peak x - 13085' - sw ridge class 3
june 2020
Jamie and I decided to give Peak X a go after discussion of which Gore Peak we would be able to do in a one day trip that I hadn't done before. It had been many years since I ventured into the Gores so I figured it was time to head back and get a little more experience from Colorado's seekrit mountain range! Jamie and I met up at the Vail Pass rest area and crashed in our cars. At 4am we drove down to the east Vail exit on I-70 and parked at the Pitkin Creek Trailhead and began hiking up the very well defined trail in the dark. It wasn't long though until we could see without the headlights, and by sunrise, we were crossing to the east side Pitkin Creek on a series of logs that had been blown over in a large avalanche within the past couple years. This is where the trail crosses at 10,400 feet, where people have camped in the past, and a big waterfall comes down from above.
Other online resources say that you can leave the trail here and cross over a second stream coming from the basin below Usable Pass and East Partner Peak and ascend a "game trail" on the east side of this second creek, however we decided that was not ideal, since the Pitkin Creek Trail was very quick, and faster than trying to follow a lesser used trail. From this camp area, all the trees have been cleared so you can also see two basins off to the east and northeast. The basin leading towards Peak X is the one further north, while the one directly above in a due east direction would be used to climb Mount Solitude.
We continued up the Pitkin Creek Trail until we reached the large flat bench at 11,000 feet, then we left the trail and cut east contouring on an ascending traverse into the basin to the east of Pitkin Lake. This alpine basin was a beautiful place, with the east face of East Partner Peak dropping very steeply down straight to the bottom. We spotted Usable Pass, and was able to avoid all snow heading up the scree and talus slopes to the 12,400 foot pass immediately south of Point 12,710 (aka Peak X Prime). This little peak has some awesome looking slabby cliffs on it that featured some great thin crack systems for potential technical routes.
Just as we reached Usable Pass, we found the slopes dropping down the east side to be entirely snow covered. Since it was still early in the morning and we didn't bring any snow gear, we decided to just traverse directly on the ridgecrest northward, then would find a way to traverse just below the summit cliffs of Peak X Prime. This ridge was very fun, and had some awesome class 4 scrambling with decent exposure in a few places. Most of the scrambling was class 3 though. We traversed to, and reached the 12,600 foot saddle immediately east of X Prime and finished the easier scramble up the SW ridge to the summit of Peak X. The remainder of this ridge ascended 500 more feet and was pretty straightforward, with occational class 3 involved. Views from the summit were amazing. Peaks Q and L totally stole the snow, and are two peaks I would still love to climb. We were able to retrace our steps back the way we came and got back to the trailhead by early to mid afternoon, at which point I got a meal in Vail and drove out to the Halfmoon Creek Trailhead where I would meet my friends early the next morning for the Halo Ridge Traverse.
Other online resources say that you can leave the trail here and cross over a second stream coming from the basin below Usable Pass and East Partner Peak and ascend a "game trail" on the east side of this second creek, however we decided that was not ideal, since the Pitkin Creek Trail was very quick, and faster than trying to follow a lesser used trail. From this camp area, all the trees have been cleared so you can also see two basins off to the east and northeast. The basin leading towards Peak X is the one further north, while the one directly above in a due east direction would be used to climb Mount Solitude.
We continued up the Pitkin Creek Trail until we reached the large flat bench at 11,000 feet, then we left the trail and cut east contouring on an ascending traverse into the basin to the east of Pitkin Lake. This alpine basin was a beautiful place, with the east face of East Partner Peak dropping very steeply down straight to the bottom. We spotted Usable Pass, and was able to avoid all snow heading up the scree and talus slopes to the 12,400 foot pass immediately south of Point 12,710 (aka Peak X Prime). This little peak has some awesome looking slabby cliffs on it that featured some great thin crack systems for potential technical routes.
Just as we reached Usable Pass, we found the slopes dropping down the east side to be entirely snow covered. Since it was still early in the morning and we didn't bring any snow gear, we decided to just traverse directly on the ridgecrest northward, then would find a way to traverse just below the summit cliffs of Peak X Prime. This ridge was very fun, and had some awesome class 4 scrambling with decent exposure in a few places. Most of the scrambling was class 3 though. We traversed to, and reached the 12,600 foot saddle immediately east of X Prime and finished the easier scramble up the SW ridge to the summit of Peak X. The remainder of this ridge ascended 500 more feet and was pretty straightforward, with occational class 3 involved. Views from the summit were amazing. Peaks Q and L totally stole the snow, and are two peaks I would still love to climb. We were able to retrace our steps back the way we came and got back to the trailhead by early to mid afternoon, at which point I got a meal in Vail and drove out to the Halfmoon Creek Trailhead where I would meet my friends early the next morning for the Halo Ridge Traverse.
Proudly powered by Weebly