McGregor Mountain<\/a> is a seldom-climbed prominent granite dome located in Rocky Mountain National Park, close to Estes Park.\u00a0 At 10486 feet it towers over 2000 feet above its immediate surroundings, but it\u2019s dwarfed by major peaks several miles away.\u00a0 Activating this peak requires considerable effort with some risks no matter how you do it.\u00a0 There are no trails up or near McGregor.\u00a0 Activating this giant dome provides an exciting challenge \u2013 it\u2019s a SOTA classic!<\/span><\/p>\nMy ascent up McGregor was full of surprises.\u00a0 The original plan was to ascend the major gulch west of McGregor – the gulch route looks reasonable on the topo map.\u00a0 I parked just west of RMNP Fall River Entrance Station.\u00a0 There is a service road up the gulch, but it\u2019s closed to the public.\u00a0 I skirted above and to the west, and I was able to drop into the gulch and go a short distance upstream, but I found the route blocked by huge boulders and thickets.\u00a0 I headed NW up a tributary gulch, up steep slopes covered with fallen trees, loose rocks, thickets, and thorny bushes.\u00a0 It was so bad I almost quit and went down; but I gradually gained altitude, and above 9000 feet the route became more reasonable.\u00a0 I found a game trail and headed NW up to a forested bench at about 9400 feet.\u00a0 The problem was that I had gone NW, away from McGregor, so I had to head northeast and then east toward the mountain.<\/p>\n
The route over the forested bench was tedious but much better than the steep slopes down in the gulch.\u00a0 The whole place is covered with thousands of fallen pine trees, most with snagly limbs, so traveling requires picking over and around hundreds of trees. Closer to McGregor there are several forested, rocky ridges to negotiate, but there were no major problems getting over or around these obstacles.\u00a0 The last of these ridges is at about 9800 feet, and from there I descended northeast and then ascended up to the saddle below the west slope of McGregor.\u00a0 There is a faint trail near the saddle \u2013 it looks like it comes up from Black Canyon Creek 600 vertical feet and 1\/2 mile to the north.<\/span><\/p>\nI climbed McGregor via the west ridge.\u00a0 There is no trail, and the route gradually gets steeper and more challenging as you climb higher.\u00a0 There are fallen trees, big rocks, and steep slopes, but most of the route is solid.\u00a0 There is a section of rocks requiring a bit of class 3 climbing, but on the descent I found that most the problems can be avoided by staying a slightly south on the ridge; the route is not technical.\u00a0 Toward the summit the route becomes really fun, as you pass through an amazing area filled with huge ancient twisted trees and granite formations.\u00a0 The top of the mountain is large and impressive – the awesome view looks half a mile down into the valleys to the south and east.\u00a0 To the northwest the high MummyRange summits tower at 13,500 feet, about 6 miles away.\u00a0 All of Lumpy Ridge and the Needles are close below and to the east.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are plenty of good spots for activating McGregor near the summit.\u00a0 There are good antenna trees, so it\u2019s not necessary to take a pole up there.\u00a0 Various rocky knobs are available for shelter, and if the weather\u2019s OK, it\u2019s a great place to relax and get on the air.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are certainly other routes up McGregor.\u00a0 Trip reports online suggest going up the southeast side of the mountain, but any southern approach requires over 2000 vertical feet of steep bushwhacking and climbing.\u00a0 There may be routes up the SE side from Black Canyon Creek, but you\u2019re on your own.\u00a0 In mid-September of 2013 torrential rains caused flooding throughout the area, and there\u2019s an enormous mudslide path down a gulch on the SE side of McGregor.\u00a0 To climb McGregor\u2019s SE ridge, a possible approach is from Black Canyon Creek.\u00a0 Since there\u2019s no legal parking at MacGregor Ranch, hikers must park far to the east, at the GemLake \u2013 Lumpy Ridge trailhead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI don\u2019t recommend my gulch-and-bench route described above for activating McGregor.\u00a0 While it\u2019s only a few miles, parts of it are very steep and\/or covered with numerous fallen trees.\u00a0 The return trip requires precise navigation (GPS) in order to descend without peril into the gulch.\u00a0 Instead, I suggest:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Park at the Lumpy Ridge\/Gem Lake TH north of Devils Gulch Road 43<\/li>\n
- Hike through MacGregor Ranch and past the Lumpy Ridge climbing formations north of the trail<\/li>\n
- Follow Black Canyon Creek Trail all the way up to 9100 feet and the junction with the Cow Creek Trail<\/li>\n
- Head west 2\/3 mile through Black Canyon, down and then up to about 9040 feet, where the trail approaches the Creek<\/li>\n
- Cross Black Canyon Creek<\/li>\n
- Head south up the moderate forested valley, over 600 vertical feet to the saddle west of McGregor at about 9650 feet<\/li>\n
- Ascend the west ridge of MacGregor as in my description above<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
This is probably the safest and least stressful route up McGregor, even though it\u2019s long.\u00a0 There should be no problems navigating, as long as you carry a topo map and compass – you don\u2019t need GPS.\u00a0 Be sure you return down McGregor\u2019s west ridge the same way you came up \u2013 an incorrect descent on McGregor might be somewhere between miserable and tragic.\u00a0\u00a0 If you take a pump filter, there\u2019s usually good water in Black Canyon.\u00a0 The hike through MacGregor Ranch and below Lumpy Ridge is spectacular, and you can see McGregor looming ahead all the way.\u00a0 Start early. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis mountain is nothing to mess with in bad weather – in particular, the lichens on the steep rocks get slick when they\u2019re wet.\u00a0 If there\u2019s ice or snow on the steep slopes, climbing may be too risky.\u00a0 Save this summit for a good day – McGregor is a classic! \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGeorge Carey Fuller<\/span><\/p>\nKX0R<\/p>\n\n\t\t