I had seen reports on the obscure peak known as "Catamount" on Summitpost and 14erworld, and decided to check it out. Catamount is an unofficial name given to Point 11,695', which lies about a third of a mile southeast of Tarryall Peak, which is the unofficial name of Point 11,780'. The name "Catamount" most likely comes from the pinnacles on the ridge that look like the ears of a lynx. The Lost Creek Wilderness is a wonderful place to seek solitude and long hikes among impressive rock formations.

I started out from the Spruce Grove Trailhead at 08:00, crossed Tarryall Creek, and started up the excellent Lizard Rock Trail. The trailhead is about 27 miles south of Jefferson on Park County 77, about an hour and a half drive from home. At 2 miles the trail enters the Lost Creek Wilderness, and I took an immediate right onto the Hankins Pass Trail. This junction is not marked, but watch for the trail just after the wilderness boundary sign and before descending to join the Brookside-McCurdy Trail. The trail is marked with a sign after the junction and indicates the way to Lake Park and Goose Creek.

Foto ©2004 by John C. Maki

After a mile I reached 10,020' Hankins Pass, and took a left at the junction to Lake Park. The trail climbs another mile to a 10,900' saddle before descending slightly to the open meadows of Lake Park. From here Lake Park Peak stands to the east, Tarryall Peak to the north, and part of Catamount's south ridge can be seen to the northwest. The trail rounds the west end of Lake Park and climbs up toward Tarryall Peak before reaching a saddle and descending to the Brookside-McCurdy Trail.

I had read a couple reports on Catamount; Kane Engelbert bushwhacked from the trail to the east face of Catamount and found a couple class 4 chimneys to the summit, while Bob Dawson climbed Tarryall first then circled the west side of Catamount to find easier passage from the south. Since I hadn't climbed Tarryall I decided to follow Bob's route, and I continued up the trail to a small saddle at 11,540' before bushwhacking through the forest and up a snow-covered gully to Tarryall's rocky summit. The register was a glass jar and I saw many familiar names from 14erworld. Catamount loomed to the southeast, looking formidable with steep rocky ramparts guarding the summit from all sides, and twisted unfriendly ridges stretching north and south. I left the summit at noon to find my way to Catamount.

I descended gentle slopes to the saddle between Tarryall and Catamount, then skirted around to Catamount's west flank before heading uphill to see what perils I was about to face. There were a few weaknesses in the summit wall that bordered on low 5th class, but they were exposed and committing and I continued my search for a better alternative. I reached a ridge wall separating the west and south faces, climbed up to get a better look, then advanced a short way before retreating, as I wasn't happy about the exposure and difficulty. I had to follow the southwest ridge a couple hundred feet or so to reach the other side of the ridge, where I could access Catamount's south face. This area looked promising, with several lower-angled approaches to the summit. I finally settled on a ramp leading from yet another ridge southeast of the summit, and after some class 3 scrambling I was high up on the ramp. Here I appeared to have two choices, an exposed class 3/4 route which might have gone to the summit, or an unexposed low class 5 move to stable footing above.

I chose the class 5 move on the extremely coarse granite and soon pulled myself up to find the summit blocks right in front of me. It took me an hour to traverse from Tarryall and find a route that I liked. A couple short jumps across deep gaps led to to the summit register, and I enjoyed reading the entries. Placed in 1988, the first page had not yet been completed - my name was the 20th entry, and 4 of those entries were repeat climbs. I now understand the attraction of very obscure peaks like Catamount, and I felt priviledged to reach this summit.

Foto ©2004 by John C. Maki

After exploring the summit and contemplating the weaknesses on all sides, I still thought the ramp on the south face was the easiest route, and I started my descent. Once below the steep summit walls my thoughts turned toward the remaining descent: Bob and party bushwhacked to the Brookside-McCurdy Trail, but I was hoping to find a way back to Lake Park. The problem was the southeast ridge - I checked a couple points and found steep walls on the east side of the ridge. I hiked along the ridge for several hundred yards before seeing an opening in the ridge, and I scrambled up to check it out. I looked through the gap to see the "hanging garden" mentioned by Kane in his report, and an easy descent to the garden level. I knew Kane reached the garden from Lake Park, so I went there to explore the rock formations. Ringed with granite and filled with bristlecone pine, the hanging garden is a marvelous place. I hiked across the garden to the southeast to reach a very large rounded rock formation, passed it on the left, and saw my route down to the Lake Park - in fact, I was directly above the westermost end of the trail as it follows the outside of the Park. I continued down on knobby granite slabs and soon reached the trail.

          
Fotos ©2004 by John C. Maki

The hike back to the trailhead was uneventful but long, and I reached the Jeep just before 16:00. I never saw a single soul the entire day, though the weather was clear and sunny, ideal for a hike. This was one of my more enjoyable hikes with the incomparable scenery and the challenge of intricate rountefinding on the Catamount. When I return I'd like to try to reverse my route: from Lake Park to the hanging garden, find the gap in the southeast ridge, then climb the south face ramp route to the summit. I'd like to find and climb the "lynx ears" so prominent from the Hankins Pass Trail. Everytime I visit the Lost Creek Wilderness I wonder what took me so long to return...