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gilbert pk 10-10-09

gilbert pk 10-10-09 fun trip with the t-man. we car camped by the trailhead and at night it was cold, less than 20 degrees, maybe less than 10! the scramble along the ridge to the summit was great - one mile of a ridge that kept on giving, easy terrain and great views all the time. we hiked the easy, pleasant trail past a few quaking aspens. fortunately we did not see them quake, as it was not windy. it was so cold that wind would not have been good. the trail junction for north lake or to rise above is easy to blow by. we did. there is a longtime blowndown and the trail heading towards north lake is so beaten down and the trail on the other side of the log does not look well used. watch for this. we walked to north lake, took in the views and walked back to the trail junction and continued on the trail that rises above north lake until the mines. the creek by the mines was iced over, but we were able to find a spot to fill water. this was the last water until the top. it was not obvious at all where the trail continued from there. the route we took by accident above (west of) the cabin was slightly better than the correct route which we found on descent. the trail to the cabin starts from the middle of the three or four mines and rises above (se) them. from the cabin we traversed talus around the corner and then up

t-man on the thin snow covering the talus on the way up to the ridge. thin layer of snow on talus equals paying attention!

to gilbert's ridge, gaining the ridge on the climber's left side of the saddle between pt 7483 and 7414. once on the ridge

the scrambling was excellent

and easy.

up and over or around the bumps on the ridge,

we each did different variations up and down

and every variation worked.

big snagtooth with silverstar looming behind!

it seemed like we could not make a wrong turn. it was the ridge that kept on giving,

views all the time, every route pleasant. we signed fay's s summit register and saw many of our friend's names.

t-man on gilbert's summit

we reached trailhead a little before dark and found a nice flat spot to put up our tent for another freezing night. we had just enough time to set up camp and cook before darkness descended on another great day in the mountains :>) equipment: helmets, i used my ice axe, t-man poles from gps data: 16.45mi 5123'gain 6:11 car to summit 0:31 summit time 4:38 summit to car 11:20 round trip

[iron]

[stoked]

Does the trail continue past the mine?

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