June 10, 2023
Crestone Peak 14,294'
We had planned to hike into South Colony Lakes and camp Friday night but thunder and clouds above made Laura and I change plans. Since we didn't bring a tent, we chose to sleep in the car at the upper trailhead and get a very early start hoping to catch snow in good condition in the NW couloir of Crestone Peak. Our 1 am alarm sounded and we were quickly off and hiking up S. Colony road. I was exhausted as I only got about an hour of sleep but tried to get into a rhythm as we went along. Shortly after taking the turnoff, we began to encounter some snow as we made our way through the forest. We were quickly above tree line and side-hilling, making our way toward the ridgeline that leads to Bears Playground. Once reaching the ridge, the route is straight forward for a short time until reaching the entrance to the couloir. We traversed past where we needed to enter the couloir but with looking at some pictures and maps were soon able to determine the correct couloir to be in. Now on snow, the fun began. We were treated to excellent snow and a great climb of the aesthetic line that splits the face of Crestone Peak and leads to within 200' of its summit.
Upon reaching the top of the couloir, we chose to make a short detour and climb East Crestone Peak before heading over to the higher summit of Crestone Peak. We spent a few minutes looking out toward the Kit Carson group of mountains and down toward Great Sand Dunes NP before heading back off the summit. Descending the Red Gulley of Crestone Peak was easy as it was still completely filled with snow. We eventually made it to the valley below and worked our way up and over Broken Hand Pass before descending once again.
Rather than taking our original path through the forest back to the upper road, we turned right at the Crestone Needle sign at the upper lake. We quickly encountered soft snow and proceeded to posthole for an hour before reaching firm ground. Once back to the road we were able to make good time back to the car and finished our day out with a car to car time of eleven and a half hours.
 |
| View of the Crestone's from the saddle with Humbolt |
 |
| Another view of the Crestone's; still lots of snow in the gullies |
 |
| Justin coming across the ridgeline between Humbolt and Bears Playground with Humbolt in the background |
 |
| Justin checking out the sunrise from Bears Playground |
 |
| Justin at the base of the northwest couloir |
 |
| Justin starting up the northwest couloir; one of the trickier sections of the climb |
 |
| Justin in the northwest couloir |
 |
| View of Kit Carson Peak and the northwest couloir in the foreground |
 |
| Justin nearing the end of the couloir |
 |
| the exit of the couloir |
 |
| summit of East Crestone |
 |
| Justin traversing from East Crestone to the main summit directly behind him |
 |
| Summit register on Crestone Peak |
 |
| On the main summit of Crestone Peak |
 |
| Descending the south side back toward the red gully |
 |
| Justin choosing a harder descent route down the red gully |
 |
| Rock scrambling to avoid deep snow in the Cottonwood Lakes basin |
 |
| Snow in the Cottonwood Lakes basin |
 |
| Justin in the Cottonwood Lakes basin |
 |
| Justin taking a break at the summit of Broken Hand Pass |
 |
| Justin traversing on good snow at the base of Broken Hand Pass |
 |
| Descending the boulderfield in front of Crestone Needle |
 |
| Poor choice of routes on the return to the Colony Lakes Trailhead |
No comments:
Post a Comment