Thunderbolt Peak

Thunderbolt/Buchanan Ridge/Mt Irving Hale

Unit 18

August 2009

Thunderbolt peak has to be the steepest mountain in all of Colorado. I’m not a climber but today I was. I categorize the 3 main mountains and ridges in the area as “difficult”, “most difficult” and “extreme.” Mt. Irving Hale is close to the trailhead but very steep up to 10,000 feet. Then it gradually climbs up through aspen and pine. Younger elk live up there and in Hell Canyon. I’d estimate the population to be 15-25 elk in that area. It has potential for elk during late season hunts as elk migrate out. Buchanan Ridge is categorized as most difficult because it is so steep. But once you are on top it’s perfect. If I had to guess I’d say there are 20-30 elk that call Buchanan Ridge home. The climb up takes about 2 hours and is very steep up to 10,000 feet. Thunderbolt Peak is extreme. By that I mean it defies any mountain you may have climbed in search for elk. If I had to guess the elk population on the peak I would say 25-50. I saw two elk, 8 deer, 3 foxes, 1 osprey and too many squirrels to count. The cold front brought some cooler weather but the wind picked up later in the day. The cooler air had the animals moving early in the morning but the wind forced them into the trees and on the windless side of the mountain. The pine beetle has found his way into this area but has slowed down. That’s the good news. The bad news is the pine beetle is still in the area changing the landscape as you read this.

Let’s cut to the chase. Here’s a nice, young 6x6 I saw trying to stay out of the sun while he slowly grazed while the sun came up. Sorry for the poor photo, he was a long ways off. Too far for my zoom lens. He’s looking at me just below the sun line. Funny how he knew something was up from so far away.

Can you believe I saw this young cow just off Hwy 34? Between some summer homes near Lake Granby.

Lake Granby was simply beautiful this morning.

An osprey in its nest.

It’s a 4 mile walk to where the elk are in this area – depending on the season.

This fox nearly ran me over with a fresh killed squirrel in its mouth on its weigh to breakfast. It was so tame I thought it was someone’s dog.

Elk stop here when migrating in and out of the area. The willows are healthy which tells me they don’t linger long and there aren’t too many deer, elk, or moose in the area to overgraze.

It’s a 0.9 mile walk to this point from the parking lot.

Elk scat right along the hiking trail. Every valley has some elk in it. Elk are very spread out and hard to find with all the dark timber and heavy cover.

The south facing ridge from Mt. Irving Hale offers some nice aspens. Elk are on top where the dead pines are in the photo. Some will come down to the valley and feed at night.

You can often see elk sneaking down the mountain in the evenings and up in the early mornings.

The mouth of Hell Canyon doesn’t look so bad from here. There is very lush meadow where Hell Creek oxbows further up the valley. There are also two very nice lakes in the valley. It’s only 2 miles from the parking lot to this point. Nearly everyone bypasses Hell Canyon for more remote valleys. That’s why there are elk here. They get plenty of peace and quiet almost all the time.

Near the Hell Canyon bridge you will see the first views of Thunderbolt Peak. You can often see elk near the only flat if you have a good spotting scope or pair of binoculars.

Old sign of where elk stopped along their migration to eat the bark off of this aspen tree. It was a good 8 feet high at top of the chew marks.

I jumped the creek near Shelter Rock. Ok, I fell in the creek when crossing it but it was worth it. I found this serious migration trail that I was able to follow up the valley. The elk trails in the area are very long and deep. This tells you they have been around for years. Elk, deer, and moose use them. If you are hunting a late season in the snow you need to be near a migration trail like this. Nearly all elk trails in the area can be found on the opposite side of the creek or valley – paralleling the hiking trail.

This view is looking northeast towards Buchanan creek. This is where Buchanan creek feeds into Cascade creek for the trip down the valley into Monarch lake.

Buchanan Ridge goes on and on for miles. It holds a lot of bulls. If you glass the fringes of the aspen and pines you can sometimes see them bedded or passing through. Many bulls have been taken on this ridge.

Ok, I fell in this creek too. It doesn’t look that deep and my boots were waterproof. But when water flows up and over into your boots that doesn’t really count as waterproof.

The trails here are long and perfect for still hunting.

On my ascent I up Thunderbolt I spooked a couple of does bedded in the dark timber.

