W0C/FR-205
7612
2320 m / 7612 ft
Oct 20, 2015

By KX0R

Peak 7612 is an obscure SOTA summit in the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins. It was surprisingly fun to climb and activate!

Key Points:

• Roosevelt National Forest
• Accessible trailhead
• No marked trail
• Abandoned roads provide a path almost to the summit
• Good navigation required
• Minimal bushwhacking via correct route
• Exciting, open summit with great views of Poudre Canyon
• No recent fire damage – live trees and bushes
• Fine HF summit
• Trailhead elevation ~ 6700 feet
• ~ 2.7 miles round-trip
• ~ 900 vertical feet

Driving Directions:

• Drive to Fort Collins.
• Continue northwest from Fort Collins on Highway 287 to Ted’s Place.
• Turn west on Highway 14, and enter the Poudre Canyon after 4 miles.
• Continue up the winding canyon road, past the Narrows, for about 23 miles to Mountain Park Campground.
• This USFS campground is clearly marked.
• Pass the bridge to the Campground, and drive west about 0.3 miles
• Park on the right (north) side of the road at a large pull-out, directly across the River from the Campground.

The Hike:

• Avoid the obvious trail heading northwest up a gulch – it goes to an informal shooting area.
• Hike northeast from the parking spot instead, along a less obvious, gentle path through ponderosa pines, for about 100 yards to an old abandoned road.

• This overgrown road is the easiest way up.
• First the road climbs progressively up into a large valley west of the mountain.
• Then it continues up a long, gentle ridge leading north to the west ridge of the mountain.

• The path intersects a more recent jeep road running along the west ridge.
• This road comes up a steep hill from the northwest – a jeep road is visible in the distance.
• This un-maintained trail leads to several old campsites northwest of the summit.
• The jeep trail ends just beyond these campsites.
• Most of this route is visible on the magnified Google satellite image.

Beyond the end of the road, a path climbs southeast along the ridge, where it crosses a prominent false summit with a large buttress on the south side. The route continues along the ridge over several small false summits. The trail gradually disappears, but it’s an easy hike to the actual peak.

The final climb up the north side of 7612 is steep but short. Most of the mountain is bare, but there are no black burned trees, either standing or down; live trees grow on the north side of the summit.

Additional Details:

There are great views for miles in all directions. Mount McConnel stands south of Mountain Park Campground, about a mile directly across the canyon.

The views down into the canyon are exciting. The Plains are barely visible in the east, but the high peaks to the west are easy to see. The perspective up there is very different from what you have in a vehicle down in the canyon!

A large classic cairn made from slabs of gneiss stands on the summit. A dead tree stands near the cairn – it’s anchored down in the rocks, and it’s ideal for holding an antenna pole.

There’s some shelter from wind on the east side of the rocks by the dead tree, near the cairn; this is where I set up my gear.

7612 is a fine HF radio summit. It’s very prominent, with little blockage from higher mountains nearby. The only development nearby is far down in the canyon, so the HF noise level is low. With my pole supported by the dead tree near the cairn, I tied the far end of my antenna wire to a piece of another tree stuck into a bush south of the summit.

My 5-band activation on 7-10-14-18-21 CW was fun – I made 32 contacts in about an hour.

This site is probably not very effective for VHF/UHF work. The location is too far west into the mountains to see the population centers to the east.

Several other accessible SOTA peaks are nearby:

W0C/FR-088 Mount McConnel       1 mile south
W0C/FR-097 Sheep Mountain        1.7 miles east
W0C/FR-198 7980                        4.7 miles east
W0C/FR-095 Greyrock Mountain   8.9 miles east

Of these, Sheep Mountain and Mount McConnel are the best choices for a dual or multiple activation. I had no problem activating Sheep Mountain on the same day as 7612.

Use caution during hunting season in the fall, and wear orange clothing. Please be careful about lightning, especially in spring and summer.

73

George
KX0R

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!