meet in Montrose at west parking lot of Autozone at 6am on Monday, June 27, drive to trailhead via US 50 west to Poncha Springs (any coming from Denver can rendevous with us in Poncha Springs, details to follow later). turn south on US 285, from summit of poncha pass it will be 18.8 miles to junction with CO 17, left on 17 and continue south for 6.1 miles, then left (east) on county road AA, continue on AA 12.3 miles to roads end, which is the Wild Cherry Creek trailhead. From here, we will backpack in approx 4 miles/3200 vertical on cherry creek lake trail 748 to cherry lake and set up camp for the night.
Day two (Tuesday, June 28): traverse west from camp to gain NW ridge of pt 12,388 then traverse this ridge SE to gain summit of pt 13,122. This ridge is mostly class two, with a short section of class 3 (a short catwalk with some exposure). From pt 13,122 we will continue east dropping to the 13,122/13,490 (cotton king peak) saddle, continuing east to the summit of Cotton King. From here we will reverse route to near 13,122/13,490 saddle and descend north to saddle south of pt 13,054 at 12,700, then descend back into cherry lake basin, final traverse NW back to our camp. Approx total for day: 4.5 miles/2500 vertical.
Day three (Wednesday, June 29): break camp early, descend trail 748 about 1/2 miles to 11,550--packs can be left here--then turn NNE to gain Mt Owen's west ridge and from there to Owen's summit. Reverse our route back to trail 748, complete hike out to trailhead, and from here drive home. Approx total for day: 5 miles/1800 vertical.
Individual food and gear.
call or text leader John Broadbooks at 303-974-0721 with any questions.
BPX is a community of backpackers who respect, trust, help each other, and honor our commitments. By registering for this trip, you are committing to going on the trip and will cancel only for a true emergency. And if absolutely necessary, you agree to cancel as early as possible so another member may take your place on the trip."JOIN THE PACK"CMC BACKPACKING SECTION (BPX)https://cmcdenver.org/specialinterests/denver-backpacking-section-bpx
COVID-19 and Colorado Mountain Club Programming
https://cmc.org/COVID-19andCMCProgramming.aspx
BPX is a community of backpackers who respect, trust, help each other, and honor our commitments. By registering for this trip, you are committing to going on the trip and will cancel only for a true emergency. And if absolutely necessary, you agree to cancel as early as possible so another member may take your place on the trip.
"JOIN THE PACK" CMC BACKPACKING SECTION (BPX) https://cmcdenver.org/specialinterests/denver-backpacking-section-bpx