Jimmy
September 21st, 2008, 05:10 PM
I got the day to myself and decided to keep it to myself (sorry everyone!), so I charted a course and managed to stick to it.
First off, the aspens are changing but haven't peaked out yet. Another two weeks would be my guess (as uneducated as that guess is) to catch them in full glory. I headed up to Red Cone with the hopes that there wasn't some drift of snow which would turn me around. There were only a few spots of snow (which looked like old snow from a couple of weeks back) going to the peak that were on the trail and didn't completely cover the trail, so no problems there. Got up top with no problems.
Now, the decent was questionable. I could see snow on the first stretch, so I walked down to it to check it out. There was an area of the trail near the top that was completely covered in snow, about a 40' long area (maybe more - I'm trying not to embellish). There were old vehicle tracks through it, but nothing from that day or days after the last snow. After giving it some though, I went for it. No problems... no sliding, slipping, etc. Now the next question was am I going to find more snow on the next two decents. And the answer to that was no, thank goodness!
After receiving much praise and at-a-boys from the people standing on top of Webster Pass watching me come down, I continued down into the basin where Radical Hill begins and had lunch. There was a group of four coming down Radical, so this gave them time to make their way down and time to get my stomach to settle after coming down a snowy Red Cone. :)
Two CJs began the ascent of Radical before I did, and only had a small stumbling at the rocky area before the sharp switchbacks. I paused to check out that cabin that's part way up Radical as I had never looked at it any of the other times I'd been on the trail - not much to see there, but at least my curiosity has been satisfied. Had a small family of mountain goats on the trail next to that cabin, so I snapped a few pics of them. Made it up Radical with no problems. The last ascent isn't getting any better; the ruts seem to be getting deeper, which is natural, but nerve racking. That isn't the place to stall or begin sliding. :)
I debated on which way to go to Montezuma: Deer Creek or Saints John (not having been on either ever). After checking my Wells book, Saints John sounded more interesting, so off I went. I did get snowed on for a little bit, but it was that tiny, icy granules vice a snowflake snow so it didn't even have an effect on anything. I stopped at Teller Mine, the Wild Irishman Mine, and the Saints John townsite before entering Montezuma. Not far after heading north out of Montezuma, you reach Peru Creek.
I didn't have much time (wanted to get home at a decent hour) to explore this area (had wanted to get a taste of Chihuahua Gulch to see how challenging it is, but passed on it as mining sites will win every time for me) so I scooted along the maintained dirt road as safely and quickly as possible. The moment I reached Pennsylvania Mine, I was sidetracked and that's as far as I went on Peru Creek. At this point you get onto Cinnamon Gulch (IIRC) to get to Pennsylvania Mine. I checked out this site, another mill a bit further up, and the stamping mill above Pennsylvania Mine. The cables for the cart system from the stamp mill to the mine below still lie across the road where they fell long ago (I would guess). Once at the stamp mill, I grabbed a quick pic and headed out as it started to rain.
All-in-all it was a great day. I definitely want to head back to Peru Creek and check out both Chihuahua and Cinnamon and further explore up Peru to where the trail supposedly gets a little challenging. A word of caution on this area: it is frequented by lots of outdoor enthusiasts (hikers, bikers, walkers, campers etc.) so don't expect to have the place to yourselves and be mindful of others (no excessive speeds, etc.).
Here's a link to my pics from the day: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/?albumview=grid
And a few select from the album:
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1188.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1210.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1207.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1236.jpg
First off, the aspens are changing but haven't peaked out yet. Another two weeks would be my guess (as uneducated as that guess is) to catch them in full glory. I headed up to Red Cone with the hopes that there wasn't some drift of snow which would turn me around. There were only a few spots of snow (which looked like old snow from a couple of weeks back) going to the peak that were on the trail and didn't completely cover the trail, so no problems there. Got up top with no problems.
Now, the decent was questionable. I could see snow on the first stretch, so I walked down to it to check it out. There was an area of the trail near the top that was completely covered in snow, about a 40' long area (maybe more - I'm trying not to embellish). There were old vehicle tracks through it, but nothing from that day or days after the last snow. After giving it some though, I went for it. No problems... no sliding, slipping, etc. Now the next question was am I going to find more snow on the next two decents. And the answer to that was no, thank goodness!
After receiving much praise and at-a-boys from the people standing on top of Webster Pass watching me come down, I continued down into the basin where Radical Hill begins and had lunch. There was a group of four coming down Radical, so this gave them time to make their way down and time to get my stomach to settle after coming down a snowy Red Cone. :)
Two CJs began the ascent of Radical before I did, and only had a small stumbling at the rocky area before the sharp switchbacks. I paused to check out that cabin that's part way up Radical as I had never looked at it any of the other times I'd been on the trail - not much to see there, but at least my curiosity has been satisfied. Had a small family of mountain goats on the trail next to that cabin, so I snapped a few pics of them. Made it up Radical with no problems. The last ascent isn't getting any better; the ruts seem to be getting deeper, which is natural, but nerve racking. That isn't the place to stall or begin sliding. :)
I debated on which way to go to Montezuma: Deer Creek or Saints John (not having been on either ever). After checking my Wells book, Saints John sounded more interesting, so off I went. I did get snowed on for a little bit, but it was that tiny, icy granules vice a snowflake snow so it didn't even have an effect on anything. I stopped at Teller Mine, the Wild Irishman Mine, and the Saints John townsite before entering Montezuma. Not far after heading north out of Montezuma, you reach Peru Creek.
I didn't have much time (wanted to get home at a decent hour) to explore this area (had wanted to get a taste of Chihuahua Gulch to see how challenging it is, but passed on it as mining sites will win every time for me) so I scooted along the maintained dirt road as safely and quickly as possible. The moment I reached Pennsylvania Mine, I was sidetracked and that's as far as I went on Peru Creek. At this point you get onto Cinnamon Gulch (IIRC) to get to Pennsylvania Mine. I checked out this site, another mill a bit further up, and the stamping mill above Pennsylvania Mine. The cables for the cart system from the stamp mill to the mine below still lie across the road where they fell long ago (I would guess). Once at the stamp mill, I grabbed a quick pic and headed out as it started to rain.
All-in-all it was a great day. I definitely want to head back to Peru Creek and check out both Chihuahua and Cinnamon and further explore up Peru to where the trail supposedly gets a little challenging. A word of caution on this area: it is frequented by lots of outdoor enthusiasts (hikers, bikers, walkers, campers etc.) so don't expect to have the place to yourselves and be mindful of others (no excessive speeds, etc.).
Here's a link to my pics from the day: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/?albumview=grid
And a few select from the album:
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1188.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1210.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1207.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh165/Banzai_Jimmy/Red%20Cone%20Radical%20Hill%20Saints%20John%20Peru %20Creek%20Sep08/DSCN1236.jpg