LoJ: #436 (Pre-LiDAR #445) / 13,256' S 4

Begin by following the Blue Lakes Trail south. The trail heads up at a regular but not too steep rate of ascent through typical forest. Make sure you do not turn off to the left onto the trail into Blaine Basin, which will drop down to cross the creek, shortly after beginning this hike. As the Blue Lakes trail climbs, it veers west, away from the main drainage of the East Fork of Dallas Creek. At about 10,400 ft., the trail turns through the bottom of some avalanche slopes and opens up some as it climbs the last mile and a half to Blue Lake. For the last mile to the lower lake you should begin to encounter some nice flowers so stop for photos if you have the time, especially for a couple of clumps of columbine right off the trail on a switchback with a waterfall in the background. It takes about 3.5 miles of hiking to reach the lake, so well over an hour and a half. The lake itself has a beautiful color, somewhat turquoise. There will usually be more than one group camped there. Most of the attractive campsites are located on the northwest shore of the lake and over toward the west side. This location makes a good, short backpack to a beautiful campsite, however, many day-hikers visit here as well, so it won't have a strong "wilderness" feel.

From the lake, walk along the western shore along several paths until you come to the creek that drains the basin south of S.4. Head steeply up through forest for a ways following a slight path that eventually plays out as you enter more open meadows above. After hiking up for some time through lush, flowering undergrowth and a beautiful cascading stream section, the creek will lead through a narrow, rocky section and then the drainage will open up into a broader basin with a flat bottom almost directly below and south of the summit of S.4. You may find yourself pausing all along the way for photos. This upper basin has some boldly colored rocks that even without trees and shrubs, lend themselves to colorful photos. There's some lush vegetation with an abundance of Parry's Primrose here along with Marsh Marigolds. From the well-watered, flat meadow area, look north for the "yellowish-orange" colored talus slope that leads up to the west ridge of S.4. One internet account we found indicated that “an orange colored couloir” would lead us up to the summit ridge, bringing us out a little west of the summit. This orange colored couloir is easy to spot. It is directly north of the flat meadow area. The couloir spills through cliffs and then fans out onto a talus slope. The lower fan section has some tundra so begin walking up that progressively steeper slope. As you enter the couloir section that leads between steep cliffs, the tundra will give way to rock and slope angle will steepen considerably. The footing will become very loose and you will struggle to make progress upward through all the loose rock. The best path is to stick close to the rock walls on either side so you have something to grab onto if needed.

After about 600 vertical feet, you will intersect the western ridge of S.4. From here, even though the ridge is a rocky affair, you will see it's easily negotiated to the summit. There are some good photo ops here. A rock pinnacle about 8 – 10 feet high affords an opportunity for a unique photo with one of us atop it and with Dallas Peak and T.0 as a spectacular backdrop. Hike on up the ridge which requires nothing more than a little scrambling every now and then to the rocky summit. The view is outstanding and impressive. We were able to scan the entire headwall of this valley complex which is dominated by Dallas Peak. Mt. Sneffels towers above all else to the east. We could see the trail up and over Blue Lake Pass that drops into Yankee Boy Basin and we could even see hikers on it. We also spotted climbers on the summit of Sneffels. To our west, we could clearly see S.6, Mears and S.7. The connecting ridges looks impressive. Enjoy the impressive summit scene and then descend by simply following your ascent route back down. Watch your footing on the talus/scree descent back down the couloir. Take plenty of photos. Columbine and lupine abound in this location.