Mt Sherman summit hike

Wanderlust073

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Had some fun with my friend Matt hiking up Mt Sherman Saturday. The hike is less than 4.5 miles roundtrip so not a whole lot to write about, but it's good clean outdoor fun and some nice scenery so I thought I'd drop a few more pics and a vid link:

Matt and I. Getting my money's worth out of the ghost whisperer. This was Matt's first attempt at a 14er.

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Snowy from the start. Iowa Gulch trailhead sits at 12000 ft.

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A headwall of cliffs east of the trail.

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You say daunting, I say 'shortcut!'. This was a bit of off-trail misadventure that cost us an hour of a time and some wasted energy and probably kept Matt from summit'ing, though he doesn't think it made the difference. I took this near to the top of a climb to what looked like a notch that would save us a lot of talus hiking - but alas the notch was too icy to climb without any protection, so we had to down climb back to the trail.

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Back on trail and rounding the bend up in to the gully that separates Mt Sherman and its 13er mate, Mt Sheridan.

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Winds started to pick up and clouds started blowing in. Felt very much like winter had arrived when we reached the saddle between the two peaks.

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I waited (hid) behind this cairn while Matt climbed up the slope. At this point he decided to throw in the towel and come back for Sherman after a winter of training. With 3/4 mile, 800 vertical feet to go I figured I'd take a run at it even though I was starting to worry about the wind.

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This ridge line was my cause for concern with the high winds, but there's only a couple really exposed spots and the rest has enough rubble piled up to keep you from getting blown off the edge.

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In case you were wondering, I survived! Fifth 14er in the bag - Mt Sherman, 14,036 ft.

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So, so, so cold and windy. Thankfully my camera survived getting blown over and falling on to the rocks and ice. Here's a view around the summit:

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Time to hike back, grab Matt, hit up PB in Leadville for some Oktoberfest wurst and beers.

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Trip vid here:

 
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