Elk Range, Colorado
March 2, 2013

Summits: "Electric Pass Peak" & Leahy Peak
Round Trip Stats: 14.2 miles & 5,250 vertical feet
from Ashcroft

Peakbagging in the Elk Range isn't very popular in winter given the large amount of steep, avalanche prone terrain but these two relatively mellow 13ers seemed like a reasonable challenge in current conditions. The climb ended up being a 16 hour epic due to very difficult conditions. The snow was often thigh, and sometimes crotch, deep on the approach up the Pine Creek drainage. En route we saw several natural avalanches sparked by the sun's intense heat. We took quite a circuitous route to navigate through avalanche terrain. The ascent took 12 hours and we summited "Electric Pass Peak" right at sunset. The descent took a mere 4 hours. It was a bummer that I forgot my camera and had to resort to taking pictures with my old Droid.