West Dyer Mountain, Dyer Mountain and Gemini Peak

September 26, 2020

West Dyer Mountain 13,047'

Dyer Mountain 13,862'

Gemini Peak 13,951

The weather was looking good for a trip to the park this weekend and Laura and I were planning to get redemption on the classic Culp-Bossier route on Hallett Peak. As luck would have it, the weather turned and winds were forecasted to be in the 50 mph range; far too windy for technical climbing on an exposed face 500’ off the ground. As usual, we altered our plans and decided instead to hike in the Leadville area and grab a new centennial peak as well as a few others along the ridge. We headed west from home at 7 am and after driving through several bands of brightly colored changing aspen groves we arrived at the trailhead a few hours later. The wind was already blowing and we knew we had made the correct decision to bail on Hallett. Starting from the car at 9:45, we hiked up grassy slopes and through a short cliff band. We quickly reached the saddle between West Dyer and Dyer Mountains. We stopped for a snack and then made our way to the summit of West Dyer. Hiding from the wind while we ate, we looked across at the spectacular ridge that would lead us to our only ranked 13er summit of the day, Dyer Mountain. We descended and then began what I think is one of my favorite class 3/4 scrambles I’ve done. Sticking to the ridge proper, the entire ridge was enjoyable with fun scrambling and exposed climbing on mostly solid rock. Smiling the whole way, Laura and I reached the 13,862’ summit of Dyer Mountain right at noon. We spent a few minutes taking pictures before the wind picked up and we decided to get off the summit.

Traversing across to Gemini was the most windy part of the day. Crossing the saddle it blew strongly enough that Laura and I would just lay down when the big gusts hit to prevent being blown off our feet. We crossed the saddle and followed the talus filled slopes to Gemini’s summit just an hour after leaving Dyer. We were the only ones on these mountains today but we waved at the crowds of people just a half mile away on Mt Sherman which crests the magical 14,000’ number. Leaving the summit of Gemini and fighting the wind, we made our way back to the saddle and chose a descent path toward the mine below. We scurried down the scree and made our way to the mine relatively quickly and then spent a few minutes wandering around checking out the old buildings and mining structures before walking down the road back to the Jeep at 2:30 pm. As we drove out, we stopped to take more pictures of the changing aspen leaves and made our way home wind blown but pleased with another fantastic day in the mountains.