Buckhorn - Donner Pass / Lookout Mountain

The weather was nice and had been for quite a few days.  From home, it looked like a lot of snow had melted off the mountains.  Several trails and roads up near the Buckhorn Ranger Station had been closed since the September, 2013 flood and the High Park Fire of 2012, but a few had opened in the last few months.  I decided it was time to head up that way.  I picked the Donner Pass/Lookout Mountain trail since it was almost all under 10000 ft and, at least on the map, the climb didn't look too much.  I decided to leave the YakTrax and the snowshoes at home this time.  I knew I was taking a chance, but decided I could always try again if the snow got too deep.  As usual I ran into road construction & repair from the 2013 flood on Buckhorn road between Masonville and Stove Prairie; however, it didn't take too long to get up to the Buckhorn Ranger Station.  You could easily spot Lookout Mountain and from here it didn't look too bad.

Buckhorn Ranger Station

I had gotten a fairly early start and the road in had been wet and frozen, but not too bad.  I was thinking it could be pretty muddy and difficult later in the day when all the frozen mud melted.  I meandered over a creek and headed to the trailhead.  The initial stages of the trail were what I expected, not too steep and well defined.  I also knew from my map that the trail would intersect Greer Road about a quarter of the way and Old Ballard Road about halfway to Lookout Mountain.

Donner Pass TH

Donner Pass Trail (1)

Donner Pass Trail (2)

As you can see there was snow cover, but not much.  The trail to Greer Road was easy going, although there was a small valley to traverse.  Once crossing Greer Road the trail became less obvious and there were multiple tracts of private land with quite a few "Keep Out" and "No Trespassing" signs.

Trail after Greer Road

I continued on up the trail without seeing any obvious turns and junctions.  However, I encounter a fairly robust "Keep Out" sign that made me wonder if I had missed a junction.  Between reviewing my map and my GPS I was pretty sure I had missed a junction somewhere.  So, I tramped around looking for some sign or other tell of a trail junction, but to no avail.  I knew the trail was above me on the ridge so I decided to start climbing in the hopes I would eventually encounter the trail.  After about ten minutes of off trail climbing, I soon discovered the trail again.  So off I went.

As I continued, I soon began climb more steeply and steadily.  The snow started to become noticeable, but still not too bad; about 6 inches or so.  I crossed over Ballard Road and began an even more steady climb.  The snow kept getting deeper and deeper.  Soon I was post-holing up to my knees.  It doesn't take long to wear out in that kind of situation.  

Knee-deep snow & Post-holing

with no end in sight

So close, yet so far

At this point, the hike was really not a lot of fun and I knew I would be exhausted before I was to Lookout Mountain.  In addition, progress was slow, so I would also run out of time before I needed to head home anyway.  So, I decided to turn around and return another day when there wasn't so much snow on the ground.  I had about another two miles to reach the summit of Lookout Mountain.  I will definitely attempt to tackle this one again later in the year.

Length 7.664 miles
 Start Elevation - 8274.11 feet
 Maximum Elevation - 9365.32 feet
 Minimum Elevation - 8230.81 feet
 Date of hike -  3/20/2015
 Start Time - 8:33 am
 End Time - 1:23 pm
 Total Duration -     5:50 hours:min
 Total Ascent - 2160.60 feet
 Total Descent - 2167.45 feet
 Net Ascent - -6.86 feet
 Maximum Grade - 24.94%
 Average Speed -  2.32 mph
 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 2160.60 feet
 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.93 mph
 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 12.74%