{"id":6030,"date":"2017-01-16T12:29:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T19:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/?p=6030"},"modified":"2017-01-16T12:29:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T19:29:21","slug":"w0cfr169-middle-mountain-2848-9344-ft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/w0cfr169-middle-mountain-2848-9344-ft\/","title":{"rendered":"W0C\/FR-169 (Middle Mountain) – 2848 m \/ 9344 ft"},"content":{"rendered":"

W0C\/FR-169<\/strong>
\n Middle Mountain<\/strong>
\n 2848 m \/ 9344 ft<\/strong>
\n First Activation<\/strong>
\n Nov 4, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

By KX0R<\/p>\n

Middle Mountain<\/a> is a fun SOTA peak hidden along the Laramie River<\/a> in northern Colorado.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Roosevelt National Forest<\/a>
\n\u2022 No marked trail, but many game trails
\n\u2022 Somewhat steep climb to a pleasant, prominent summit
\n\u2022 Nice scenery \u2013 fine views of Rawah Peaks<\/a> and the Laramie River<\/a> Valley
\n\u2022 Fine HF site
\n\u2022 Not visited frequently
\n\u2022 Limited points of access
\n\u2022 ~ 4.0 miles round trip via southern route
\n\u2022 ~ 2.3 miles round trip via steeper northern route
\n\u2022 ~ 900 vertical feet via southern route
\n\u2022 ~ 1000 vertical feet via steeper northern route
\n\u2022 SOTA Classic!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain Summit from Northwest<\/p><\/div>\n

Driving access:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 First drive to Fort Collins, Colorado
\n\u2022 Take Highway 287 northwest to Ted\u2019s Place
\n\u2022 This is about 10 miles from downtown
\n\u2022 At Ted\u2019s Place, turn west on Highway 14 \u2013 large Shell gas station there
\n\u2022 Drive up the Poudre Canyon<\/a> via Highway 14 for about 51 miles<\/p>\n

\u2022 Turn north on the Laramie River Road<\/a>, CR 103, near Chambers Lake<\/a> \u2013 this is a good dirt road, but it’s likely closed late fall to mid-spring<\/p>\n

\u2022 Continue north for about 11 miles to Middle Mountain
\n\u2022 The well-named mountain stands in the center of the wide valley<\/p>\n

\u2022 Either park at the Rawah Trailhead<\/a> on the right, across the road from the large Rawah Guest Ranch \u2013 see below<\/p>\n

\u2022 Otherwise, park along the east side of the road about 1-1\/2 miles further north, beyond the \u201cposted\u201d signs on the east side of the road \u2013 see below<\/p>\n

\u2022 Do not park on the west side of the road!<\/p>\n

The climb:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 There are two general routes to the summit of Middle Mountain<\/a><\/p>\n

Southern Route:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 This is probably the best route. It starts at the Rawah Trailhead<\/a> \u2013 however, I have not climbed this way \u2013 I climbed via the northern route (see below)<\/p>\n

\u2022 This route is probably not visible, nor is it marked or signed at the trailhead
\n\u2022 From the Rawah Trailhead,<\/a> climb up the steep embankment east of the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Follow game trails, or just hike, about \u00bc mile northeast, up almost 500 vertical feet, to a secret\/game trail that runs north along the south ridge of Middle Mountain<\/p>\n

\u2022 This trail is easily visible on the Google satellite image at moderately high magnification. Once you see it on the image, you\u2019ll have no problem finding it on the mountain.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The south end of this trail runs down to private land further south, and is probably not accessible to the public.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Once on the trail, continue north up the prominent south ridge of Middle Mountain, all the way to the summit.<\/p>\n

Northern Route:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 This is the route I used \u2013 it worked OK, but later I saw the southern route on the satellite image. \u00a0The southern route is mostly better, despite the steep beginning.<\/p>\n

\u2022 However, if you park north of the posted signs along the east side of Road 103, you can just hike into the National Forest and head up the northwest side of Middle Mountain toward the summit.<\/p>\n

