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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: October 25, 2003
- Miles Hiked: 6.5
- Elevation Gain: 3,177'
- Hiking Partner(s): None
- Description:
- Mount Sherman and Gemini Peak are located northwest of Fairplay (CO)
off of Highway 9. The fall weather had been very hospitable, so I
decided to try and get out one more time before the snow starts to
fly. There is no particular reason for selecting this peak other
than I assumed it was relatively easy, so instead of dealing with a
difficult hike, I would only have to contend with the temperature.
- I actually had a bigger day planned, but after underestimating the
difficulty of route finding and how damn cold it was going to be, I had
to settle for Gemini and Sherman. Not to say it wasn't a good
hike, it is just that if you do this in the summer time, I would
recommend hitting both Sheridan and Dyer too. The ridge between
Gemini and Dyer looked like a fun traverse.
- I left Highlands Ranch (CO) shortly after 5:00 am and was hiking
shortly after 7:00 am. I chose the Sacramento Creek Trailhead
because of its location from Denver and its distance to the peak.
I prefer hikes with less miles. I should note that the miles
reported above are estimated. I did not have a resource listing
the distance of the particular route I used. I simply added
9/10ths of a mile to Roach's 5.6 miles reported in his book for the
route that closely relates to mine. I actually think it is likely
less that 6.5 miles, but I decided to be conservative from a grade
standpoint.
- I mention difficult route finding above. In relation to other
hikes I have done, it actually wasn't difficult at all, but in
comparison to what I was expecting (a trail) it was. I guess it
just kind of caught me off guard. I was told that most 14ers have
trails, and that may be the case for the easiest or most heavily used
routes, but as Gerry Roach states, this is an overlooked route, so I
guess I shouldn't have expected it. When checking the weather,
Fairplay reported 48 degrees for Saturday, so I didn't think it would be
too bad. I didn't think about that being the high and the fact
that I would be a couple of thousand feet higher. Anyway, it was
pretty cold.
- I headed up the south side of Sacramento Creek and gained Gemini's
east ridge up a shallow gulch. I went over Gemini to Sherman and
back over Gemini to the trailhead on the way out. I did this in
order to gain 3,000' on this trip. See the Colorado 14er page for
additional details regarding this. This was an ok trip that had me
back in Denver by 2:30 pm. I only saw four other people all
day. By 11:30, they had already climbed for 3 hours when I ran
into them at 13,300' on my way back down.
- Additional Statistics
| Leg |
Description |
Start |
End |
Gain (Loss) |
Start |
Stop |
Time |
| 1. |
Sacramento Creek Trailhead - Gemini Peak |
11,320' |
13,951' |
2,631' |
7:05 am |
9:35 am |
2 hr. 30 min. |
| 2. |
Gemini Peak Summit Time |
|
9:35 am |
9:55 am |
0 hr. 20 min. |
| 3. |
Gemini Peak - Mount Sherman |
13,951' |
14,036' |
(231') 315' |
9:55 am |
10:25 am |
0 hr. 30 min. |
| 4. |
Mount Sherman Summit Time |
|
10:25 am |
10:35 am |
0 hr. 10 min. |
| 5. |
Mount Sherman - Gemini Peak |
14,036' |
13,951' |
(315') 231' |
10:35 am |
11:00 am |
0 hr. 25 min. |
| 6. |
Gemini Peak Summit Time |
|
11:00 am |
11:05 am |
0 hr. 05 min. |
| 7. |
Gemini Peak - Sacramento Creek Trailhead |
13,951' |
11,320' |
(2,631') |
11:05 am |
12:35 pm |
1 hr. 30 min. |
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Total Elevation Gain and Trail Time |
3,177' |
5 hr. 30 min. |
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| * |
Mount Sherman/Gemini Peak Saddle |
13,720' |
Determined from topographical map. |
- Maps:
- Click here to view a 2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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