Sunshine and Redcloud Peaks (September 2009)

Sat October 17, 2009

(This is the first of several trip reports from my San Juans trip in September.)

We started at the Silver Creek Trailhead for the climb up Sunshine and Redcloud Peaks. The first part of the trail followed Silver Creek up through a scenic valley.

Trail Going Along Silver Creek

We turned off the Silver Creek Trail and headed up a unmarked trail towards Sunshine Peak. The trail was a gradual climb through tree line and to the end of the valley.

The Trail Above Treeline in the Valley

Next we climbed up a scree slope to a ridge. First we took a route up that went on the right of small knob, but there was a waterfall in that gully. So we traversed some and climbed down a bit to get to where we could climb up. It was scree, but we didn't take too long to finish the climb up to the top of that ridge-about 400 ft up from the base. Next we walked across some rocky hills to the base of the summit ridge. We left the track I had downloaded off the web, to follow a trail we saw going up the scree. It disappeared a few times, but was more stable and easier the going up the scree without it. Once on top of the ridge, it was a short (~300 ft) climb to Sunshine Peak and its amazing views.

Redcloud Peak from Sunshine Peak

Next we walked along the ridge over to Redcloud Peak, about 1 mile away with a 500 ft drop to the saddle. As we got closer the dirt turned more and more red.

Redcloud Peak

My Victory Pic on Redcloud with Sunshine in the Background

We descended Redcloud, following the trail along a ridge to the end of Silver Creek valley. We descended into the valley and followed Silver Creek back to the trailhead. Along the way we saw many small creeks running into Silver Creek and a marmot poking his head out of a hole. The hike was 10.2 miles long with about 4200 ft of climbing.