Gross Reservoir in Boulder County is bordered by rugged terrain, but only one Ranked Peak rises from near the reservoir’s shore. This mountain has an elevation of 7,788 feet; it has no name designation on USGS maps. Colloquially it is called “Gross Peak”. The hike to its summit requires only modest effort. Parking in the Gross Reservoir area is restricted to three officially-designated locations; parking is not allowed along the road that passes to the west of Gross Peak. Instead, park at the recreation area north of the mountain and just south of the reservoir’s dam.
There is a summit register at the top of Gross Peak. The mountain is not popular as a destination, so few hikers/climbers have signed the summit log. The person who signed it before me was Teresa Gergen. Teresa signed the register 5 months before I arrived at the top. She’s a friend. She’s a legendary mountaineer, who is the first woman to have summited all of Colorado's 53 ranked 14ers plus the 574 ranked 13ers plus the 676 ranked 12ers. These constitute the highest 1,313 ranked peaks in Colorado. Teresa absolutely destroyed the time records of the few men who have completed all of the 13ers and 12ers.
While she was blasting through the top 1,313 ranked summits in Colorado, Teresa was also undertaking expeditions elsewhere in the world to complete high alpine objectives: Denali, Elbrus (Russia), Aconcagua (Argentina), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Orizaba (Mexico), Iliniza Sur and Norte, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo (all Ecuador), and the list goes on-and-on. Very few mountaineers have ascended all of the ranked 14ers in the contiguous United States. Teresa has.
Teresa’s remarkable mountaineering achievements came to an abrupt lull on August 5, 2010. While descending from the summit of Mt. Sacagawea in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, a large boulder toppled and smashed her left leg and ankle. Her climbing partners stabilized her, and her SPOT transmitter was activated to alert SAR and NOLS and helicopter rescue specialists. But conditions required her to stay the night unprotected at high elevation while suffering from major shock and serious hypothermia. She was evacuated the following morning and hospitalized.
Teresa’s fierce determination and focus on recovery brought her to the top of Gross Peak just 4 months after this extreme mountaineering accident. She signed the summit register, indicating that this was her “second Ranked Peak while on my road to recovery.”
I knew about the extent of Teresa’s injuries and about her recovery plan, and had seen her several weeks before her climb when she was still dependent on crutches. So reading her note in the summit register brought tears to my eyes. “On my road to recovery....” This cache is dedicated to Teresa Gergen and the remarkable, accomplished, determined person she is.
The cache is a camoed pill vial, placed west of the summit of Gross Peak. The cache placement is not particularly difficult, but the combination of terrain features near GZ may influence GPS accuracy, so be persistent. The specific cache site is approachable on safe terrain.
Have fun with your hike. Enjoy the vistas from the summit. Sign the summit register. Locate the cache and sign its log. Think about the sharp, unrelenting determination required by people fighting to regain full strength and functioning while on their “ road to recovery.”