Esmeralda Peaks (west summit) - 6.27.2013
Directions from 29 Pines Campground to the DeRoux Campground.
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rodman's GPS route from 2004... the same route we used on this trip... 7.6 miles roundtrip, gaining 3092 feet of elevation.
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A google earth look at the terrain around the twin west summits of Esmeralda Peaks... the photo inset shows the monster rock at the end of a switchback where we left the main trail and headed off trail for the summit.
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The Boulder DeRoux Trailhead (3800 feet) is located at the north end of the DeRoux Campground.
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After hiking a short distance we crossed the North Fork Teanaway River.
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After hiking a total of 1.6 miles we reached a junction with the DeRoux Spur which leads up to Koppen Mountain and DeRoux Peak... but we continued on #1392 toward Gallaher Head Lake.
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Snowdog crossing DeRoux Creek after hiking a total of 2.6 miles.
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The monster sized boulder at the end of a switchback (~5500') marks the spot where we left the main trail and headed steeply uphill for the summit.
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Izzy shows us the way... as we initially stayed on the left side of a large boulder field.
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Recon and Snowdog ascending.
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A short break while ReCon checks our bearings... not very good visibility and it gets worse as we go higher... Nina and Izzy keep an eye on one another.
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Continuous snow starts at 6200 feet.
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We know there are twin summits at the west end of Esmeralda Peaks... but is this one of them... the answer was no, but it is next to the eastern-most of the twin west summits.
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Group shot on the eastern-most of the twin west summits... you can barely see the other twin on the left.
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Snowdog, Izzy and Nina heading over to the west summit.
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Recon heading over to the west summit... the clouds were moving fast, as this photo was taken 30 seconds after the previous photo.
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We found the summit register on the west summit (6765')... the twin west summit is barely visible in the distance.
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On the way down now... and of course we can look up and see the twin summits now.
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Still working our way down.
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The main trail is just on the other side of these down trees. We will find a reasonable route around the trees... leaving a 2.5 mile hike back to the car.
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