Mt Yale, Sawatch Range, 14,196'

September 26th, 1998, Sam the Wolf Dog and I headed out early for fourteener country. We were at the trail head for Mt. Yale around 9 AM or so. To get there drive west from Buena Vista on paved Chaffee Road 306 along Middle Cottonwood Creek for 12 miles. Park at the Denny Creek Trailhead.

For the first two or three miles you follow a pack trail and it is pretty easy going--we ran it. Then after two creek crossings a marker indicates the trail to Mt Yale going to the right. After a mile or so you reach the timber line and now it climbs quite steeply to the ridge.

On the trail to Yale
View from Mount Yale
 The ridge is fairly straightforward, but requires a bit of hand and foot climbing in places. At one point I had to push Sam up on a ledge to continue. In other places that I chose to climb, Sam searched out the easier routes.
Steve Bremner and Sam the Wolf Dog on Mount Yale Summit.
Steve Bremner and Sam the Wolf Dog on Yale
Yale Summit
 This one took me 3 hours and 45 minutes round trip.  A challenging and rewarding climb. I was hoping to get back home in time to watch the Washington-Nebraska college football game, but after hearing the game was a blowout on the radio, I stopped at Waldo Canyon above Manitou Springs and ran the 7-mile loop trail. After that I was tired.
View from Yale Summit (Columbia on right and Harvard on left)

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