June 26-27, 2021
Gladstone Peak 13,919’
Vermillion Peak 13,894’
After last weeks three peak weekend, we headed off to climb Gladstone Peak and Vermillion Peak near Telluride. Friday we drove to camp at Matterhorn Campground and set up camp. My old hiking partner Mandy who lives in Telluride came by for a while to hang out.
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| Having fun at the campsite |
In the morning, Laura and I started early to beat the rain that was forecasted to start at 9 am. We hit the Bilk Basin trailhead at 3:45 and made good time to the first creek crossing. We picked up an excellent trail after crossing the creek and quickly made our way to tree line in the spectacular basin. As the sun lit the sky the clouds already surrounded us and Wilson peak next to Gladstone.
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| High up in Bilk Basin with Lizard Head in the background |
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| Sunrise in Bilk Basin |
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| Morning sun on Gladstone Peak |
We climbed as fast as we could and pushed for the summit while constantly keeping an eye on the building clouds. As we climbed the views of Lizard Head - which we climbed a few years back - and the entire Lizard Head wilderness were breathtaking. We really enjoy the beauty of this area and we’re happy for at least a few views below the clouds. The clouds never got too dark and it didn’t thunder so we continued on. We intended to take the north ridge all the way to the summit but because of time, we chose the slightly easier north face.
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| Headed toward the ridge high above Bilk Basin |
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| On the ridge with the Gladstone summit in sight, the El Diente Mount Wilson traverse to the right |
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| Negotiating the ridge |
We summitted at 8:30 am, took some pictures with the rusty crowbar on the summit and bailed hoping to beat the rain as we descended.
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| Signing the summit register |
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Clouds keep building, looking down from the summit
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| Views were limited from the summit, but there was a crowbar |
We glissaded on the snow a few times and with a few miles of jogging were back at the Jeep at 11:06 am.
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| First of many glissades. Justin said it was like a water slide. |
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| Contemplating the best route |
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| Another glissade |
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| One more glissade |
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| We used rocks to slow our speed since we had not brought ice axes. |
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| Views of Lizard head on the descent |
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| One of many waterfalls in the lush Bilk Basin |
We went to dinner in Telluride with Mandy that afternoon and then continued on to do the via ferrata above Telluride and Bridal Veil Falls.
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| Beautiful afternoon in Telluride |
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| Fun on the via ferrata |
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| We were chased off by rain and hail. |
Back to camp we went with a plan to meet up with Mandy the next morning at 4 am. We drove over to Hope Lake trailhead and began our hike up Vermillion Peak at 4:25 am.
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| Working toward Vermillion Peak |
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| Beautiful sunrise looking toward Wilson Peak |
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| Contemplating the best route |
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| Looking up the gulley we decided to take |
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| Working up the gulley |
After taking a slightly obscure route up a gulley, we later named it the middle finger gulley. We summitted Beattie Peak and continued to Fuller Mountain, both of which are over 13,000 feet. Finally, we continued on to Vermillion Peak and our goal for the day.
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| Looking at the rest of the route from the top of middle finger gulley |
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| Summit of Beattie with Fuller and Vermillion in the background |
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| Looking down at Ice Lakes Basin |
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Summit of Fuller
Traversing between Fuller and Vermillion
 | Fun on the summit of Vermillion
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 | | Summit of Vermillion |
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Our intended descent was impassable due to lingering snow in the Vermillion dollar couloir so we backtracked and chose a descent route thru the basin and back to the trail. Walking at a fast pace we were back to the trailhead at 12:30 pm. It was great to hang out and hike with Mandy again.
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