This trailhead is used to access both Argentine Pass and Horseshoe Basin. Take U.S. 6 to the west end of Keystone. If you are driving east on U.S. 6, take the exit for Montezuma Road before U.S. 6 begins its climb to Loveland Pass. If you are driving west (from Loveland Pass), turn left into the River Run area of the Keystone Ski Resort. Take another quick left and drive a bit to get to the Montezuma Road. Drive ~4.3 miles on the Montezuma road and turn left on the 260 (dirt) road. There is a large parking area at the start of this road. From the parking area, drive 4.5 miles along Peru Creek to the Argentine Pass trailhead at 11,050’, just below the Shoe Basin Mine. The road is gated beyond the trailhead.

Details:

From the parking area, walk northeast a short distance up the road and pass the gate, near the Shoe Basin mine – Photo #1. Continue 0.5 mile and turn left on an old mining road at 11,350’ - Photo #2. Follow this road for another 0.5 mile to reach a small junction, near 11,700’ - Photo #3. Turn right and continue west (Photo #4) to reach a small mine area at 11,800’ - Photo #5. Here, cliffs block easy gain to the east ridge, so turn left and ascend southwest (Photo #6) for over 0.1 mile. Once you’re near 12,000’ (Photo #7), turn right (north) and hike to gain the crest of the east ridge, near 12,300’ - Photo #8.

The first major bump on the ridge looks gnarly, but it’s fairly easy to keep the difficulty at Class 2. Continue to the base of this bump (Photo #9) and start climbing. After a short distance, you’ll encounter the crux area which contains some large talus and cliffs - Photo #10. Locate an easy way left under the cliffs (Photo #11) and continue up to the left as you work your way around some small ledges and over loose rock - Photo #12. With careful route-finding you can keep the difficulty at Class 2 and regain the ridge crest in short time - Photo #13.

Continue west up the east ridge (Photo #14 and Photo #15) to reach the top of ridge where you can see the summit, to the southwest - Photo #16 and Photo #17. Walk 0.3 mile (Photo #18) to reach the top - Photo #19.