We Do Stuff: Buffalo Peaks

August 12, 2023

Buffalo Peaks 13,310' and 13,332'

Forecast shows rain in the afternoon but Laura, Nicole, Isaac and I want to spend the day in the mountains so Friday night I suggested we try the non-committing but hopefully fun Buffalo Peaks traverse near Buena Vista. We made a plan to meet at the trailhead at 7 am. The clock turns 7:30 and Nicole comes flying into the parking area at mach 2. We were soon off and hiking up the nice road and trail leading to a clearing exiting the forest around 11,600'. The rain that was forecasted for the afternoon arrived early and as drizzle fell from the sky we all put on rain jackets. There never was any discussion of turning around as we made our way up the grassy slope and toward the ridge leading to East Buffalo Peak. On the summit at 9:35 am, we signed the summit register and quickly departed toward West Buffalo Peak as the wind picked up and began to chill us all. It was a quick scramble over to West Buffalo Peak, just 45 minutes and we were on our second summit of the day. We took a group photo and headed off as by now we were all wet and cold. Descending down the grassy slopes to the east, we wrapped around toward where we had exited the trees in the clearing at 11,600' and made our way through the forest on a faint trail. The hike out was not fast with navigating through the forest, but we still managed to move around 2 mph. As Nicole and Laura went ahead, Isaac and I took our time walking down the road, bs'ing about this and that, making it back to the car just before 1 pm. As we sat in the chairs at the cars, the sun decided to pop through the clouds and warm us as we laughed about how you never know about the weather but you also don't know if you don't go.