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Great start of the day!
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Snowshoe
trip:
RT 5.25; 3.0 up. Following my trips in Buena Vista,
I hung around Leadville until the weekend. Thursday's weather proved to
be decent and I felt recovered enough for a trip up memory lane. I
parked at the winter closure on the Mosquito Pass service road which
leads to old mining
roads and structures, I had visited this area last september on a rest
day. The sun was already
out when I left the trailhead. I walked the popular packed roads
recognizing the buildings I had
photographed. I felt nostalgic, how beautiful they
were with snow. I carried on to the back of the draw and eventually
left the
packed trail. The snow was firm enough that I didn't require snowshoes.
I climbed the northern ridge of West Dyer with little difficulty. The
ridge
walk to the summit was very pleasant despite the wind; again,
multi-layered clouds framed the familiar mountains of the Mosquito and
Sawatch Ranges. The traverse to the top was short and easy with Dyer
Mountain towering to the east; I scrutinized Dyer's impressive west
ridge, one of Tim's favorite local scrambles. Shortly thereafter, I
carried on with my traverse along West Dyer's south-west ridge. A
short
jaunt led to the steep slope that would in turn deliver me to the
saddle between West Dyer Mountain and diminutive Ball Mountain. Well,
since I was there, I figured I might as well climb Ball Mountain too. I
had a
quick break at the saddle and strapped on the snowshoes to ascend
Ball's steep pitch. I bet the climb didn't even take half an hour. I
walked the very broad summit to the cairn before
returning towards the old mining sites. I basically just picked a line
down until I reached the road system below. The remainder of the hike
was
easy peasy and full of memories...
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Walking on
firm snow.
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West Dyer
with Dyer Mountain peering above.
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Some of the
remaining structures of this mining site.
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Nearing West
Dyer's northern ridge.
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On the
ridge, windy but otherwise pleasant hiking.
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A glimpse
towards the northern part of the Mosquito Range.
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Ball
Mountain and the Sawatch Range across the valley.
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Getting
closer to West Dyer (right-center) with centennial 13er Dyer Mountain
in the background.
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View west
with Leadville, Turquoise Lake and some famous 14ers of the Sawatch
Range.
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At the
top, Dyer Mountain's difficult west ridge steals the show.
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West Dyer's
south-west ridge is also called East Ball Mountain.
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Mount
Sheridan in the center.
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Looking back
at West Dyer and Dyer's impressive west ridge.
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Pleasant
traverse down the south-west ridge with Ball Mountain ahead.
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Diminutive
Ball Mountain is still higher than most peaks in the Canadian Rockies!
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Ascending
Ball Mountain only takes 20 minutes....
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Cairn ahead
on the flat summit.
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Ball
Mountain offers a view of Mount Sherman (left center).
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Looking back
at the West Dyer traverse.
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Just picking
a line down.
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Mining
buildings are strewn everywhere.
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Back on the
roads I drove last september....
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