Mount Buckskin



January 15, 2011

Mount Buckskin Attempt

The forecast called for 10 to 15 mile per hour winds with gusts up to 20 miles per hour. We encountered 30 mile per hour winds with gusts up to 46 miles per hour. And that was just at 13,000 feet where we decided to turn back.

This is our GPS track:



This is the elevation profile:


Distance:8.6 miles
Elevation Gain:2,600 vertical feet
Time:7 hours

We began from a different trailhead than we originally intended and found ourselves breaking trail through some deep untouched powder for a while. This really wore us out early in the hike. When we finally broke treeline we were already had 2.5 miles under our belts and along ways to go.

The day began clear and beautiful.


Something about winter just makes the sky so much more interesting, plus I think the cold made the air extra clear for amazing views.


The day began clear and beautiful.


Some high lenticular clouds began forming indicating some high level winds.


As we broke 12,500 the winds started picking up to 25 mph, and we were realizing that our change of starting point had cost us a lot of distance. We still had over 3 miles to get to Mount Buckskin.


As we neared 13,000 feet the winds just got brutal (yes that says 45.9 mph wind), and we were hiking straight into them. We decided we were just making too slow of progress in that wind to continue. So we turned back.

Here are a couple of videos from near where we topped out for the day. Sorry about the sound, but that's about all you can get on a day like that one.




I don't enjoy giving up, but it still was a good hike in good company.


Back in the trees we were out of the wind and just got to enjoy some nice snowshoeing on the way out. We also learned from our mistakes on the way in and took an easier more direct route back to the car. Though had we taken the blue route added to the map above it would have been more likely we could have summited.


Not much else interesting on this trip except finding this guy in the middle of the trail on our way out. The scene looked awful suspicious, however being out of our element and in South Park we just said howdy-ho back and kept on walking.



You are welcome to contact me with any questions regarding questions about, or problems with, this website. Just send me an e-mail at josh_friesema@hotmail.com.