Peak 7051 from Heil Valley Ranch, 12/30/2007
At Heil Valley Ranch we headed to the upper parking area, but our pickup was unable to ascend the slippery hard packed snow where the road begins to loop back around, so we backed out the way we came, then parked near the entrance gate.
We started hiking from the parking area at 11:40. From the Wapiti Trail, we turned left onto a forest road at Point 2 (see point list). On this road we hiked for over a mile, then turned left onto a gated road. The position of this second left is directly east of the summit of Peak 7051 (this is easy to see with a GPS). Heading west, we followed this road until the summit was just to our northwest. We turned right, ascending the steep slope to the ridge, then turned left to the summit.
Peak 7487 from Peak 7051 summit, 12/30/07
We reached the summit of Peak 7051 at 12:47. The odometer showed 3.08 miles. The summit is really quite nice. If it hadn't been so cold and windy, it would have been wonderful to enjoy the view and have lunch there. To the northwest we could see Coffintop Mountain, to the west, Peak 7487 ("Red Top Peak"), and to the southwest, Peak 8315 and Fairview Peak. The summit had snow on it, so I couldn't tell whether there was a summit register. Because of the cold, we soon headed back down after taking a few pictures.
To the east of the summit, we stopped at a large old rock quarry, then headed back the way we had come.
We returned to the parking area at 14:26 where the odometer showed 6.40 miles. The elevation difference from the parking area to the summit was 1,175 feet. The total trip time was 2 hours, 46 minutes.
Topomap of the Peak 7051 area.
| Place name | Elev [ft] | Accuracy [ft] | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking at entrance of Heil Valley Ranch | 5908 | 19 | 40.14730/105.30041 |
| Peak 7051 summit | 7083 | 14 | 40.17663/105.31141 |
| Number | Description | Lat/Lon |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peak 7051 | 40.1766/105.3113 |
| 2 | Intersection of trail and forest road | 40.1625/105.3005 |