Bear Peak

After a lazy morning of sleeping in, chasing a finch out of my house (how a bird broke into my house overnight is beyond me), and eating breakfast with Mehri, I decided to do something different today and head up 8,461' Bear Peak.

I had summited Bear Peak only a couple of times during the Summer, so I had yet to visit the peak in the Winter, moreover via Fern Canyon. I've heard Fern is particularly steep, similar to Shadow Canyon. The allure being the most purely direct route to the summit - probably the most straightforward of any summit between the three prominent peaks of Boulder (South Boulder Peak, Bear Peak, Green Mountain). 

I chose to start at Shanahan Ridge and ran the 1.5-mile trail up to the Fern and Mesa junction. From there the remaining 1.4 miles climbs an additional 2,400', which means things get pretty steep pretty quick, so I grabbed a lower gear and maintained a fast hike to the summit. Fern Canyon is a tightly switchbacked trail through a steep ravine tucked into the East face of Bear Peak, providing much appreciated shelter from the afternoon chinook winds. The trail was entirely snow-packed and surprisingly smooth compared to the upper reaches of Shadow Canyon where many high-step rocks make the trail less of a discrete path and more like a cascade of large boulders. 

At the saddle, I was greeted with stellar views of Green Mountain and the high country. Hanging a left up the trail, things got really real. Approximately two feet of mostly unpacked snow covered the remainder of the peak. The trail was trenched out, but still very loose and I'd imagine much steeper than dry conditions. Whoever made first tracks up this trail earlier in the week deserves a serious pat on the back. Most of the last .2 miles are pretty much all hands-on-knees or hands-on-trail (due to the immense incline). The final forty feet or so to the summit rock is pretty much scrambling up large ice-packed boulders. It's highly exposed, where loose footing could mean taking a not-so-fun fall. I reached the summit in just over an hour and was rewarded with immaculate views of the mountainous West. Descending was entertaining as I didn't run, but rather pointed both feet forward and skied all the way down to the saddle - with microspikes! From there I ran the rest of the way back to the car. A nice Saturday, indeed.

Bear Peak (left), Green Mountain (right)

Nebel Horn

Final scramble to summit. A bit more precarious than Green's summit.

Green Mountain

Me, the Indians and Longs