Bull Hill (13,761)

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November 29th, 1998
By Gary Swing

At 5:30 am on the morning of Sunday, November 29th, 1998, I left my Denver apartment to embark on a solo hike of 13,761 foot Bull Hill, Colorado's 122nd highest peak. I drove west on Interstate 70 to State Highway 91. Heading south on 91, I encountered a light snow shower as I approached the Climax Mine at Fremont Pass. The snowfall continued as I drove through Leadville on U.S. Highway 24 at 7:33 am. A bank clock indicated that it was 31 degrees outside. The weather had generally been clear, sunny, and warm for this time of year for the past several days. This day's forecast called for scattered snow accumulating one to three inches in the central mountains.

Turning west on State Highway 82, I set my trip odometer. Mike Garratt and Bob Martin's guidebook to Colorado's High Thirteeners indicates that the Black Cloud Trailhead is 10.5 miles west of Hwy. 24. Gerry Roach's fourteener guidebook gives the same figure. I measured the distance as 11.0 miles. According to my notes from a March 13th solo climb of Unnamed 13,736, Hwy. 82 is closed off for the winter at a point 17.5 miles west of U.S. Highway 24.

The 9,700-foot Black Cloud trailhead parking area was marked with a small sign, which as Roach comments, is easy to overlook. There is only room for a few cars to park at the trailhead. I was the only one there this day. I parked in the first pull-in space to the right. A stone fire pit blocked the path in front of my parking space. On the other side of the fire pit was the start of the Black Cloud Trail, marked with a small sign that simply read "TRAIL." The ground was covered with a light dusting of fresh snow, but the snow had stopped falling shortly before I reached the trailhead. I did some last minute packing, strapped my snowshoes and ice axe to the back of my pack, and then started my hike at 8:30 am.

Within a few hundred feet, I reached a trail register. The recorded entries demonstrated that relatively few use this trailhead, or else those who do don't bother to sign the register. The last person to sign had been here on Thanksgiving Day, three days earlier. Most of the people who signed the register gave Mount Elbert as their destination. Nobody had written that they were headed to Bull Hill. I signed the register, added Bull Hill to the list of objectives, and headed up the trail.

As the register suggests, the Black Cloud Trail is most often used as an approach to Colorado's highest peak. Guidebook author Gerry Roach describes the Black Cloud Trail as "a scenic alternative to the crowded trails on Elbert's east side." I had climbed Mount Elbert back in 1992 with my good friend Jim Harrington. We took the northeast ridge route up Elbert on that occasion. If I ever hike Elbert again, I'm inclined to try it from the Black Cloud Trail.

The Black Cloud Trail begins steeply, switchbacking up a wooded slope with plenty of southern exposure. The trail was thinly covered with snow which ranged from a light dusting to several inches. I found it slippery in a few spots where the snow hid small patches of ice. Despite the snow cover and lack of visible markings in this section, the path was easy to follow. The trail quickly approached the east side of Black Cloud Creek, which it followed as it continued switchbacking up the steep hillside.

At about 9:15, I crossed over a fairly substantial set of three snow-covered logs bridging the creek at about 10,860 feet. I took a short break on the west side of the creek to have a snack and look at my topo map. From there, the trail continued up the west side of the creek. Two-tenths of a mile from the creek crossing, I reached a trail junction at about 11,020 feet. The junction was marked with a large rock cairn on the left side. From this point, the Black Cloud Creek route which Gerry Roach describes for Mount Elbert continues straight ahead. I turned left to follow Garratt & Martin's route up the southeast ridge of Bull Hill. The snow on this secondary trail was softer and a bit deeper than on the Black Cloud Creek Trail, but I didn't feel that it justified putting on my snowshoes. The trail was well marked with rock cairns, which seems to be unusual for high thirteener routes. Despite the snow cover, I was still able to find most of the cairns. Several of these were piled atop tree stumps. Fallen timber was the biggest obstacle to following the actual route of the trail. Between the Black Cloud Creek and a prominent drainage, the route follows a nice, gentle wooded path up to the 11,200 foot level before climbing more steeply once again. Following the drainage northwest would offer a more direct approach to old miners cabins on Bull Hill's southeast ridge, but I chose to follow the switchbacking trail up the slope. With a few exceptions, I was generally able to find this good path through the snow. To the south, there were good views of 13,783 foot Rinker Peak and 14,361 foot La Plata Peak, despite overcast skies.

Among the last trees at 12,000 feet, I reached two old miners' cabins. One was just a flattened pile of logs. The other was still in pretty good shape. Its door and windows were gone, and there were holes in the roof, but the wooden plank floor was mostly dry. I sat on the floor of the cabin to take a break. I ate a peanut butter and blackberry jam sandwich, washed it down with some water, and then headed a short way up to the ridge top.

Snow conditions on the ridge varied considerably. Some of the snow was hard packed; some was quite soft. In some spots there was just a light dusting; in others, the snow was more than a foot deep. Within a few hundred yards, I decided that it would be prudent to put my snowshoes on, and did so. There was a gentle breeze on the lower part of the ridge. The wind increased with the elevation, but it was far from the extreme winds I had experienced on my last climb. To the northeast of the ridge, I had views of Black Cloud Gulch and the long southeast ridge of Mount Elbert.

The lower part of Bull Hill's southeast ridge route was mostly easy-going with just one steep section. Higher up, the ridge became rockier. I had to remove my snowshoes by the time I reached 12,800 feet. >From here to the 13,000 foot level, the going was a bit steeper, then the angle eased off again. I either followed the ridge top or stayed just to the left (south). There were no significant obstacles, but I felt short of breath and took an easy pace.

It began snowing lightly about 600 feet below the summit, but visibility remained good. The obvious high point tuned out to be the actual summit, which I reached at 12:05. This was my 102nd bicentennial peak (one of Colorado's 200 highest summits). It felt too cold and windy to have lunch here. I stood on the summit for a while, looking at Mount Elbert to the northeast, and Rinker to the southeast. From here, some hikers continue up Bull Hill's northeast ridge to the summit of Mount Elbert 1.6 miles distant. While Bull Hill is 670 lower than its neighbor, it is the highest named "hill" in the United States.

For the most part, I retraced my steps on the return hike. The mixed rock and snow of the upper ridge slowed me down a bit, while the grassy and snow covered lower ridge went smoothly. I used my ice axe just for stability on one steeper, hard-pack section of the lower ridge. I didn't use my snowshoes at all on the descent. By the time I reached the cabins once again, it had stopped snowing, the clouds had blown away, and the sky was clear. The wind had died down and it was warming up rapidly. I ate another sandwich and some fruit, stuffed my jacket into my backpack, and left the cabins.

I followed the switchbacking trail down the wooded slope to the more level section at 11,200 feet. As the snow melted, the actual path of the trail became easier to follow. I rejoined the main trail at the junction, crossed back to the east side of Black Cloud Creek, and continued downstream along the path. The sun had been quite active in the past few hours, melting snow off the trail. As I dropped in elevation, there were more and larger stretches of trail where the snow had melted away entirely. However, the occasional icy patches hidden under light snow were a bit more of a hazard on the way down than they had been on the way up.

I signed out at the register on my way past. Nobody else had signed it that day, and I never saw anybody on my hike. It was 2:52 when I reached my car, the only vehicle parked at the trailhead.

Garratt and Martin describe this hike of Bull Hill as an eight mile round trip hike with 4,100 feet of elevation gain. They list it as an easy hike and a short day. I completed the hike in less than 6.5 hours with light snow conditions. I would recommend it as a good, easy summer or fall hike for those of moderate ability.

Gary Swing
Denver, Colorado