|
.:Getting to the trailhead:. The trailhead for the standard routes on Humboldt and the Crestones is at South Colony Lakes. To get to the South Colony Lakes trailhead from Denver, the quickest route is go south on I-25 through Colorado Springs, and on the south end of town take the Academy Blvd exit west a couple miles and take the exit south to CO 115, which runs southwest-ish through Penrose and over US 50 to Florence. From Florence, take a left at the junction of CO 115 and CO 96 (it's before you get into the town proper...there's a Carl's fast food joint at the corner), and head south for 11 miles to Wetmore. At the “T” junction in Wetmore, turn right (west) and drive to the hamlet of Westcliffe, about 16 miles away, over Hardscrabble Pass. Look sharp for the intersection of CO 96 and CO 69 in town, and turn left (south). Just about 4.5 miles down CO69 is the right turn onto Colfax Ln (it's signed). The road is paved for a few miles, then becomes well-maintained dirt. At ~6 miles from CO 69, turn right at the "T" intersection, and you'll be on on the S. Colony Lakes Road. The first mile or so is still pretty smooth, but as soon as you pass beyond the gated cattleguard (with parking are on the right), the road turns gradually steeper and rougher... plan on about an hour of slow, strategic and bumpy driving to get there. The next 1.5 miles are on private property, so pulling off to park is not an option. The trailhead is about 6 miles up the road, and the crux of the drive is about 3 miles up, where a series of steep slabs require some deft driving. Don't even THINK about attempting this road without a good 4x4. The trailhead is at the end of the far parking area, beyond a stream crossing that can be driven across, or hiked via a sturdy log crossing. .:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. So On Saturday the 7th I took off from Denver around 2:30am, intending to make this a day-trip. And there was no traffic (big surprise) on the roads, so it was easy to get where I was going. While I had every intention of driving to the trailhead, I found myself unable to push by Blazer into 4WD low! Dang it. Knowing exactly how rough and steep the road was, I decided to see how far I could make it in just regular 4-wheel-drive. The S. Colony Lakes road is a symphony of huge ruts, massive rocks, at least two hefty stream crossings (in the springtime at least), steep pitches, bumps, fallen trees, you name it! I made fairly good progress for the first 3 miles, although the smell of burning clutch was becoming more and more prevalent. About halfway to the trailhead is the crux of the road...about 30-40 yards of steep rock slabs with 12-18 inch shelves. If you can make it past this little obstacle (not hard with 4-WD low), you’ve got it made. But, I decided that my clutch was more important than driving all the way to the trailhead, and turned around (a feat in itself!) and found a turnout a few yards back to park at. The morning was bright and clear and breezy when I set off at about 6:30 from my parking spot. I set a good pace and started up the road towards the trailhead, watching a few wisps of cloud form and dissipate along the tops of the peaks around me. At the end of the road you'll find a couple parking areas, the second about 100 yards beyond the first, and separated by a stream crossing which is pretty tame at this time of year, but surely problematic in the spring runoff season. Luckily, there’s a good log-crossing for foot traffic. There used to be a trail taking off from the first parking area, but it has been closed for revegetation work, so no matter where you park, head to the far parking lot and past the closure gate (for emergency rescue traffic only). The road continues past the gate for a mile or so, and then narrows to a good hiking trail, which runs through the trees and eventually puts you on the south side of South Colony lakes right at treeline. The area here is a crosshatch of trails and camping sites, so if you’re in for an overnighter, this is the place to find camp. There are lots of great sites with some tree cover. Anyways, I reached the lakes at about 7:30am, being only slightly hindered by a family of grouse that were rather intent on checking me out and making sure I wasn’t a threat (I guess). I’ve never encountered anything like it…about a dozen squat, chattering birds following me along the trail for a ways, chattering loudly. I suspect they were trying to shoo me away from a nest. Anyways, the main hiking trail for Crestone Needle angles off to the left (south) and heads up towards Broken Hand Pass…the low point between Crestone Needle