The hills are so steep that the trees grow like this. I honestly don’t know how any plants or trees can take root at these angles.

Here is the first good view of Buchanan Ridge. The aspens and above are where you want to be to find the elk. Rifle hunters can sit about halfway up one of the two opposite facing avalanche shoots if they feel confident in a cross-valley shot. I’d recommend a .300 WM, .308 or modified .338 for those shots. But a good 7mm is just about perfect for hunting elk or deer in Colorado. Check out the photos from Arapaho Wilderness Outfitters. I recommend them to help with your pack trip, drop camp or fully guided hunt.

Many elk have been taken here in the first avalanche shoot in the Buchanan creek valley. Here’s a photo of one such bull taken in 2001.

Last year was a good rutting year according to the number of fresh scrapes. This one was particularly impressive given the side of the tree.

This is Moose Meadow and you will pass by it along the Cascade Trail. Cascade creek winds through it.

Higher up the mountain the views get better. Notice Monarch Lake, the aspen covered ridge that comes off Mt. Irving Hale and Moose Meadow below. You may also notice the pine beetle devastation.

Cascade Creek valley is also very impressive. All three valleys in the area have elk in them. Cascade, Buchanan and Hell Canyon. They are all very similar in terrain.

This is where elk bed when it rains, snows and for a brief time on their migration out. There are many tiny benches like this on Thunderbolt.

That’s Cascade Creek as it oxbows further up the valley. Like I said every valley has similar features. You just need to pick a valley and stick to it.

Almost near the top now. Notice this elk trail? There are elk trails that follow along Thunderbolt every couple of hundred feet in elevation. The trails are very well defined and can run for miles.

An elk bed with a view. Now that I know this exists I will try to glass it from across the valley. There are many, many beds like this throughout both major creek valleys. That’s why it pays to glass and locate a bull before hiking up.

Steeper than steep. Near the top I was taking 5 steps, resting, and trying to catch my breath.

You can see all the way the Gore Range! That brown ridge in the middle is the lower Williams Fork Range that has been entirely devastated by the pine beetle. That’s in unit 28.

That’s Elk Mountain in the middle background. And the Corral Peaks north of it. The terrain over there is mild in comparison to where I’m at now. Notice how that ridge off Mt. Irving Hale levels off nicely?

Those large meadows above Monarch Lake are called the Strawberry Flats. It’s an elk calving area. Elk from the IPW will migrate through along the ridge just below the meadows on their way to nearby private lands and lush hay fields.

At the top of a no-named creek on Buchanan Ridge lies this nice saddle. In fact there are two nice saddles like this on the ridge. You should stay on top long enough to find elk. You might consider camping on top in order to hunt on top each day. However, it is a 2 hour climb up and the first half of the climb requires you to crawl because it is so steep. None of the ridges in the area are easy to ascend.

A view to the north. I finally made it on top of the flat area on Thunderbolt. It was a long 2 hour climb. Like climbing stairs 2,000 feet up from the valley floor below. That avalanche shoot on the Buchanan Creek side is nice. The elk have a nice trail from Fox park along this ridge. Fox Park is a good 8 miles or more from the parking lot. It’s a good place to find elk too.

The sign on top was old but nice to see. This elk print made in the moist dirt probably after an afternoon shower. The wind and the sun are brutal up here. But there were no bugs.

Another nice elk bedding area with a view. Just over the edge where the wind wasn’t nearly so bad.

The view from the flat on top looking west.

A better photo of Fox park in the background and a nice flat in the foreground.

A closer look at the elk route to and from Fox park in the background. You can sometime spot elk early in the morning and later in the evening crossing along that ridge.

Lone Eagle Peak – the furthest point up the Cascade Trail. Take a virtual hike to the peak in winter here. Link courtesy of www.mountainlake.com.

The walk down was extremely steep. And painful.

Elk beds near the false flat. Elk appeared to be here early in the summer like most of July. Once the water sources dry up the elk go to different areas of the mountain. And back here again in the fall to avoid the hunters in the creek valley below.

A view looking up Thunderbolt. It’s incredibly green this year.

I finally found a water sources where these two open areas converge. I walked down the right side of this photo. It looks nice but it is still very steep. This is where the elk were living. The stench of elk was so strong from the flat on top all the way down this valley. Fresh sign was hard to find because the plants and grasses are so thick. Most of the plants were up to my knee or thigh in most places.

