount of snow on the mountains.  It is crazy that this will all be gone in a few months.
I've covered Battle Mountain before, but approach from the west side and then cross to the east of the high point for the easiest going.  From here just continue on to Pine Ridge.  There are two high points: it is the one on your left.

Not too amazing.

But with great views of Meeker, MLW, Longs, and Storm Peak.

I could see Twin Sisters across the way.  Note the landslide that resulted from the 2013 floods on the lower left.

These are the high points I labelled "The Nibbles" above.  I found them to be a good landmark, and since they are the only thing around, why not check them out?  All are short second class, and after a fair amount of elevation gain, provided just a small nibble.  According to my GPS, they are between 11600 and 11555 feet in elevation, and are at N 40 16.5541' W 105 35.4891', N 40 16.5425' W 105 35.4708', and N 40 16.5420' W 105 35.4545'.  Or you can just look for the three lonely high points on this ridge.
My descent plan worked out perfectly.  I stayed in the dirt/rock section for as long as possible, then passed through a short section of snow in the trees before popping out on the trail.  I took this back down.

Goodbye for now.
I have a tendency to get lost briefly up here in the winter.  I think this marked the first time I was able to find the trail easily and follow it down.  Again I took the winter short cuts, and arrived back at the car right before 2pm.
This was a fun loop, and a great way to get back into the mountains again.  Mount Lady Washington is a great peak to try as a warm up for Longs, or just for the views.  I am very much looking forward to the year ahead.  Unfortunately, I've got two plus months before Trail Ridge Road reopens.  I foresee alot of long drives in my future.
Link to Caltopo Map.
Mount Lady Washington Loop:

8.8 miles, 4026 feet gain.  Second class.  Strenuous-.
Including (all distances as part of the loop):
Mount Lady Washington, 13281 feet: 3.5 miles via east ridge and including winter short cuts, 3881 foot gain.  Second class.  Strenuous-.
Granite Pass, 12120+ feet: 4.3 miles, 2720 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate+.
Battle Mountain, 12044 feet: 4.7 miles, 2644 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate+.
Pine Ridge, 11909 feet: 5.3 miles, 2509 foot gain.  Moderate+.
"The Nibbles", 11555-11600 feet: 5.9 miles, 2200ish foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate+.

Estes Cone.

While still enjoying some nicer weather, last week I set out for Estes Cone.  I arrived at the Longs Peak trail head around seven, and set out up the trail. 

On the way you pass Eugenia Mine, which as you can see, produced more dreams than gold.
I had read that one could follow the stream here up the hill to find the actual mine, now closed by the park.  I did find the rusting boiler used to drive machinery, and after wandering around in a good bit of avalanche dead fall and two or so feet of powder, I decided to head back down.
While I was walking down, I came upon a very odd looking erosion, and upon looking up the mine when I got home, discovered this was actually one of the abandoned shafts.  Of course there was not much to see, and I'll have to get back to it in the summer.

On the trail, which was mostly packed snow with a touch of ice and bare soil here and there.  I used traction devices on the way up, but nothing on the way back. 

After passing through Moore Park, the trail takes a hard left and starts heading up hill.  The total gain for the hike is around 1500 ft, with the vast majority of that gained near the end.

Battle Mountain.

You'll arrive at a junction with the trail from Glacier Basin.  A sign marks the way to the top of the cone.  You'll gain over 500 feet in the next .7 mile, so prepare!

It took me a few minutes to actually find the high point when I got the the top.  To save you some time, continue to head south.  The true summit is the southern most block of stone. 

If you click to embiggen, you can see the Longs Peak parking lot above the larger empty space in the middle. 

It wasn't too sunny, in fact I was in cloud cover most of the day.  These lower clouds were engulfing the high peaks of the park.

Zoomed out to see it all- Meeker, Longs, Mt. Lady Washington, Storm Peak, Battle Mountain. 

Looking north to some of the peaks in the park. 

Again, cool to see the low clouds playing with the summits.

Mummy range.

Twin Sisters as seen from Estes Cone.

Points east.

Clouds finally take Meeker and Longs away from us. 

Love you too Rocky Mountain National Park!

Well, above I'd captured the parking lot from Estes Cone, here is the opposite view.

