Mt. Yale with George & Greg - 7/29/08

Friday July 25th - George, Greg & I headed down to the Collegiate Peaks to hike Mt. Yale. We set up camp just a short ways from Avalanche Gulch Trailhead and had a great night of camping with a nice fire, weather, meal, venison and a few beers. Saturday morning we hit the trail just a little before 6 am. We selected this route as it is less traveled than the Denny Creek Trail. Avalanche starts on the Colorado Trail & intersects with the East Ridge Trail up to Mt. Yale. Climbing this route adds distance and elevation. Once above 12,505 ft. the trail really disappears and you have to pick your way up the mountain along the ridge as there are very few Cairns (rocks piled up in a pyramid to mark routes). This is slow going over large rocks with some exposure. We decided on our ascent to make it a loop and head down on the main Denny Creek Trail resulting in a 9 hours, 10.1 mile 5,000 ft hike. Weather was fantastic and the views from atop Yale are awesome!

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