Fairview Peak from Lefthand OHV area, 11/21/2009
Southeast ridge of Fairview Peak from summit, 11-21-09
You can see the GPS tracks for the first 3/4 of this hike, before the GPS batteries ran out.
Parking at a pulloff near a picnic table just east of the Lefthand OHV area, we started hiking at 10:06 taking a trail across the street that starts behind a Boulder County Open Space sign.
We followed the ridge of Point 7201 north, then took a trail on the east side of the summit, heading northwest. At the saddle between Point 7201 and an unnamed point to the west, there is a view to the north, of Spruce Gulch and the southeast ridge of Fairview Peak.
From the saddle we headed straight down, along a trail, to Spruce Gulch. Crossing Spruce Gulch, we ascended the southeast ridge of Fairview Peak, and followed it to the summit. This ridge is very long, very rugged in places, and treeless except for a few dead ones, due to the Overland Fire of October 2003. Arriving on the Fairview summit at 12:52, our odometer showed 4.14 miles.
On the Fairview summit, Mt Meeker and the Twin Sisters are prominent views. The entire southeast ridge of Fairview Peak can also be seen. The last signing on the summit register was 3 years ago (Oct 2006).
Not wanting to retrace the rugged path we took getting there, we decided to take the route we took on our previous visits to this summit. Taking a dirt road that passes a couple hundred feet below the summit, we headed southwest, then southeast on a gravel road, then south along old 4WD roads, and east/southeast along forest roads to complete the loop.
The last part of the hike retraced our incoming path from the west saddle of Point 7201, to the descent along its south ridge. We returned to the parking area at 15:34.
- Richard Hollos and Stefan Hollos
| Place name | Elev [ft] | Accuracy [ft] | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking (picnic table east of Lefthand OHV) | 6068 | 30 | 40.10895,-105.31882 |
| First high point (before saddle) | 6893 | 20 | 40.11591,-105.32230 |
| Saddle before descending to Spruce Gulch | 6895 | 8 | 40.11673,-105.32675 |
| Fairview Peak summit | 8575 | 10 | 40.13601,-105.34987 |