Trip report
Aug 20, 2020 — Mount Ouray is a big mountain far from pretty much all the other peaks I want to do in Colorado, but I was looking forward to checking out a new area, so I took the long drive on the good dirt road (2WD fine) to Marshall Pass. The standard route seems to be to bushwhack up the southwestern spur of Mount Ouray to access its west ridge, but I was happy to learn from a topo map that I could avoid the bushwhack and instead take the Colorado Trail for much of the approach. So, I followed The Colorado Trail north along an old dirt road until it ended and turned into a nice trail. Shortly after, the trees disappeared and I headed right up a steep, grassy slope, directly up to the minor bump at the end of Mount Ouray's west ridge. The standard route would have gotten me here, but I was able to avoid the bushwhack. I don't know if my route was necessarily better, but I was thrilled to not have to navigate deadfall, etc. Once on the west ridge, I headed east to Mount Ouray, taking the Class 2 talus-filled route up the whole way. The only minor obstacle was shortly after starting up the ridge was a rock outcropping, where I kept left to avoid it. The summit views were lovely, but mostly because of the wide sweeping views facilitated by the prominence of Mount Ouray. All the other peaks of interest were too far away to really see clearly.
Back at the minor bump at the end of Ouray's west ridge, I descended north on Class 2 along the ridge, the first few hundred feet being talus. The ridge was pleasant after that, turning into a nice tundra stroll to just below my next objective, Chipeta Mountain. Just before the 13er is a smaller peak, a mere 12er. I would need to pass over on the way to the Chipeta Mountain, and then back over it on the way back. The ridge was light Class 2, and the views were basically the same as they were on Mount Ouray. There seems to be some debate about the naming of Chipeta Mountain. The NFS topo map labels them as the 13er being unnamed and the 12er as Chipeta Mountain, but other sources have the 12er labeled Chipeta Mountain South, and the 13er being Chipeta Mountain. I've labeled my route as if Chipeta Mountain is the 13er, because it felt more fitting.
For my return, I headed back along the ridge to its low point and followed a nice trail that led me to west, back to the Colorado Trail. I followed it back to Marshall Pass.