Hiking Mount Silverheels

Hiking Mount Silverheels | Beaver Creek, CO Southern Approach | October 2024

Jess’ choice of campsite was excellent – and I know she did it for me. Where we were camping along Beaver Creek was right in the shadows of Mount Silverheels. Not only does the peak have plenty of prominence, but it is only a few hundred feet short of 14k. And because it isn’t a Colorado 14er, almost no one hikes it! No busy trailheads, no busy summits. But fortunately for me, there are well established routes to the top, and one happened to be near where we were parked.

After an evening in our spot, we woke up to the coldest day so far. Frost was on the windows and ice had formed in our water bag. Oh no! I thought, what if the weather gets worse. I felt that if I didn’t hike Silverheels today, I wouldn’t be able to at all (though in the end it turned out that winter weather wouldn’t arrive in the mountains for another two weeks and I picked the coldest day to hike…).

And with a full day without work obligations, it made sense. We had breakfast and I packed my large backpack and downloaded GPS tracks for my route. After making sure that Jess and Charlotte were comfortable I set off up the road. It was about 9 AM.

The route (trail is not the correct word since it’s not really an established trail, more a collection of forest roads and open country walking) started on an old forest road a half mile up the creek from where we had parked. It also started right at an old logging cabin complete with a very cool antique front loader. The kind that used pulleys and cables instead of hydraulics and looks like it’s straight from the children’s book “Are You My Mother” – the scary part at the end.

After jumping across the creek, I hung around here for a bit, finishing my tea and then continued along the forest road. Even though there are fences preventing vehicular access, the road felt like it had only been recently closed off. There was lots of wood straw/shavings from logging activities strewn across the road. Or at least that’s what I think it was. But there was also a lot of wildlife sign including large Moose prints that looked pretty recent.

The road ascended through the trees up towards a ridge. Towards the top, the Ponderosa pine gave way to enormous, gnarled, and stunted bristlecone pines. The views also started to open up and I could see across Beaver Creek to the high peaks of the Mosquito Range. Here there were true 14ers with just a bit of snow – Mount Lincoln and Quandry Peak principle among them.

Soon even the bristlecone disappeared and I was in open country. The road lead to the base of a rock outcrop which I then had to climb up and from which I finally had my first unobstructed view of Silverheels and the rest of my route. I was at around 12,000 feet and just under halfway.

From here, the route was open country walking. No trails or roads, just dead reckoning. Which honestly was a near first for me. I’ve definitely found my way just wandering around open country, but definitely never this high or this steep of country. But since I had a GPS route, and I could see the entire route the whole way up, it made it rather easy. And most fortunately, the whole way was grassland, avoiding the worst of the talus slopes that typically make up high mountain peaks.

From my little outcrop, I made my way up to the nearest ridgeline then stayed just below it and the talus until I was on the slopes of the peak proper. It was slow going and I resorted to my “100 steps and stop” hiking to keep myself from over exerting myself. At the end of this run I was right at 13,000 feet, a height I have only been to four times: Mount Sniktau (also here in Colorado), Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and most recently Mount Wheeler in Nevada. Mauna Kea was my highest peak at 13,796′, but I was very determined to beat that personal record today.

The last mile to the summit was probably the steepest and I definitely took my time. But the unobstructed views to the East and South across South Park made every break a bit more enjoyable. Way in the distance I could see Pikes Peak always watching. Once I reached the first patch of snow, I made one final push and reached the summit – 13,828′. My personal record.

I hung out at the summit for a good while. Had lunch and snacks and took plenty of pictures. From the summit I could easily make out Mount Blue Sky and probably Mount Elbert, though I can’t be certain. I hadn’t noticed how cold and windy it was, but as I relaxed a bit, I definitely felt colder and decided to head back. The way down retraced my route about as closely as you can without a real trail and I made good time.

Overall, it was an excellent introductory hike to the higher rocky mountain peaks. I didn’t see a single person or large mammal the entire day which is fine by me.

Here is a copy of my AllTrails recording, though it’s missing a couple sections because my phone kept pausing the recording randomly.