And a little more zoom in.  The cliffs on the south and eastern faces sure look intimidating.  I was back to the truck in around four hours, which included the time spent wandering around looking for a mine.   No gold was found.
I thought this was a pretty mellow hike overall, something good for those who want to do something easier, shorter, or less technical and still get a good view from the top, as well as the feel the reward of summitting a pretty cool peak.
Estes Cone via Longs Peak TH:
3.3 miles one way, 1606 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate.
Other destinations you'll encounter along the way:
Eugenia Mine:
1.4 miles one way, 508 foot gain.  Moderate-.
Moore Park:
1.8 miles each way, 360 foot gain.  As you can see, you do gain and then loose some elevation to get here.  Moderate-.

Storm Peak and Battle Mountain.

Of course I mentioned last time around how I wanted to add on Storm Peak.  With once again nice weather this past week, I had the opportunity to go for it.
The temperature was fifteen degrees higher when I arrived at the Longs Peak TH at seven am on January 23.  I shed some clothing before even starting and made my way up the packed snow with Yaktrax only.
The views on the way up are exactly the same as for Mt. Lady Washington, so I skipped taking some similar photos this time.

But, hard to resist the views of Longs. 

Twin Sisters and plains behind. 

A pretty cool view of Meeker, Ships Prow, Longs, and Mt. Lady Washington from the Chasm Lake trail split.

The north ridge of Mt. Lady Washington.  Really it looks like just a bump in this picture.
As I escaped tree line, the wind was more of a factor.  It was steady and less gusty, but I felt I would be ok to do Storm Peak since the wind was from the west and the mountain itself would block the majority of it.

The Boulderfield and Longs Peak.

It seems many do not take this sign that seriously.  A friend told me of being on top of Longs and finding someone who had not brought any water at all. 

Storm Peak as seen from the Boulderfield camping area.  I basically tried to move around the areas of the most snow.  Crampons were still a must. 

I didn't realize how steep the snow was until I snapped this photo.  Definitely in do not fall territory here. 

Storm Peak seemed easier to ascend than Mt. Lady Washington, probably because you start off at the base of it significantly higher.  I made it to the top and got this view of Chiefs Head Peak and Glacier Gorge. 

McHenrys Peak is one of the most technically difficult 13ers in the park.

Longs as seen from Storm Peak.

Lady Washington as seen from Storm Peak.

Me as seen from Storm Peak.
I must say, I really had a difficult time finding the true high point of this peak.  From the southern most point, there was one in the middle and one to the north that looked higher.  From those, the southern most point looked higher.  I was unable to find a summit register or notice any cairns. 

Looking north to ideas yet realized.

Chiefs Head Peak and The Spearhead.
The descent was relatively straightforward.  On the way down, I tried to stay in snow and avoid rock.  I could feel the snow had softened since I went up.

At the bottom looking back up.
It was still relatively early in the day, and I decided that while I was here, I would walk over to Battle Mountain as well.  I followed the East Longs Peak trail back to Granite Pass, and then hooked a left on the North Longs Peak trail to approach the summit.  As the trail looked to loose a good amount of elevation that I'd have to regain and the tundra looked relatively flat, I set off across it shortly after, heading directly for the high point, which is on the third hump heading north east.

I didn't face much snow or anything at all really, and shortly after arrived at the base of the summit block.  Of note: there must be a family of Pica or Marmot that live here, because there was more crap than I have ever seen in one place. 

It is a short scramble to ascend to the summit, which offers views such as this, looking back to the Keyhole.

Or this, Meeker, Lady Washington, Longs, and Storm.

Back east.

Now being fully exposed to the wind, I opted to protect my skin a bit more.

The little point sticking up from this pile of rock is the summit. 

Granite Pass and the worlds largest cairn.
To get back to the trail I stayed on the south side of Battle Mountain and wove my way through, around, and over some talus.  This was just slightly more difficult than the approach from the north. 

Looking back at Battle Mountain from the trail.  Again what is the true high point does not look to be. 

Peacock Pool, Columbine Falls, Ships Prow, and the Loft in the afternoon. 

Battle Mountain as seen from the descent.
This time I did not loose the trail on the way back down and managed to run/walk/slide the packed snow trail back to the parking lot in a relatively reasonable time.  If only I had a sled!
This was a pretty fun hike overall.  Storm Peak could be a fun add on to Longs if one planned to leave early enough.  Battle Mountain is probably often bypassed, but it does not take long to get to and back if you're up there already, and is one of those cool high points that are off the beaten path and probably not visited all that much, at least compared to Longs.
I am not hiking this week due to a very windy weather forecast.  I wish I was though.
Storm Peak and Battle Mountain via Longs Peak TH:
Storm Peak:
6.3 miles one way, 3926 foot gain.  Second class when dry, steep snow in winter.  Strenuous-.
Battle Mountain:
4.8 miles one way, 2644 foot gain.  Second class.  Moderate+.