Mt. Sherman - 14,036 ft

Date: 6-10-2004

Climbers: George Barnes

Route:  Fourmile Creek 2WD parking, Class 2

RT distance:  8.0 miles

RT time: 4 hours

Time to summit:  2 hours

Time on summit:  30 minutes

Time to trailhead: 1 hours 30 minutes

Elevation gain:  2,800 feet

Coordinates of TH:  39° 11.73'N, 106° 8.24'W

Coordinates of summit:  39° 13.50'N, 106° 10.18'W

Trip Report:

    I left Denver at about 6 AM with hopes of good weather. As I approached the high plains on CO 285 South I could see that the plains were filled with one big cloud. On the western horizon I saw some fairly nasty looking thunderheads, which would later vanish. I reached the 2WD parking at 8 AM and decided the lone minivan there would appreciate the company of my Grand Prix. As it turned out, I could have driven my car nearly all the way to the 4WD parking, though the exercise probably didn't hurt me.

    I followed the road to the Dauntess Mine and then incorrectly continued straight to the saddle between Sherman and Sheridan on what looked like an old mining trail. From the saddle I had a good view of the western skies and could see that the thunderheads I had seen earlier were gone.  I noted numerous smaller clouds building and decided I wouldn't waste any time getting to the summit.

    I gained the summit at 10 AM and was greeted by three other climbers who had ascended from the Iowa Gulch TH on the Leadville side of the mountain. I snapped the obligatory summit shots and then enjoyed my freeze dried Neapolitan ice cream. After a bit of searching I decided there wasn't a summit marker so I signed the register and headed down. The clouds were looking less than ideal and I was glad to be going down.
 

    On the way down I caught the now obvious mining road down from the saddle. I stopped for a while at the Hilltop mine for pictures of the buildings and a few pikas. I soon reach the 4WD parking and notice that a Geo Prism was parked just below the 4WD parking. I would later see what looked like one of it's hub caps on the road on the drive out.
 

    As I round the corner to the 2WD parking the first rain drops began to fall and I reached my car just in time to stay dry.