LoJ: #72 (Pre-LiDAR #74) / 13,909' Vermilion Peak

The official Forest Service TH now lies close to Poverty Gulch, so the trail now leads east initially, gaining a little elevation to cross Poverty Gulch. Once across, the trail loses a little elevation before gaining more steeply. As the trail steepens, it gains elevation on several switchbacks. As the trail nears the lake, you can continue on the trail until you have a beautiful lake view, but it's best to find a place to cross the creek below the lake outlet on its north side if doing San Miguel. From the lake, San Miguel appears as a rather nondescript summit that lies to the west and appears to be so small, you may not believe that it is a ranked summit you would want to climb. It will take about an hour to reach the lake.

From the lake, the trail remains on the east shore and continues to a pass at 12,445 ft. That's the easiest part. From the pass, head NNE up the ridge. The first 150 vertical feet are okay. Then the ridge turns to the large broken rock. The rocks are loose and easy to send tumbling down off the ridge. Perhaps this ridge is now more cleaned off and a little more stable than it was in 1993. The ridge then steepens when you encounter the rock. It will finally relent some at 13,220 ft. Continue following the summit ridge to the high point at the far NE end staying mostly on the ridge crest, still with no tundra & plenty of broken rock. There is one notch that requires some care because of brief exposure and more loose rock. Kids may have some difficulty with it. When you finally arrive at the summit, the continuing climb to Beattie, Vermilion & Fuller may appear to be a little discouraging. Enjoy the view of Lake Hope, now far below, and its crystalline waters. Then continue on to the Beattie-Fuller-Vermilion saddle.

Beattie Peak is part of a sequence that begins with UN13,302 (V.8) and is followed by Fuller, Vermilion and Golden Horn. One-way mileage and elevation gain is measured from the summit of V.8. Round-trip mileage and elevation gain assumes completion of the sequence.

From V.8, follow the ridge to the NE down to the V.8/Beattie saddle. From there, continue NE on the same pronounced ridge to the summit of Beattie for a total distance of three-quarter mile. Pretty simple - except for the same large, blocky rocks, rubble, etc. There will also be more minor rock outcrops to work over or around. This is more difficult Class 2 terrain that our kids, ages 10 & 12 still managed to navigate, but under protest. Time to travel this section should be no more than about a half hour. From the summit of Beattie, chart out your best route to Fuller/Vermilion. Some trails will lead to either. Many will exclude Fuller because it is unranked, but it does have a summit somewhat worthy of the effort.

Fuller Peak is part of a sequence of summits that begins with V.8, proceeds to Beattie, then to Fuller, and heads on over to Vermilion and finishes on Golden Horn. This circuit hike will net four ranked, 13er summits. Fuller is unranked. One-way mileage and elevation gain to Fuller are measured from the summit of Beattie. Round-trip mileage and elevation gain assume completion of the entire sequence.

From the summit of Beattie Peak, continue north toward Fuller along the same relentlessly rocky ridge that has led to V.8 and Beattie. Before departing the summit of Beattie, you may want to make a decision as to whether or not to include Fuller and if you do, then which way you want to approach its summit. From the main cover provided, you can see two clear trails. One heads off the Beattie-Fuller ridge from just north of the saddle and angles left to intersect the Vermilion-Fuller saddle. Another trail continues directly up the SSW ridge of Fuller with numerous switchbacks showing. It would make some sense to head directly up the SSW ridge except for the steepness of the grade and the rock conditions which make this a rather less-than-pleasant ascent. There's plenty of loose, broken rock to go around, but the rock sizes diminish some from those on the lower ridge as you pass over V.8 and Beattie. The use trail will greatly assist in getting through all the rock. It took us about 40 minutes to make the traverse from Beattie. From the Fuller summit, if not too distracted by the amazing view, study the route to Vermilion. A trail should be evident that avoids most all of the ridge difficulties.