and Broken Hand Peak. The Colorado 14er Initiative folks have recently made a lot of improvements to this trail, despite the rocky and steep terrain. The 6-foot cairns leading to the gully are hard to miss! Once in the gully, it becomes a Class 2+ / Class 3 scramble to the 12,900’ pass. It’s not as hard as it looks, and the rock is very solid, with plenty of hand and footholds (ok, a couple loose gravelly spots, but nothing really bad). In fact, it’s a great warm-up for what’s to come! As I climbed up the pass, I became aware that the breezy morning was quickly turning into a windy one. Small wisps of cloud were quickly becoming more substantial and began to gather in what was recognizably a thunderhead pattern. The higher I climbed, the more aware I was of the sound of the wind blowing over the top of the pass – a low rumble building into a shriek. When I reached the top of the pass and poked my head over, right around 8:30am, I was literally knocked back by the 40+ mph winds – not gusts, but sustained! Looking over the pass, I cold see a clear day in the San Luis Valley, and it was obvious that the Sangre de Cristos around me were giving birth to this nasty weather system. The trail for Crestone Needle turns right (west) from the top of the pass, and contours around and through the knobbly rocks for a ways. All the while, you can see the bulk of Crestone Needle looming large in front of you. At 13,300 the trail peters out at a very prominent gully, which is where the real climb begins…several hundred feet of Class III climbing, never very exposed nor too steep. However, it’s another story altogether when it’s raining. The rain began as a light drizzle as I traversed from Broken Hand Pass, and was fairly steady for the next hour or so. It only took 40 minutes or so to get to the gully, and I waited to see what the weather was going to do. Unfortunately, the drizzle did not show any signs of letting up, and I was certainly not going to be climbing wet rock in driving winds…not on the Crestones, anyways. There were a few people hiking ahead of me, and I knew I’d make the right decision when a trio of them quickly reversed their course and scrambled down the gully towards my position. They said the rock was wet and slick up above, and the winds were much stronger….yikes! So, slightly downtrodden, I turned around at about 10:15am, realizing that a 14er was not to be bagged today. The trip down started out uneventfully…the climb down Broken Hand pass wasn’t too bad…the driving rain was coming from the other direction, so the Pass was almost dry. Presently I spied a group of 5-6 hiking moving determinedly towards me, some with large packs. As they drew closer, I could see the large packs were in fact medic stretchers. Ulp. As we passed, I asked if they were up here on a training exercise. Nope…someone had died up here, and they were going up to take them out! I thought the worst had happened to a hiker, but it seemed that someone had been found dead of apparent natural causes in a tent down by Cottonwood Lake (below the other side of Broken Hand pass). These folks had the grim task of removing the body! I instantly chided myself for thinking I was having a bad day. How’s that for perspective! And as if that wasn’t odd enough, about 10 minutes later, just as I was descending to South Colony Lakes, I heard an abrupt roar above me, and looked up just in time to see two F16 figher-jets come screaming low over Bears Playground (the ridge to the north) and whiz past. One jet couldn’t have been more than a couple hundred feet from the summit of Crestone Needle! The roar of afterburnered lingered for a couple minutes before it died away. Just on a hunch, I got out my camera and readied it, in case they made a second pass. Such occurrences are common just to the west in the San Luis valley, but I’d never seen these guys come so far over the mountains before! Sure enough, a dull roar a few minutes later quickly grew and here they came again, in the same pattern! I snapped off a couple shots as quickly as a I could, and then they were gone. Definitely an odd day here in the Crestones! The rest of the hike out was pretty much uneventful. As the trail widened back to the emergency access road, I came across a pair of rescue vehicles, and thought of the grim job being done a few mile away. I made my way back down the road to my Blazer right about 1:30. Quite a day! Even though I didn’t make my objective, it felt absolutely wonderful to be back in the mountains, even on a windy, cold, wet day. Hopefully I’ll have better luck next time! |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
