Picture courtesy of Tim Best.
Loveland Mountain (LoveBuck Traverse)
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| elevation: 4,173 m. | height gain: 675 m. |
| area: Alma,Colorado,USA |
map USGS 1:24,000 Alma,
CO 39106C1 & Climax, CO 39106C2 |
| 2017-May-07 |
| Ref: 14ers.com | |
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| Loveland Mountain grants an easy
climb. |
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| Hike:
RT 5.5 (includes Mount Buckskin); 3.5 up. As
predicted, the forecast for the weekend wasn't stellar, we threw some
ideas around and settled on the Loveland-Buckskin Traverse that Tim
appropriately nicknamed the LoveBuck Traverse. I definitely got the
feeling that this trip to Colorado was a tribute to 13ers, this would
mark 13
of them in 10 days! Like previous outings to the valley east
of Leadville, we ate breakfast on the fly while driving to the
trailhead. We parked on the Kite Lake access road when we encountered
snow, right along Loveland's ridge and eastern slopes. The sky was
somewhat hazy when we started hiking, we didn't
think much of it at the time. We climbed casually, the snow was mostly
supportive and the grassy terrain was pleasant to walk on. When we
gained the ridge, we
stopped for a quick break before continuing to the summit. This was a
very short trek with zero approach and not much height gain. After
barely exerting ourselves, we reached the top. The weather had started
to change; although there was some blue sky, cumulus clouds were
forming fast, some looking dark at the base. Also quite noticeable was
the loss of visibility west of us, poor weather was moving in quickly.
We didn't linger, we wanted to reach Mount Buckskin before T-storms
materialized. |
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| Making our
way on snow and grasses. Picture courtesy of Tim Best. |
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| Nearing the
ridge crest in little time. |
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| Mounts
Democrat, Cameron and Lincoln with snowbound Kite Lake. |
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| Tim
patiently waits while I take pictures. |
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| Summit ridge. |
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| Eastern view
past the small town of Alma. |
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| Mount
Silverheels behind Mount Bross' south ridge. |
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| The traverse
to Mount Buckskin and the challenging connecting ridge to Mount Tweto
(left) and Mount Arkansas (left center). |
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| Looking
south towards Mount Sherman and some 13ers (in yellow). |
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| Mosquito
Range peaks with some famous Sawatch giants beyond. |
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| A nice break
at the top. |
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| Oliver Twist Lake (left margin)
and Cooney Lake (middle) are snowbound. |
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| Continue on to Mount Buckskin | ||
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