2007/06/24 Mount Sniktau 13, 235 feet
RT ~4 miles
1,245 feet vertical gain
Alison Wray & Jill "Jillywray" Salva
With another day of sweltering heat due to engulf the lowlands, Alison and I decided to head up to the mountains for a summit bid of Mount Sniktau. The trail begins rather high at an elevation of 11,990 feet at Loveland Pass.
Tagging this particular summit was important to Alison, as she had not been up to this elevation before (out of my womb.) After rigging a pair of play sunglasses with duct tape, she felt ready for the trail.
Alison accidentally forgot her good pair of sunglasses at the theater Friday, so we were left to improvise to shield her eyes from the bright sun. Equipped with two options, a pair of swim goggles and the duct-taped creation, we felt ready and complete for our hike.
The first part of the trail goes up about 1,000 vertical feet presenting you with the choice of turning south to tag Grizzly Peak, or turning north to tag Sniktau. We were set on a Sniktau outing!
One rolls over three false summits before gaining the true summit of Sniktau. For a young mountaineer, this was no “give me” hike. Alison earned every bit of elevation and was able to stay focused on reaching her goal.
The views from the summit were incredible and I thought about coming back with trail running shoes to cruise along some of the ridgelines.
Our descent was uneventful and we felt satisfied at having reached such a beautiful peak on a beautiful day. A must do (at least once) for anyone who enjoys the high country, especially good for beginning hikers, flatlanders, desk jockeys and the like.
Click here to see pics.
