Potosi Peak
Southeast Gully - Class 2+
A day after climbing Redcliff and Coxcomb Kristi and I had breakfast at Provisions in Ridgeway then got a late start on Potosi.
We found a decent line up Coffeepot's southwest slopes and descended to the Potosi/Coffeepot saddle.
From the saddle we traversed south below Potosi's cliffs on a trail. We then hiked to Potosi's southeast ridge and began our scramble to the summit. On the way to the southeast ridge we missed an easier ascent gully (which we ended up descending).
The scramble to the summit was super fun and the views were incredible. Potosi's summit is massive and felt like it was being prepped for sod. You will see what I mean when you get there. :-)
On the descent we found the easier gully off Potosi then retraced our steps back to the Coffeepot saddle.
From the saddle we enjoyed some of the best scree elevator surfing back to the road.
To avoid getting cliffed out near the bottom we looked for a fin shaped rock that marks a good descent route. Spotting the fin shaped rock from the road before you climb will help with route finding on the way down. :-)
We covered 5.4 Miles and 4500 vertical in 6.5 hours with 30 minutes of summit time.
This was a fun mountain.
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We covered 5.4 Miles and 4500 vertical in 6.5 hours with 30 minutes of summit time.
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Looking to Potosi from Coffeepot's southwest slopes
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Kristi ascends the southwest slopes of Coffeepot. Gilpin(rt) and Emma(lf) behind her.
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Ascending Coffeepot wasn't bad if you looked for the larger more stable rocks to climb. There was even some fun scrambling to be had.
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Teakettle
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Looking west from Coffeepot to Gilpin and Dallas
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Potosi from Coffeepot. We traversed from the Coffeepot/Potosi saddle, below the Potosi cliffs and around to Potosi's east side.
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Traversing to Potosi's southeast ridge
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We climbed this rock band and then headed back to the left and winded our way up some gullys. Turns out we missed an easier gully through this rock band. On the descent we took the easier gully
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Fun in Potosi's southeast gullies
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The gullys were pretty much read and run. Didn't seem like you could get into too much trouble.
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Looking to the summit we saw a party descending
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Kristi not too far from the summit
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Looking northwest from the summit to Teakettle, Cirque and Sneffels
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Another summit view with Sneffels, Dallas, Gilpin and Emma
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more summit views
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Looking southwest to the Wilsons
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Kristi descending from the summit
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Alex descending from the summit
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Having some fun running down the soft sandy slopes
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We found the easier gully that most people ascend
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Alex in what should have been our ascent gully
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Heading back to the Coffeepot/Potosi saddle
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Descending Coffeepot was some of the best scree elevator surfing we have done.
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Descending from the Coffeepot saddle was relatively easy and enjoyable
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Alex heading to the fin shaped rock that marks a good descent point.
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Kristi descending by the fin shaped rock. No getting cliffed out with this route
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The easy and fun scree surfing continues
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Kristi surfing back to the road
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Looking up at Potosi and the fall colors from the road
