GC4JE0H Half is ENOUGH!!
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 08/09/2013 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N37° 51.865 W107° 28.049 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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CONGRATULTIONS TO ernie66 AND estes01 FOR THE FTF!!!

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For years I’ve admired photos of Half Peak (elevation 13,841 feet), a mountain having a unique shape and profile that’s located northwest of Cataract Lake. So on this climbing/caching trip I made it a priority to hike to it’s base and then climb it. It’s a long hiking approach, no matter which trailhead you begin from. I used the Cataract Lake Trail, hiking to the lake and then traversing NW to the mountain’s east ridge, ascending by a route called the East Face Route. The round trip hiking distance was approximately 12 miles, and I gained about 4,300 feet on the climb. The final 400 feet on this route requires experience in route finding, and involves a bit of Class 3 climbing. But there is an easier route that keeps things to Class 2. It’s the South Ridge “Classic” Route, also passing by Cataract Lake on the approach. This route involves approximately 13 miles of round trip distance and the same vertical as the East Face route that I used, but it avoids any need for Class 3 scrambling. By either route, be aware that you’ll have a long day reaching this mountain’s top and the cache it now harbors and then hiking out to your parking spot at the trailhead.

It’s pleasant country, and the views are wonderful. The trail to the lake is excellent, and that distance between trailhead and lake burns up many of the miles you’ll hike. You are almost certain to encounter moose along your way. Half Peak is one of Colorado’s Centennial Peaks. Centennials are mountains that are amongst the highest 100 peaks in our state. As more hikers and climbers complete the 54 14ers, some of them redirect their focus to the 46 Centennial 13ers, such as this one. With Half’s summit elevation of 13,841 feet, it’s the 88th highest mountain in Colorado.

The cache container is a heavy duty face cream jar wrapped in duct tape. It’s sturdy and durable. Make certain to bring your own pencil or pen for your log-signing ceremony. Space is available in the main container for trackable items, and I left a green jeep in the cache at the time of it’s placement. The hide is located south of the actual summit under the only group of larger rocks in the GZ vicinity. Focus your search on hiding places in this small cluster of larger rocks, and you’ll score on this treasure! I hid it in a cavity/nook under the south side of the largest rock, and then concealed it well with several smaller rocks placed on top of the container to keep it from moving. Please be careful to properly re-cover it after you’ve signed the log. After finding the cache, take time to relax and appreciate the stunning scenery laid out all around you. The San Juan Range has some of the most spectacular peaks in Colorado; this mountain provides a great viewing platform to admire these mountains.

Be watchful for possible lightning storms in the area. Half Peak is not a place you should be on the event of electrical storms! We were intently watchful as we made our way through the steep upper terrain of the East Ridge–thunder became fairly common north of us. Although lightning and thunder never got particularly close, it began raining while we were at the summit area. This made for a very slippery and dangerous descent through the upper portions of our down-climbing. By the time we reached safer ground we were soaked, even through our rain gear. And we still had almost 6 miles of hiking ahead of us to reach our vehicle. Yes, we were cold and we were soaked...because of the rain, we had had ENOUGH of Half Peak. I’m glad there was not a second half that day!!

Enjoy your hike climb to this fabulous location. And enjoy this special cache.

08/25/2017 By COpackrat
Two times Half is a LOT more than enough - climbed this a long time ago when I was doing high peaks in Colorado, on my way back to the Pole Mountain area. Went with WingsAndTales this time and had great weather.

08/25/2017 By WingsAndTales
COpackrat and I spent a week or so in the area looking for high altitude caches. The weather cooperated for the most part since the monsoons were tapering off. We were able to drive to Cuba Gulch and start the hike from there but it was still a long haul at 12.7 miles and 3800' of elevation according to my GPS. There were a few flowers left but they are just about gone. We also saw lots of hoof prints along the trail and as we bashed our way through the willows. We stayed a little higher on the way back and it made the section with the willows a little easier. The cache was easy to find once we got to GZ and I picked up the Jeep TB since it has been here for 3 years. After getting to the summit it was sobering to realize that Half Peak was only half done and we had to get all the way back too. It's certainly a hike that I won't soon forget.

08/05/2014 By ernie66
Thus began Day 2 of our San Juan caching excursion. We got an early start on the trail, knowing we had two caches on two separate hikes to get to today. The weather was remarkably cooperative. We were surrounded by clouds a lot of the time, but never heard lightning and never got any precipitation. Going through the Class 2 crux (with significant exposure) on the South Ridge route to the top, it was a good thing everything was dry or that might have been where we would have turned around. We made it through that without incident and were at the top a few minutes later.

On the way down, we saw and heard three bull moose browsing among the willows. They saw us before we saw them. They weren't backing off so we gave them a wide berth. The alternate route did allow us to skirt much of the willow infestation in the lower basin.

08/05/2014 By estes01
FTF with ernie66. When I think of the Half Peak hike, three words will pop into my head: wildflowers, willows and moose. It must have poured overnight because everything was drenched when I met Ernie at the trailhead. It didn't take long before our hiking boots made those squishing noises that alert the wildlife in the area. In this case, it was a moose. I was so excited, as even though I'm Canadian, I've never seen a moose in the wild.

I will always think of this as the wildflower hike. I don't think I've ever seen so many wildflowers on any hike. I felt like I was in a commercial for some allergy medicine. This hike was a significant challenge for me as I don't like exposure and loose rocks. I don't like clinging to rocks or having to lean into them to prevent falling over. Several times I refused to budge from my precarious position, but Ernie refused to let me give up. Annoying to say the least, but I was so happy when I was able to sign the cache. We logged this one at 14.7 miles roundtrip with a total ascent of 3,353 feet. The extra 3/4 of a mile was because of the bull moose in our way. One of them snorted at us and that was enough to change our direction.

Swapped trackables. Thank you very much for bringing us to this amazing place.

11/17/2013 By jeiseleincolo
With the CO when this cache was placed. I am NOT claiming the FTF on this cache. The FTF goes to the next cacher who signs the cache’s field log and records the find on this cache page. ... Yes, Half was more than ENOUGH! A very satisfying achievement, though! Thanks, Denali41.