\u2022 There are so many game trails that you can pretty much just follow whatever you find that heads SSE and up the steep slopes.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The animals know where to go, and as long as you think about getting up to the ridge north of the summit, you\u2019ll find trails to take you there!<\/p>\n

\u2022 This steep route is spectacular, up through steep meadows and bits of forest, with amazing views of the Laramie River Valley below, and the high Rawah Peaks directly to the west.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain Northwest Slopes<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain, Rawah Peaks<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2022 There were elk tracks everywhere up there!
\n\u2022 Stay just west of the summit ridge to avoid dense woods near the top.<\/p>\n

Details:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Middle Mountain is a SOTA Classic! Everything about this summit provides an exciting, interesting climb and activation. It\u2019s not long or excessively arduous, and the summit seems special.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain Summit, View South<\/p><\/div>\n

The activation zone on the summit ridge is long and narrow. Shelter from wind is available from trees and the summit ridge. There are nice sunny spots with good trees for a pole. I ran my wire straight north-south along the summit, and I had a fine activation! This peak works about like a 1000 foot tower! The ground drops steeply on the east and west, and no high peaks significantly block HF signals from any direction.<\/p>\n

A USCGS benchmark from 1949 stands on a pipe on top.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain Benchmark<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s a summit cairn, but no jar. It\u2019s a perfect summit to activate, with several useful trees. I supported my 66-foot wire between a pole at the summit and a tree to the north. I made 50 CW contacts on 4 bands with my 5-watt ATS-3B. The wire was north-south along the ridge-top. The weather was just perfect.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain – Summit Activation<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s some development down below at local ranches, but no man-made RF noise is audible up on the peak. No significant communities exist for many miles. This is an almost perfect HF site. However, VHF and UHF contacts appear very unlikely, as higher mountains block coverage in every direction.<\/p>\n

After I climbed Middle Mountain, I realized that at some time in the past, the entire Laramie River Valley was filled with a large, deep glacier flowing north for many miles. This is a classic wide glacial valley – it\u2019s obvious even from the road.<\/p>\n

From the summit, and on the topo map, it appears that at Middle Mountain, the glacier split into two rivers of ice, leaving Middle Mountain as an island standing in the middle. The ice eroded both sides of the mountain, leaving steep slopes, but the glaciation ended before the mountain was completely removed by the ice. Both valleys on each side of the mountain are wide and glaciated.<\/p>\n

Imagine what it must have looked like, with the ice on both sides, perhaps as deep as where the summit is today! The high, steep contours on the east side of the drainage bear this idea out.<\/p>\n

There is another possible glacial remnant in the Valley further north \u2013 North Middle Mountain<\/a>. The topo map suggests that glaciation of the Laramie River Valley was quite extensive for miles north of Middle Mountain.<\/p>\n

The climb up Middle Mountain is definitely worth the long drive up Poudre Canyon. This is a Classic SOTA peak!<\/p>\n

73<\/p>\n

George
\nKX0R<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Middle Mountain View West<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n\"ATTENTION\" \n\n!! WARNING !! There are old<\/b> mountaineers, and \nbold<\/b> mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. \nHiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!\n<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

W0C\/FR-169 Middle Mountain 2848 m \/ 9344 ft First Activation Nov 4, 2016 By KX0R Middle Mountain is a fun SOTA peak hidden along the Laramie River in northern Colorado. \u2022 Roosevelt National Forest \u2022 No marked trail, but many … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[25,17,153,479,478,8,480,181,9,24,477],"class_list":["post-6030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sota-trip-report","category-wo","tag-activation","tag-amateur-radio","tag-kx0r","tag-laramie-river","tag-middle-mountain","tag-mountain-topping","tag-northern-colorado","tag-route-description","tag-sota","tag-summits-on-the-air","tag-w0cfr-169"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6030"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6053,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6030\/revisions\/6053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}