Twining Peak is a Colorado "thirteener" located on the Continental Divide, approximately 1.5 to 2 miles north of Independence Pass. Mondays have been one of my days off this summer and once again I was very interested in summiting a mountain in the high country.

Twining Peak, in my estimation, might be good hike for visitors in the Independence Pass area (Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Aspen, Twin Lakes or Leadville) for two reasons: 1) The climb begins at the parking lot of Independence Pass, a paved road in both directions on Highway 82. 2) The elevation gain is a mere 1,700 feet, which means climbers can "bypass" a comparatively long ascent, begin above timberline and have a generally full high altitude mountain experience. Round trip, this ascent took me four hours and 15 minutes, and that included a 15 minute rest at the summit.

How to Get There: Park at Independence Pass on Highway 82. Twining Peak is north on the Continental Divide and "behind" an unnamed peak approximately 13,500 feet.

Enjoy my photos below... It was a great day to be in the mountains! -Steve :)

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	The Ascent I parked my car at Independence Pass and captured the obligatory photo of the sign that many tourists and visitors capture. :)
	Climbing up the unnamed 13er, I turned back many times to marvel at how small and distant Independence Pass was becoming!
	Twining Peak comes into view on the left.
	I met these two gentlemen from Vail, CO who are still skiing regularly in the mountains. They said they were climbing this unnamed 13er to ski down the eastern slope of the mountain.
	Plenty of rocky formations were near the summit of this 13er.
	Near the summit of this first unnamed 13er, the remainder of the route to Twining Peak came into view. The body of water (top photo) is Blue Lake, and notice it is still thawing out! Friends, summer is in full swing in major cities like Denver and Colorado Springs, and I will admit it has been warmer (regular highs in the 70's in Buena Vista all month), but huge amounts of snow remain in the high country. You gotta love it! :) At this point, I walked along the Continental Divide. The west side leads to the Roaring Fork River, which leads to the Colorado River and toward the Pacific Ocean. On the right side, tributaries lead to Lake Creek and the Arkansas River.
	A closer look at Twining Peak from the saddle between these two mountains.
	The final grunt included walking on a large patch of snow!
	Near the summit, it was a little tricky and required extra care. Obviously I did not want to walk too far out on the snow drift, but the rockiness of the ridge forced me to walk on the left edge of the snow.
	In retrospect... If I do this climb again, I will completely avoid this first unnamed 13er. TOP PHOTO: The top photo was taken from Independence Pass - one can see Twining Peak. I could have walked along the gulch to reach the saddle between the mountains. BOTTOM PHOTO: Picture taken on Twining Peak's summit: I lined out the route that I took on the way down. Plenty of snow remains in that gulch (as you'll see in the photos at the bottom of this page), but it was better and quicker than climbing much of that unnamed 13er.

On The Summit Of Twining Peak - Altitude 13,711 Feet One token photo of myself. It was nice to be up there! :)
The grand view to the west, including the Roaring Fork River (as a infant), Linkins Lake (far left) and the green valley that is the site of Aspen, CO. The distinctly white mountain on the horizon is Snowmass Mountain.
About two to three feet of snow existed on the summit. I placed my backpack on there to help with perspective. It's almost July and look at all the *AMAZING SNOW* that remains! What do all you people in places like Arizona, Texas and Georgia think of that? :)
I zoomed-in on 14er La Plata Peak. What a beautiful mountain!
The view of Independence Lake to the northwest. I hiked to that lake three years ago - it's good to see it is still thawing out!
The view to the north - many more unnamed 13ers continue to comprise of the divide.
Grand mountain views! TOP: Facing east with Mt. Elbert (alt. 14,433 feet), South Elbert (alt. 14,134 feet) Bull Hill (alt. 13,761 feet) and Casco Peak (alt. 13,908 feet) in view. BOTTOM: Facing northeast. Mt. Champion (alt. 13,646 feet) is the huge mountain in the foreground. I took note of Mt. Sherman way out there as well.
The view of the unnamed 13er I had climbed earlier. Notice Highway 82 can be seen on the right.
Two more photos of the rocky ridge south of the summit. My pages in and around Independence Pass: Independence Pass (June 2008) Snowdrift Ridge Hike Bike Independence Pass Independence Pass With Friends Independence Ghost Town Independence Lake La Plata Peak Roadtrip To Aspen, CO Twin Lakes, Colorado Twin Lakes Thaws Out Autumn Foliage Maroon Bells

	Waterfall And Snow On The Descent On the way down, I walked through huge snowfields with some postholing.
	But then I was rewarded with the discovery of a beautiful waterfall surrounded by slabs and patches of snow. So beautiful!
	Three more photos of this waterfall. So pretty! I will admit it needs a lot of work, but did you know I have a web site dedicated to some of the waterfalls I've photographed over the years? It is: www.Waterfall-Pictures.com. Check it out if you like. The topographical map I used. I don't enter the mountains without it!
	I really like this picture because it included the summit of Twining Peak, the waterfall and a good perspective of the size of the snowfield in the foreground. :)