Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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39.98280°N / 105.685°W |
Route Type:
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Scramble |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Difficulty:
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Class 2+ |
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Approach
Drive Highway 40, either north of Fraser, or south of Berthoud Pass, to just north of the main Winter Park Ski resort. Between mile markers 231 and 232, turn east on to the road marked for Corona/Rollins Pass (14 miles from Highway 40). This is County Road 80. Follow the main road to the trailhead at Rollins Pass. The road becomes Forest Road 149 after reaching the forest boundary. The road is rough in places, but cars can make it all the way to the trailhead when driven slowly and with great care.Route Description
The Rollins Pass Route makes perhaps the easiest route to the area around Devils Thumb, but can be windy and exposed to the elements since the route is always above the timberline. Make sure to read the message board about at the trailhead about the interesting history of Corona and Rollins Pass.From Rollins Pass (elevation 11,660 feet); follow the obvious and well used trail north. It descends a bit and begins climbing. The trail is marked as the Corona Trail on the topo map, but be aware that the map does not always show the route correctly. The trail climbs over a small hill and to a nice viewpoint of King Lake located north of the trail. Continue on the main trail and along the ridge. The trail is an up and down trail and stays west of the ridge and Continental Divide. There are some nice views along the way. There is also an alternate and less used variation of the trail with even better views that follows the ridge more or less right along the continental divide. This route has cairns, but the trail is not that well defined. Keep your eyes open in the morning as we saw a huge elk heard along the way. The steepest part of the main trail is just west of point 12,123. Here the trail climbs over the steep hill via several switchbacks before dropping abruptly to Devils Thumb Pass (11,747 feet elevation). The pass is 3.5 miles from the trailhead.
From Devils Thumb Pass, climb north along a hiker made trail and towards the peak. Make sure to stop and enjoy the spectacular views of Devils Thumb along the way. The peak is about .8 miles from the pass. There is some minor scrambling of up to class-2 in difficulty. There are some spectacular views in all directions from the summit.
