Day 4 of Summer 2024 Trip to Colorado, Uneva Peak

The fourth day of my summer 2024 trip to Colorado. With rain in the forecast in the afternoon, I took a short hike to Uneva Peak in the morning before navigating my way through traffic back to the outskirts of Denver in the afternoon.

If the weather cooperated, this day would be the climax of my trip as I planned to take on the Sawtooth between Mount Bierstadt and Mount Blue Sky. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the worst day of the trip in terms of weather, with a high chance of rain in the afternoon. As a result, I extended my stay in Leadville the previous night. The plan of the day was to drive back to Denver and find something to do along the way. Since it was Labor Day, many attractions were closed, so I opted for a short morning hike to Uneva Peak from Vail Pass.

I reached Vail Pass just before 9am, and the CDOT rest area to its west was under construction. Nonetheless, a few cars were parked on the eastern ramp, so I joined them.
Here's GPS tracking:

The trail to Uneva Peak started out in the woods, before it briefly traversed an open field in double-track width. Not long after that, it re-entered the woods for some steeper climbs.

While on the trail, I heard a lot of birds, which was a delightful novelty during this trip to Colorado. I guessed the dense woods must have provided a good habitat for those birds.

Once out of the tree line, the trails leading to the summit of Uneva Peak formed a lollipop loop. Taking the loop in the counterclockwise direction involves climbing a steep slope before reaching the summit, which is recommended (over clockwise direction) for those less experienced with outdoor hiking. In my opinion, that slope was not as technical as the other mountains I climbed the previous days. At the start of the lollipop loop, the trail was more obvious in the clockwise direction, so that was the direction I went with.

In the end, I reached the summit of Uneva Peak at 10:30am.

The most exciting views from Uneva Peak were no doubt the Gore Range Mountains to the north.

In addition, to the southeast of Uneva Peak lies the Tenmile-Mosquito Range, while to the southwest is the Sawatch Range. The relatively low elevation of Uneva Peak allowed for more vibrant shades of green in the landscape, contrasting with the rocky terrain of the mountains seen in previous days.

Here's a video from the summit of Uneva Peak:

15 seconds, 2160p30fps, 10Mbps/19MB for H265, 11Mbps/20MB for H264.

I stayed at the summit of Uneva Peak for just over 30 minutes, before starting my descent at 11:05am. Following the lollipop loop in a clockwise direction, the trail led along what appeared to be a gentle ridgeline for a while, offering a final encore of the views.

Finally, I was back at the trailhead at 12:40pm.
After that, I first headed to the town of Silverthorne for lunch. Shortly before reaching the town, I stopped at a scenic overlook so that I could order pickup on my phone, with the views of Dillon Reservoir being a nice bonus.

Unfortunately, upon leaving Silverthorne, the traffic along I70 to Denver was horrendous. (It's the end of the Labor Day long weekend so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.) It took me more than 3 hours to reach my lodge in Westminster, and with that I concluded the day.
END