[Randy]

Granite Mountain (North and South Peaks), French Ridge (East and West Peaks), and Trico Mountain: I was looking for a stellar area where I could really get out and stretch the wickets a bit. Robin Lakes seemed to meet my criteria and after some snooping around, I found that there are a lot of peaks in the general area that one can run up to make for a worthwhile day even if they are just Backcourt peaks. That said, this has to be about the nicest area in the Backcourt outside of the Enchantments. I had planned for a 4-peak day including Granite, Trico, and the east and west peaks of French Ridge. However, upon picking up Mike Collins on Saturday morning, I was quickly reminded that there was a 5th peak to be had. In addition to the main summit of Granite Mountain there is also its south peak coming in just a bit over seven grand.

Granite, French Ridge, Trico

The car was locked at 0745 and feet were kicking. We got ourselves up to Tuck Lake via the regular route with no difficulties. Around the south side of the lake and on up the ridge to Robin Lakes - mind the ice on the granite slabs and we were fine. There was snow and ice on the north facing slopes, but for the most part things were clear. We snuck between the two Robin Lakes and on up a couple hundred feet to where we had to traverse ice and snow covered slabs into a draw. Things went well enough in running shoes, but it was tedious at times to say the least. We went up a few hundred more feet to a saddle SSE of the lake then did an ascending traverse up and over to Granite Mountain, elevation 7144'. We poked around the summit for a minute (no register), but we had other peaks to bag and were out of there at 1130. Keep moving!

Below Robin lakes

Working Up to The Saddle...and Sun!

No Slipping Allowed

Mike on the Summit of Granite Mountain

Mike and I had different routes off the summit, I went high and he went low. The advantage of staying high along the exposed south ridge is that you get to walk across a really cool chockstone. Anyway, the intent is to get to the unnamed lake at 6600' and then boot up easy class 2 to the summit of the south peak. When we got to the lake, we dropped packs and then headed up talus, sand, and snow to the summit at elevation, 7080'. The approach is basically via north slopes lower down then transitions to a west ridge higher up. This time we found a register, signed in, took in a few of the views and then dropped back to the packs the same way we had come up.

Unnamed 6600' Lake

Granite Mountain, South Peak

Granite Mountain from South Peak

Mike on the Summit of the South Peak

Views of French Ridge From the South Peak. West Peak of French Ridge Just Left of Center, East Peak Left of Center.

The Chockstone

The next objective was the West Peak of French Ridge (point 6748'). We left the unnamed lake at 1230. We humped part way back up the south ridge of Granite Mountain then traversed back over to that saddle SSE of Robin Lake. Just before getting to the saddle, we angled up to the right and initiated a cool, high traverse around the east side of the larger Robin Lake. There's a way trail here and the going was gravy, so there was a bit of time to take in some of the views. At about 6500', we left the way trail and went upslope a few feet to the north. We had to get around a ridge and some steep cliffs, so we could gain access to the south trending ridge of point 6748'. So, we dropped down a NW trending gully maybe 150' then made an easterly, descending traverse across more sketchy snow and ice slabs. This yielded access to easy heather meadows and the south ridge. The rest of the way to the summit was up stable talus and the occasional struggle through scrub firs (class 2/3). This summit was the most interesting of the bunch as it was just a huge boulder not unlike that on Cannon Mountain, just more difficult (class 5-ish). We had to boost each other up and there was just enough room for two people. There was a small cairn on top with a register and we had a good laugh envisioning the person who had to carry the 10 or so rocks up one by one. We signed in then down climbed off the boulder which involves a small leap of faith if you're the first one off and shorter than 6'5". The East Peak of French Ridge (point 6767’) looked a long way off, so we didn’t waste time initiating the effort to get there.

