This was my fourth trip to Mt. Sherman. This was one of my early 14ers back in 1992 when I hiked it with my immediate family. It remains to this day my mother's only 14er. I returned in 2011 for a winter ascent with my father and good friend Matt. I was back a year later in 2012 for an ascent with my aunt, uncle and cousins. That was a first and only 14er for two of my cousins. And now this ascent which was a first 14er for 3 of my nephews. Sherman holds lots of firsts for our family!
Trip Info:
Mt. Sherman Trail from the Fourmile Creek TH
Trailhead Elevation: 11,895 ft.
Distance: 7.81 mi.
Elevation Gain: 3,049 ft.
Start Time: 7:18am
End Time: 12:53pm
Trip Report:
My family met up with my brother's family to accomplish the ascent this day. My brother's family was on the tail end of a long national parks road trip that took them to the likes of Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. They were in Colorado for two days and we timed our trip to meet them and accomplish this first 14er for my brother's boys. We were also able to get my father up with us at age 74. This would end up being 14er ascent #92 for him
We were all staying near Trout Creek pass and so made the fairly easy drive over to the Fourmile Creek road and then up. The road was in fairly good condition and passable for most any 2WD vehicle. Its bumpy but very do-able. We parked about a quarter mile short of the gate and there were a half dozen vehicles already parked off the road where we stopped. Immediately above this the road does get rougher and rocky for a couple hundred feet and I wouldn't take a 2WD vehicle through that. The gate comes up another 100 or so feet after that so in all it doesn't matter.
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| Driving in with Sheridan and Sherman in view |
The hiking group including my brother and his three boys, my father, and myself and two of my boys Luke and Seth. It was a lot of fun getting all the cousins and our family group together and made this a free and easy hike of enjoyment. Things were a little chilly at the start and when you hit the trail right away at 12000 feet it immediately taxes the lungs.
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In this pic and the previous we were checking out the opening of one of the old mines.
It was gated. |
The combination of checking out the old mining remains as well as having all the cousins together made the time move by nicely. It was also good having a mix of my father at his age and the younger first-timers that made the pace very easy and manageable for everyone. You could also say we were all still acclimating from low altitude so another bonus to have the easy pace.
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| At the saddle looking at our remining route up to Sherman |
On our drive into Colorado we were worried about the effect of the wildfires especially the Willow fire which was burning just west of Leadville. Sherman could have been in the path of that smoke and we were monitoring this heading into today's hike. We were fortunate that the winds did not put us in the path and we didn't smell a hint of smoke the whole day. The weather and the skies were great for us.
Our memories of Sherman's upper ridge are of one thing: windy. Today certainly had a breeze to it but it wasn't horrible. It was not enough to be knocking people down and really wasn't even so much that you felt like the hat on your head was going to blow.
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| Working along the rocky summit ridge |
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| My father making his way along the ridge |
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| The summit is in sight |
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| Cool snow formations near the summit |
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| One of a few mountain goats at the summit waiting for us |
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| Celebrating a summit with some well deserved snacks |
Everyone made the summit feeling good and this was a treat for us as well. We all had pretty good days and took care of each other to make things so enjoyable. We enjoyed 20+ minutes on the summit relaxing and soaking it all in.
On my ascent I had given some thought to making a dash over towards Dyer from Sherman's summit. It was about 1.5 miles each way. My brother had done this back in May, although he had done Sherman from Iowa Gulch on the Leadville side. From that trailhead you can make a loop of Sherman and Dyer. I didn't want to hold the group up today or miss out on time on trail with everyone so ultimately I decided against this jaunt. Instead some of our group was interested in adding Sheridan and that would make a lot more sense.
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| Summit views from Sherman |
We divided parties on the descent from Sherman so that some could go over to Sheridan. It ended up being everyone but my father and my brother's youngest boy who would attempt Sheridan. We worked ahead of the remaining two hoping to have eventually everyone catch up and reunite on the descent.
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| Almost back to the vehicles. |
Track:
I have a track and waypoints from the activity all contained in the embedded Google Map. Check it out and use at your own risk.
This was my fourth trip to Mt. Sherman. This was one of my early 14ers back in 1992 when I hiked it with my immediate family. It remains to this day my mother's only 14er. I returned in 2011 for a winter ascent with my father and good friend Matt. I was back a year later in 2012 for an ascent with my aunt, uncle and cousins. That was a first and only 14er for two of my cousins. And now this ascent which was a first 14er for 3 of my nephews. Sherman holds lots of firsts for our family!
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