

Hike Peak 13201, Peak 13300 C, Matterhorn Peak, Broken Hill Loop Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest, CO

We parked at the start of the Matterhorn Creek Road. We'll be returning from the right later, but first we'd ascend along the road on the left, the main road entering the area.

After a short road walk we headed up the Wetterhorn Basin Trail.

Wetterhorn Basin Trail, a bit overgrown.

View back down as we progress up the Wetterhorn Basin Trail.

Peak 13201 comes into view. We left the trail shortly after this point because it seemed to curve away.

Peak 1301. We stuck to the right side of Mary Alice Creek.

View back along our route after leaving the Wetterhorn Basin Trail.

Crossing Mary Alice Creek and ascending the grassy slope to the south ridge of Peak 13201, visible ahead on the left.

Progress up to Peak 13201.

Wetterhorn Peak in the distance as we head up some Class 2 to gain Peak 13201's south ridge.

A shot back toward the Wetterhorn Basin Trail and Mary Alice Creek.

Approaching some Class 2+.

Class 2+ to gain the south ridge.

Along Peak 13201's south ridge, Wetterhorn PEak visible top right.

View back along the south ridge, just before the summit of Peak 13201.

Peak 13201 summit, view west.

Peak 13201 summit, view north. Coxcomb Peak in the Cimarrons left, Peak 13300C center, Wetterhorn Peak right.

Luke did the sketchy Class 4 descent off Peak 13201, shown here. I backed off and returned down the peak's south slope. Ultimately he didn't really save a lot of time by going this way anyway.

After backtracking along Peak 13201's south ridge, I hugged the peak's east face and traversed this Class 2 boulder field. Alternatively you could drop farther own and take the grassy route instead. The goal is the grassy slope/saddle in the center of this photo.

On the grassy slope/saddle, starting up to Peak 13300C, ahead but hidden by the hills in front of it.

View back toward Peak 13201 from the saddle.

View back toward Peak 13201 on my way up to Peak 13300C. My route came from the left in this photo along the Class 2 slope. Luke came from the saddle just to the peak's right in this photo after he did the sketchy down-climb.

Ascending to Peak 13300C, ahead on the right. Gorgeous tundra walking with some very light Class 2.

Peak 13300C on the left, Wetterhorn Peak right.

Peak 13300C summit, view back toward Peak 13201 (center).

Peak 13300C summit, view toward Wetterhorn Peak. The next bit of the route leads down to the saddle in the center of this photo, then does an ascending traverse to the grassy slope on the right side of Wetterhorn Peak, where I'd pick up the standard Wetterhorn Peak approach trail.

Really cool formations along the descent from Peak 13300C. Coxcomb Peak in the distance.

View back toward the descent from Peak 13300C. There were some short Class 2 sections to avoid the rock outcrops.

At the saddle of Peak 13300C and Wetterhorn Peak. I headed toward the grassy ridge on the right in this photo.

View back.

An animal trail materialized along the lightly ascending traverse.

After reaching Wetterhorn Peak's southeast ridge, I located the standard Wetterhorn Peak approach trail and took it down. Matterhorn Peak, next on the agenda, visible top left. Uncompahgre Peak visible in the distance.

View back up the trail, Wetterhorn Peak top right.

The trail leads through a bunch of boulders. I stuck to the trail until the terrain was tundra again, skipping the long boulder-hopping option. The goal is the grassy slope in the center of this photo.

After the rocky section along the Wetterhorn Peak approach trail, I made it to beneath the talus and ascended along its border to the grassy ridge ahead without having to boulder-hop.

Making progress up Matterhorn Peak's steep tundra slope, view back toward Wetterhorn Peak.

Tundra walking up the Matterhorn Peak.

A social trail materialized. View toward Broken Hill as I make progress up to Matterhorn Peak.

Social trail through talus/scree.

Last push to the summit of Matterhorn Peak, Class 2. One Class 2+ move along the way.

View back down the Class 2/2+ ascent to Matterhorn Peak. Broken Hill top right, Uncompahgre Peak top left.

Matterhorn Peak summit, Wetterhorn Peak left and Coxcomb Peak right.

Matterhorn Peak summit, view toward Uncompahgre Peak.

Starting down Matterhorn Peak, Broken Hill visible right of center. The colorful hills along the way (right in this photo) serve as a false summit along the way.

At the saddle of Matterhorn Peak and Broken Hill.

Mostly easy tundra with some light talus.

View back toward Matterhorn (center) and Wetterhorn (left) as I ascend the ridge to Broken Hill.

Continuing from the false summit toward another hump along the ridgeline. Broken Hill is seen poking out in the center.

A hump along the way, view toward Broken Hill.

Approaching Broken Hill. It gets steep, as you can see.

View down the steep social trail just below the summit block. Wetterhorn Peak visible top left, Uncompahgre top right.

Broken Hill summit block. I social trail leads around on the right, avoiding the scary-looking stuff.

Wrapping around the summit block. Also, Luke and I met back up, yay.

Summit of Broken Hill, view toward Uncompahgre Peak.

Summit of Broken Hill, view toward the ridgeline we ascended from. Wetterhorn Peak visible right of center.

Headed down our chosen descent ridge, right of center.

View back up toward Broken Hill (top right).

Steep, but easy, descent.

Making our way down on mostly tundra and grass.

Matterhorn Creek Road visible below. We headed through the forest and wandered over to it.

Social trail through the woods.

View back toward the ridge we came down from after joining Matterhorn Creek Road. We took this road back to the car.
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