Parkview Mountain
Parkview Mountain at 12,296 feet is the highest Moutain in the Rabbit Ears Range. The summit hosts a small historic fire lookout built in 1916 and still usable as a shelter. Parkview Mountain straddles the continental divide and is on the border of Grand and Jackson counties. It sits southwest of Willow Creek Pass with easy access from CO 125.
July 31 2020
Parkview Mountain Traverse Southeast Ridge to Northeast Ridge
11 miles round trip
2875 feet of elevation gain
Emily, Anna and I got a late start on our adventure and did not hit the Parkview Mountain trailhead until 09:45, which is a bad idea when planning to be above treeline for a good part of the day. In addition we were not set for a speed climb. I had broken my right great toe four days earlier, and Anna, my daughter, had just come up from Memphis which sits 338 feet above the sea. But the skies were clear and we got underway.
The trail starts as a decommissioned jeep road, which was initially steep but then settled down into a mild steady climb up for 1.8 miles to Forest Road 750. We then took a left on Forest Road 750 and after 0.4 miles we came to a split in the road. Going straight went downhill and going right headed uphill.. After a bit of debate, we elected to take the uphill branch, which was correct and took us to the eastern cirque of Parkview Mountain after another 1.8 miles. It is possible to drive to the cirque on the forest service roads, but you would miss a lovely warmup walk of 4 miles.
We followed the jeep road into the cirque. It made a switchback and then quickly faded into a well established path which faded into a series of cairns as it climbed its way up the south end of the cirque, steeply onto the southeast ridge (The southeast ridge is in reality an east ridge but often referred to as the southeast ridge). The last part of the climb onto the ridge did not have any cairns but the way was obvious. The southeast ridge is steep and somewhat loose. There is no obvious path but the ridge was well defined.. We continued to climb the ridge and after one false summit, the ridge rounded off..
Anna on the lower left with Radial Moutain in the back ground
From there it was an easy spectacular walk to the summit. Crows soared at eye level, 360 degree views, and a few scattered clouds.
The wind was blowing steady on the summit. We explored the old fire lookout that was open, ate our sandwiches on the leeward side protected from the wind. Took in sweeping views of the town of Rand, Ruby Lake, Never Summer Range, Indian Peaks, Byers Peak, Ute Mountain, Eagles Nest and more.
We then started our decent down the northeast ridge. We passed a trail coming up from the west and continued on the ridge proper. Initially there was a faint trail but it faded into nothing. My toe began to hurt as it pressed into my boot and I changed into a pair of sandals which alleviated the pain but were a poor choice for the somewhat steep loose decent. As we descended the clouds began to build and look threatening. At 11,600 feet just below a false summit, we left the ridge and descended the south face back to the jeep road. The slope was steep and very loose. We slipped and slid our way down and were happy to be safely back on the road. I would not recommend this descent, the ridge proper appears to continue down to the road and the next time I hike this route I will explore this option. From there it was a casual stroll, reversing our route back to the car.
BTW, we were lucky with the weather, start early and be safe.