golden horn - 13780' - SW Ridge class 2
​October 2020

Just a couple weeks before the Mineral Creek fire devestated the lower part of the Ice Lakes Trail I hiked up to Ice Lakes for a day hike of Golden Horn and Pilot Knob. I was successful topping out on Golden Horn, which wasn't much more than a class 2 hike. After summitting to very smoky and hazy skies with a fair amount of wind, I began traversing north on the ridge towards Pilot Knob. I began skirting around the west (left) side of the cliffs guarding the long summit ridge that extends south from the highest point. I am not too sure what I may have missed, but I did not find a suitable way across a deep gash a short distance south of the standard class 3 gully that leads to the crest of the ridge close to the summit. The rock was also hideously loose, and I turned back. I had originally planned to bivy up above Ice Lake and also climb Ulysses Grany Peak among others but was turned off by all the smoke and just simply hiked down and drove back to Denver. Thge smoke is really a downer.

Route I took up Golden Horn