{"id":797693,"date":"2019-07-16T13:51:15","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T19:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=368853"},"modified":"2019-07-16T13:51:15","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T19:51:15","slug":"meet-your-mountains-hiking-peak-1-in-frisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/meet-your-mountains-hiking-peak-1-in-frisco\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Your Mountains: Hiking Peak 1 in Frisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Welcome to Meet Your Mountains, a hiking guide series covering iconic peaks found just outside your back door in Summit County. After a long 2018-19 winter, be wary of lingering snow and variable conditions above tree line.<\/em><\/p>\n

FRISCO \u2014 One of the most remarkable, rewarding aspects of living in Summit County is being able to see a mountaintop from your house, walk out your front door, climb that mountain and return to your house in town, all in the same day. <\/p>\n

You can see the Tenmile Range<\/a> from almost anywhere in Summit. From Silverthorne and Dillon, you can see the Tenmile Range and the Gore Range<\/a>. And in some places, like Frisco\u2019s Main Street, you can see far into the distance toward Grays and Torreys peaks<\/a>. <\/p>\n

These mountains become familiar landmarks to Summit County residents, and for some, they are a source of inspiration and a constant call to action. It\u2019s about creating a personal bond with your mountains. It\u2019s about climbing them, creating memories on their summits and being able to look up at them with respect, having been there. <\/p>\n

So many Summit County residents can see the stunning trinity of Mount Royal, Mount Victoria and Peak 1 from their front porches. These mountains are part of everyday life. <\/p>\n

Setting sights high<\/strong><\/p>\n

To access Peak 1, hikers need to jump on the Mount Royal trail, then over to Victoria and, finally, up to the peak\u2019s summit. <\/p>\n

There are a couple of access points to the Mount Royal trail, but most park near the Interstate 70 off-ramp and walk down the recpath. The first portion of the trek is a breeze. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s steep, but when you know it only gets steeper, you\u2019re able to quiet any reluctance from the body early on. <\/p>\n

In less than an hour, you\u2019ll near the summit of Mount Royal. The trail is often crowded with people up until one-quarter mile from the summit of Royal, where the trails split. There is a signpost here giving mileage for the offshoots of Victoria and Peak 1. <\/p>\n

\n
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Atop the summit of Peak 1, there are Buddhist prayer flags strung up on a single pole, representing protection, good health, blessings and peace.<\/strong>
Caroline Lewis \/ clewis@summitdaily.com<\/a> |<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Onward and upward <\/strong><\/p>\n

The push to Victoria is no flatter than the hike to Royal\u2019s summit. It\u2019s steep, but you\u2019ll be thankful for the switchbacks and turns in the trail en route to Victoria. You\u2019ll also likely be thankful that this portion of the trail isn\u2019t as sandy as the initial climb to Mount Royal. The push to Victoria has more shade, too. <\/p>\n

As you gain elevation, the forest changes from aspen to evergreen, and as you get even higher, there are fewer and fewer trees. You\u2019ll pass an old mining cabin and potentially massive mounds of snow. Even in the thick of summer, there are still thick pockets of snow in the shade. <\/p>\n

At times, Victoria\u2019s trail is so steep you\u2019ll be tempted to grab onto roots and tree branches, pulling yourself upward. Parts of the trail can be muddy after recent rain, making the hike all the more interesting. So can the pockets of snowmelt covering the trail: It\u2019s not hard to lose the trail for a couple of minutes, only to find it again on the other side of some snow. <\/p>\n

Then, there is scree like you wouldn\u2019t believe. Victoria seems to have a false summit of her own. There are rock cairns stacked all over the ascent to Victoria: different passages wrapping left and right. At her summit, near a large radio tower, gnarled pine trees seem dwarfed by the elements. Looking up, you can see Peak 1, which looks so close, and the weather station before it, which looks even closer. <\/p>\n

Despite the sight, there remains a couple of hard pushes and another hour of hiking. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
Looking down the steep ridgeline on the approach to the summit of Peak 1. There are numerous false summits encountered before reaching the actual mountaintop.<\/strong>
Caroline Lewis \/ clewis@summitdaily.com<\/a> |<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Not quite there<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the next hour, you\u2019ll encounter treeless tundra and boulder scrambling. Peak 1 seems to be getting close, but there are numerous moments when you\u2019ll discover you weren\u2019t as close as you thought. The false summits \u2014 four of them \u2014 are a bit defeating at times. You\u2019ll take a breath, chug water and crush another section of scree only to get to the top and see more false summits unfolding before you. <\/p>\n

On your way to Peak 1, look for a white bird with patches of tan and black spots in its feathering moving completely camouflaged in the Alpine grasses. It\u2019s a white-tailed ptarmigan (for which nearby Ptarmigan Peak in Silverthorne<\/a> is named). These birds are totally white in the winter to blend in with the snow. Above their eyelids is a band of red, a piece of color that stands out from their otherwise flawless concealment.<\/p>\n

Finally, you\u2019ll reach the bottom of what you\u2019ll believe has to be the actual ascent to Peak 1. Looking down over your right shoulders are the rocky fins you can see from I-70 as you drive past Officers Gulch and those turn-offs. Here, there is a lot of rock scrambling and digging in with trekking poles. At the very top, you have to cross over a patch of thick snow to the actual summit. You\u2019ll see the rest of the Tenmile Range looking daunting as ever to the south of Peak 1. <\/p>\n

From the summit looking down toward Frisco, you can trace the familiar landmarks, maybe even locate your house. You\u2019ll see the elementary school, and you\u2019ll spot the fire station and the large reddish apartments near the trailhead. Then, you\u2019ll smile at the unspeakable feeling of summiting the peaks in your backyard. <\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Welcome to Meet Your Mountains, a hiking guide series covering iconic peaks found just outside your back door in Summit County. After a long 2018-19 winter, be wary of lingering snow and variable conditions above tree line. FRISCO \u2014 One of the most remarkable, rewarding aspects of living in Summit County is being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-797693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 00:29:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}