Grizzly C - McCauley - Aztec

Date: 07/9/2021
Partner: Solo
Trailhead: Chicago Basin Camp
Summits: Grizzly Peak C, McCauley Peak, Aztec Mountain
Distance: 17.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 5800ft
Duration: 10 hours 35 Minutes
GPX

Grizzly Peak C 14ers.com Page
McCauley Peak 14ers.com Page
Aztec Mountain 14ers.com Page

Although Grizzly and McCauley are not Chicago Basin peaks, they are easily accessed over Columbine Pass. So while in the area I figured I would knock out Grizzly, one of my remaining Bi-Cents, and bag a couple of 13ers along the way.

A few items of note on this route...

  1. Climbing Grizzly's south face requires a handful of exposed low class 5 moves and some route finding trial & error. If this is not your thing, consider Grizzly's class 3 northeast ridge as an alternative. Both routes are accessable from Hazel Lake. See Furthermore's 14ers.com TR for a climbing map.
  2. From Grizzly's summit, I partially descended the northeast ridge and then wrapped around to the base of the south face. I wasn't excited to downclimb the low 5.
  3. McCauley was pleasant and straight forward
  4. I thought Aztec would be a gimme... it's not. Gaining and descending from the east ridge requires travel on a good amount of loose and tedious scree. The east ridge itself also has loose and side hilly sections. It may have been the stress of the incoming storm or that it was late in the day... but I can't say Aztec was the most enjoyable peak.

A couple of recommendations:

  • Climb Grizzly C in combination with McCauley and Echo from Johnson Creek vs. Chicago Basin
  • Climb Aztec in combination with Valois and a handful of unranked 13ers from Endlich Mesa (City Reservoir)
Vallecito To Johnson CreekHope - McCauley - Echo