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Leaving the summit of Horseshoe
Mountain with Mounts Sheridan and Sherman in front of me.
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Scramble:
RT 9.5 (includes Horseshoe and Peerless Mountains); 45 minutes up from
Horseshoe Mountain. After a
fantastic climb up Boudoir Couloir and a satisfying break at the shack,
I walked to the summit of Horseshoe
Mountain. I took several pictures before descending towards Finnback
Knob. When I saw its location, I was slightly discouraged; going down
Horseshoe's
talus slope wasn't the worse thing but having to climb back up as tired
as I was didn't appeal to me. Did I really
want The Knob that
bad? Of course I did! I know from experience that if I backed down, I
would end up regretting it... so I carried on and kept my eyes on the
prize. Travel was a bit tedious at first,
I looked forward to stepping onto snow near the saddle but by now, the
odd step sank unpredictably. Once at the saddle, the rest was mainly a
short hike with a slight incline. I stayed on ground and rocks
as much as possible. The top of The Knob actually offers surprising
views of Leadville, Twin Lakes and the Sawatch Range. I sat down and
considered taking a nap but I resisted the temptation, I'm sure I would
have fallen asleep. I savoured the view and the perfect weather, I was
happy to have made the side trip to Finnback. With that said, don't
be fooled, visiting Finnback Knob is more like climbing Horseshoe
Mountain a second time around!!
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Finnback
Knob requires height loss, this side trip is more like ascending
Horseshoe Mountain twice...
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Almost at
the saddle.
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Mounts
Elbert (left) and Massive (right).
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Turquoise
Lake and the lovely town of Leadville.
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Once at the
saddle, a pleasant short hike leads to the summit.
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Northern
view of the Sawatch Range and distant Gore Range.
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Southern
section of the lengthy Sawatch Range.
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The climb
back up Horseshoe is more significant than Finnback's ascent.
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Sawatch
14ers to the south, Mount Princeton is absolutely stunning from all
angles!
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One of my
all time favorites is LaPlata Peak (left center).
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The Gore
Range in the distance to the north.
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Horseshoe
Mountain take 2!
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Blocky
terrain with softening snow is a treat...
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On my way to
the "freebie" of this loop, Peerless Mountain.
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Continue
on to Peerless Mountain |
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