Robin Lake and Trico

The Traverse Route

Traverse Above Robin Lakes

Working Towards the West Peak of French Ridge

Mike and the West Peak of French Ridge

Mike and the Summit of the West Peak

East Peak From West Peak

Contemplating the Descent off the West Peak

West Peak from the East

We dropped about 100 vertical feet off of point 6748’ down the south ridge then went left looking for places to get down to a large meadow to the east. We swung from branches down class 3 and 4 terrain to get down to some flats then began traversing under point 6555’ at roughly 6200’. The traverse went fine at first, but eventually required exposed traverses above cliffs and exposed slab maneuvers. A higher route near the top of point 6555’ worked much better on the return. At one point, I watched helplessly as my hat tumble over a 50’ cliff and come to rest in a scrub cedar far below. With some backtracking, branch swinging, and sweating I was able to retrieve it and boot back up to Mike who was waiting for me just below the saddle west of our summit. We dropped packs here, and made our way up class 2/3 boulders to the summit of point 6767’ which also had a register. Good views were had down to Klonaqua Lakes and out to all the ground we had covered thus far.

Lower Klonaqua From Summit of East Peak

Mike on the East Peak

Taking a Long, 2 Minute Rest on the East Peak

While descending from the summit, it felt good to be going back toward the car. After picking up our packs we began traversing back towards Trico Mountain. We were determined to avoid the cliffs we picked through on the trip over from point 6748’, so we ascended to within maybe 100’ of the top of point 6555’. This allowed for an easy traverse through heather and meadows. Back under point 6748’, we kicked up a heather ramp for 200’ to connect with the west peak’s south ridge again. Once on the ridge, we dropped down to the west via a bunch of heather then down a granite gully with the intent of traversing over to the lower of the Granite Mountain Potholes. More tedious travel on icy and snow covered rock, but we were more than used to that by now. We went around the north side of the lower pothole and climbed west up a ridge that connected easily to the south ridge of Trico. A well beaten trail got us the rest of the way up Trico and I think we were both happy to be on our last summit of the day. We watched the sun set while we were on the summit and the views and surrounding terrain were spectacular in the waning light. After signing the register, we used what little daylight we had to race back to the main trail a couple hundred feet below and to the NW of Robin Lakes.

Returning From the East Peak

Working Towwards Trico. Trico in Center.

Evening Views From Trico. French Ridge High Points Left of Center.

Mike Browses the Trico Register

Trico Summit Ridge

We made quick time down the ridge above Tuck Lake, so as not to have to travel this section in the dark. The ice covered rock was treacherous in the fading light and luckily we made it down to lake elevation with only one close call. We bumped into a backpacker at his campsite and chatted with him a bit before heading back out to the car. The trip out went without incident except for the last 4.5 miles of flat trail that seemed to go on and on...WHERE IS THE CAR?! We finally made it to the TH a couple minutes after 2100 to finish up a great day in the mountains. This was one of the best October trips I’ve ever done and with great company to boot. The Full 5-Peak Tour: 25 miles, 8100’ of gain, 13.25 hours

[Type E]

Most impressive day! It sure is a special area that holds many special memories.

[naturealbeing]

Hey! If you guys are expecting us to believe that you guys went out and intentionally tagged those 5 summits, your delusional. We all know you got lost and went from peak to peak looking for your way back to your truck. Just tell the truth we're all friends here. He He He! Just KIDDING! What a great trip, TR, and pictures to boot. No doubt, one of the best trips October could have served up. You two had one stellar October day and an experience to cherish a life time. Cheers! Richard

[Randy]

NB, it was definitely an awesome day. Next time you're going to have to come with us!

[Tazz]

VERY nice!!! We did Granite in a day and that was a blast! Would like to get back up there and hit Trico and that ridge. Nice shots!

[Tom]

Nice, looks like quite a leg stretcher!

[Dayhike Mike]

Ditto that... Sounds like a long but rewarding day!

[Sabahsboy]

Magnificent! Splendid peaks for splendid camera work by supermen! Thank you.

[Randy]

[wildernessed]

The read is exhausting enough and all of a sudden my knees hurt.

[nuclear_eggset]

Wow! Just... Wow! That sounds like a *wonderful* trip. (I loved reading the report too.)

[Beave]

Great TR Randy.... I'm glad I opted out of this one; You guys would have smoked me!! Looks like I missed some good company and a few good peaks. Catch up with you guys next time.

[Jeff R]

Very nice! Thats a lot of distance during a short fall day. Where is the chockstone? That was the only thing missing from the map and being able to walk on it looks fun.

[Randy]

Jeff, the chockstone is along the SW ridge of Granite Mountain (the north peak). It's a fun ride and worth a trip by itself...well almost.

[Jeff R]

Thanks, I will have to check it out someday. Great map and pictures!