San Luis Peak - 14,014 ft

Date: 8-5/6-2006

Climbers: George & Abby Barnes

Route:  East Slopes, Class 1

RT distance:  12.0 miles

RT time:  4 hours 45 minutes (from camp at 11.4K)

Elevation gain:  3,600 feet

Trip Report (by Abby):

So I broke my rule and went along with George on a first ascent of a 14ner. Luckily we had a fun and successful trip so everything worked out.  We left Saturday morning and got to BV in time for breakfast at the Evergreen Café.  Then with the GPS fired up and Gerry Roach’s directions to the TH we headed for the Stewart Creek Trailhead.  We didn’t have any trouble finding the TH, we did find that a couple of the Forest Service roads go by different road numbers but no big issues. 

When we reached the parking lot the weather was looking rather ominous so we decided we best get a move on to find a place to camp and get it set up before we got rained on.  The trail made for fairly easy hiking amongst beautiful flower and fauna.  We found a nice some what secluded campsite a little ways off the trail and across from a beaver pond.  We got the tent set up just as it started to rain.  So we ate some tasty Mountain House food while we waited for a break in the rain.   Then George took me to filter water from the pond.   I was a little less than thrilled at the greenish tint the water had after we filtered it so George was nice enough to boil all of my drinking water just to make me feel better about drinking it.  We finished the night off with Mountain House Raspberry Crumble for dessert, yum, and we were asleep by 9 p.m. with the sound of rain hitting the tent. 

Thankfully the next morning dawned clear and sunny so we slowly got moving and were ready to go by 6:30.  The start of the hike was delayed just a bit while we watched a moose eat breakfast near the pond across from our tent.  It was pretty cool to be that close to a moose!

The rain the night before made the hike to treeline fairly wet and muddy. We knew the weather could be an issue again today so we tried to move as quickly as we could with an eye on the clouds. I truly enjoyed the trail all the way to the summit.  It was one of the best 14ners I’ve climbed and the flowers, mushrooms, and surroundings are beautiful.

We reached the summit about 9:15.  I’m sure the view from the summit is gorgeous but we couldn’t tell because it was completely obscured by the clouds.  So we quickly signed the summit register, took a couple of pictures, got a drink of water, and headed down.

By the time we got back to camp one look at the sky told us we didn’t want to waste anytime getting back to the car.  We got camp picked up and loaded into our packs just as the rain started to fall.  It was a very wet, soggy, muddy hike back to Jeep.  Thank goodness for dry cloths and Chaco sandals we had waiting for us in the Jeep.  With the thought of Coyote Cantina burritos in our head we started the long drive back to BV.  I would definitely recommend this backpacking hike and 14ner climb to anyone because it has a great trail that is very easy to follow and the surrounding nature is beautiful.