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| Zach on the Cache La Poudre River ice |
On the 19th of December I drove up the Poudre Canyon with Zach. I had climbed Mount McConnel with him just under four years earlier and we made a nice loop out of it by bushwhacking down to the South Fork of the Cache La Poudre River and following that back out to the highway. I wanted to climb a couple more peaks in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness and had no problem convincing him to come along for these two. We drove up to near the Narrows picnic area and parked.
We met our first challenge right away--crossing the Cache La Poudre River. Fortunately it had been cold and we found it iced over near where we parked. We could see
the water flowing above and below where it was ice, but it looked solid. We carefully edged out on the ice and our confidence grew. It was thick and we made our way across easily.
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| Balance rock on ridge between summits |
Once on the other side we worked our way up Unnamed 7305. It was a sunny day and the slopes we chose to climb were clear of snow. As we only had to climb a little more than 800 feet to the summit we made our way up rather quickly. We stopped and enjoyed the views of all the peaks around us. We also examined the ridge leading out to the higher of the two peaks, Unnamed 7900. It looked fun and we were excited to walk along it. After snapping some photos we began our journey over to the next summit.
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| False summit from Unnamed 7900 |
The ridge was pleasant and clear of snow as we headed south along the south ridge. It was rocky and narrow in a couple spots and we passed and admired a balanced rock on the ridge crest. As we neared the saddle we came across more trees and then as we started up the north ridge of Unnamed 7900 we found there was snow protected by the trees. It wasn't too deep or too difficult to walk through. The ridge also became a bit more complicated with more climbs and descents to and from little high points.
As we worked higher along the ridge it became less defined and at times it felt like we were picking our way through rocks and snow on a
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| Unnamed 7900 from false summit |
face. Higher still and we walked into a recent burn. The trees were still all mostly standing and black. Rocks were black from the flames and smoke and even some of the snow was black with the ash that had blown around since the snow had fallen. Further into the burn we found that the lack of tree cover meant there was little if any snow to walk through and the going became easier and the views became better.
We topped out on some rock outcrops and had good views over to the true summit block and to the interesting false summit block further to the west. We decided we should climb both of them and get the views that both provided. We made our way over to the summit block and found an easy gully to scramble up to the top. Zach
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| Looking back at Unnamed 7900 from Unnamed 7305 |
wanted a bit more of a challenge and climbed a crack up that looked a bit easier than he said it was. We enjoyed a lunch break on top and took in the views and snapped some photos. Then we descended the gully and walked over to the false summit. It was easier to climb and we found great views on top of it as well. The Cache La Poudre Wilderness is not very large, but there are many hills and small mountaintops to view.
After enjoying our time on both summits we retraced our steps back to the north ridge and followed it back down through the burn and rocks and snow in the trees to the saddle. It seemed like our easiest option to get back to the car was to follow our route back up the ridge to the summit of Unnamed 7305 and then back
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| Back on Unnamed 7305 |
down the easy, open slopes to the river. This is what we did, pausing on the summit for a few more photos and moments to take in the views. Then it was back down the brown, grassy slopes to the ice crossing of the river. It had been a great day with two summits climbed in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness.
Elevation gain: 2570' Total gain: 13,785'