The steep walk down was much harder on my knees that the walk up. I used many of the trees to slow me down as I stumbled over rocks and hidden logs in the deep grass.

I had hopes of climbing up this no-named creek on the other side as I walked back to the truck. But I was spent before I hit the valley floor below. It doesn’t look like a bad hike up the other side but I’ve been there before. It’s super steep for the first 800 feet or so. There is a deep elk trail where this creek bends to the north near the top of the slope. The elk are on top. Walk slowly and you’ll find them. Watch out for the wind it swirls around and is the main reason you don’t see elk. They smell you and silently sneak away.

My Dad and I chased a fat 6x6 as he bugled and pushed his cows up this avalanche shoot back in 1999. He had pushed his cows down Buchanan Ridge and up this shoot one early morning during archery season. He was the biggest bodied elk I’d ever seen. I bet he weighed 1,000 lbs.

Another great view of Buchanan ridge and the many opportunities you have to glass for elk. I have been up there and noticed some very smelly beds with great views of the valley below. It’s rare that you will ever be able to stalk an elk from below. They can see and hear you coming from a long ways off.

This is why we live in Colorado. Places like this are just perfect. What a great place to nap, picnic or catch elk as they come out of the aspens to graze in the open area. Notice the marks on the trees? Elk are here long enough in the fall to nibble on the aspens. During light winters the bulls will winter up here. Most migrate out. They can’t count on the wind to blow enough snow around in case they decide to migrate out. It’s a gamble some elk make. Stay up high to avoid hunters and get snowed in or migrate out. I didn’t find a single winter kill during my entire trip. That is rare not to find ANY bones on a hike this far. My bet is elk migrate out when the snow accumulates over a foot.

This doe stood up as I walked through here bedding area on a game trail. There is a well defined game trail from one avalanche shoot to the other on the west slope of Thunderbolt Peak. I suggest walking it during the rut. There were a lot of scrapes on the way. It’s a good place to hunt down low depending on the season.

Here’s a fresh scrape from 2008.

I call this winter scat. The size and volume tells me it is from a large elk. You only find this type of scat during the winter migration out of the valley. Elk will pause between storms until they are convinced the snow is going to get too deep to stick around longer.

Did you see that link to the nice 5x5 that was taken here in 2001? I had bugled with the bull during archery and ML season that year. I remember one full moon night talking with him as 6 inches of fresh snow fell previously that day. He bugled all night until around 2 or 3am. I didn’t sleep much. I saw him at first light staring at me as I walked around to warm up. He routinely bugled for cows in the area but never picked up any. The bull to cow ratio in this area is very, very good. Like 5:10 in my opinion. That’s why it’s a great place to hunt during the rut. The bulls are very competitive and will change herd bulls often. That’s why a satellite bull in this area can be just as big and impressive as the latest herd bull. That 5x5 would graze his way up to the rock outcropping in the middle of this avalanche shoot and bed on the flat just in the trees on top of the rock. He was shot during 1^st rifle season that fall which is when I took the photo. Some of the elk don’t realize they have wandered outside Rocky Mountain National Park.

I took a migration trail out of Buchanan valley on my way to the main hiking trail near Shelter Rock. This aspen tree was recently eaten. Maybe this spring or last fall.

I was going through my 270 some photos from this trip and forgot to add this fat cow I saw on my way up. She had a young calf with her too but the dark timber was too thick to see both. And they didn’t stick around long.

Remember that fox on the trail? He was waiting for me on my way out. He lay there in plain site of the hiking trail near where I left him this morning.

And then he got up and walked my way. I think he was going out for his evening hunt. Any fox that can catch a squirrel is pretty impressive. This fox wasn’t shy at all.

Parting shot. This is where elk from the IPW winter on private land and hay fields. This is near Hwy 34 and Road 125. It’s in unit 28. That is Arapaho Pass to the left of the photo where the sun is shinning. This long meadow was very green and lush for August. I hope to drive back in there this winter to see what I was missing this fall. There are many hay ranchers in the valley around Granby. I’m sure the elk eat well most of the winter. If you want a CD of the 270+ photos I took just send me an e-mail.