July 15, 2016

After a decent night of sleep in the Forerunner in the woods near the old mining town of Winfield, right up from the turn-around point for the Leadville 100M running race, I was raring to go by 0600 in 32 degrees of pure mountain excitment. The 4WD road continued another two miles to the trailhead proper for Huron Peak. I was very glad to have 4X4 capability this time, so drove right to the TH and cut off four miles of road walking for the day.

Beginning at 0645 the trail switchbacked through nice conifer forest up to treeline with good views of the Three Apostles to the south. Beyond treeline the trail crosses a broad basin to climb a headwall to reach the final slope. Feeling pretty good and with plenty of time, I stopped by a small pond at the basin to enjoy some breakfast snacks while I waited for the sun to fill in the shadows on the headwall before continuing my ascent.

The trail switches back and forth with rapid elevation gain through the headwall before beginning the final push up the scree/talus-covered slope. I hung around the top for half an hour with a bunch of folks before beginning my descent. Gray clouds building from the southwest indicated that this day may not be as fair as the previous one. It was time to go down; as I descended the cloud cover continued to get darker, but there never was any rain.

Like the previous day I ran most of the way back to the parking lot, picking up a couple younger fellows that had the same idea. Legs were real good. Any training effect was already giving me benefit from being here in Colorado. Frequent breaks for society kept me fresh. It was great to be back in high country.

one of many remains of Winfield's mining legacy


the Three Apostles from on top

on the summit
Climbing Huron Peak 
Elevation:  14,003'      Gain:  3800'      RT:  7M




the Three Apostles in the background


the basin