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| Unnamed 7305, Unnamed 7900, and the Cache La Poudre River |
On the 29th of January I set out heading back up the Poudre Canyon. I started very near to the spot I started the hike on the 19th of December. I parked at the gate closing the Narrows Campground. I walked briefly through the campground next to the Cache La Poudre River and then angled up to the road. I crossed it and had to walk near it shortly before finding the old road I had seen on the earlier hike.
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| Unnamed 7430 from knob above saddle |
I took this old road, which climbed steeply toward the crest of the ridge of Unnamed 7430. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the views back toward the two peaks climbed in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness were enough to make me stop and take photographs often. The steep climb brought me right to the ridge crest and I was surprised to see the old track heading toward the summit.
The ridge leading to the summit was not as steep and I quickly found my way to the top of Unnamed 7430. This peak had been particularly easy as it was open. There was only short brush growing and very few trees. This also allowed for great views in every direction from the top. I enjoyed those views and snapped some photos and studied the route over toward Sheep Mountain before carrying on down the south ridge.
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| Sheep Mountain from knob above saddle |
There were still signs of the faint track but it was not always the quickest or easiest route so I followed it where I wanted and needed and took other ways when it seemed more feasible. The travel was made easy by the open slopes and the southern aspect and that meant there was little snow to cross. I made it to a low spot and then climbed up to the knob that was just above the saddle with Sheep Mountain. From the knob, I studied the route up Sheep once more. From the saddle, I would have to ascend steeper, north-facing slopes. This meant they were mostly snow covered. There were also trees on this slope, especially closer to the summit and that would provide some more challenges to route finding.
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| View down the Cache La Poudre from Sheep Mountain |
After feeling confident in a route I dropped down to the saddle and started climbing up Sheep Mountain. It was definitely steeper but there was a section with a lot less snow that helped me to get most of the way up the first steep slope. Once past this, the snow was deeper and I had to work my way toward the summit, bypassing a small, sub-summit on the east and working into the forest. Other than the deeper snow and the initial steep slope above the saddle there were really not many difficulties in getting to the summit of Sheep Mountain.
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| Unnamed 7900 in Cache La Poudre Wilderness from Sheep |
Once on top, I enjoyed the views and took some photographs. Sheep sits in an interesting spot in that it is directly north and above the Narrows section of the canyon. You cannot directly see the Narrows from the summit but you can tell that the canyon gets much tighter. Sheep was also in a great spot to view the ridge walked from Unnamed 7305 to Unnamed 7900 in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness. It specifically has a great vantage on Unnamed 7900 and I thought back to all the fun I had climbing those two peaks a little over one month earlier.
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| Descent gully |
After enjoying my time on the summit I decided to turn back and head down. It was getting a bit cloudy and the sun had been blocked and I began getting a little colder. Walking would help to warm me. It was quite easy following my tracks through the snow back to the steep slope and then down that to the saddle. From the saddle I dropped down the gully between the two peaks that I had scouted from the car before starting my hike. This was a bit steep, but I followed it down easily enough and it deposited me down by the road not far from my car. It had been a great loop hike with two peaks climbed.
Elevation gain: 1880' Total gain: 22,600'
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