East Ridge with Pt. 10574’

Overview

This route climbs Mount Wuh from the East Ridge along with Pt. 10574’ from Bear Lake Trailhead. From the summit, one can either retrace the route back or bushwhack to the Odessa/Helene trail. This route is a Class 2 Grade I venture with approximately 1700’ of elevation gain over 4-6 miles round trip.

Getting There

Mount Wuh can be summited starting at either Bear Lake TH,Hollowell Park TH or Bierstadt Lake TH

I have written this route assuming a start at Bear Lake

Route Description

From Bear Lake, circle the lake to the Flattop Mountain trail, and hike through small aspen groves up 250’ over a half mile to the Bierstadt Lake/Flattop Mountain intersection. Take a right and climb over a rocky knoll where you can see Pt. 10574’. The trail will drop in elevation (and over a seasonal creek bed that serves as Bierstadt Lake’s inlet stream) another half mile to another intersection that leads to Bierstadt Lake. This will be your first intersection since you left the Flattop trail, and there is evidence of a small, dry ditch immediately before the sign. From here you can leave the trail following the ditch or head in a generally NW direction. Note: the forest is incredibly thick off of the trail until you cross Mill Creek, so you should be comfortable with navigational gear and have a good sense of your surroundings. Heading NW, you will eventually drop to pretty Mill Creek, where the forest becomes much less dense with less downed timber. You will have found the East Ridge to Pt. 10574’ when the only way you can go is up. Follow this ridge west, gaining rocky highpoints as you please, for approximately 1000’ until you reach Pt. 10574’, where you should be able to see the true summit of Mount Wuh. From 10574, I climbed around the backside and down a boulder field to the connecting saddle between the summit and subsummit. The final 400’ to the top is moderately steep, and it will take a bit of effort to find the highest point. Views are obstructed in some directions, but clearings are present. There is a Summit cairn but no register.

To descend, you can either follow the ridge back down, or you can connect up to the Odessa/Helene trail. This requires bushwhacking through a flat, mixed forest and crossing Mill Creek again, but it makes a nice loop back to Bear Lake. Again, navigational equipment may be needed.

Essential Gear

Along with all of your wilderness survival essentials, make sure you have everything you will need for off trail bushwhacking.

Water is available in Mill Creek

External Links

Some pictures and description of the route.

Images

View East Ridge with Pt. 10574’ Image Gallery - 5 Images