October 21, 2023
Tijeras Peak 13,612'
Music Mountain 13,365'
Scrambling in the Sangres again! Laura and I headed back to where we just were a few weeks prior, running with her brother Brian as he completed his first 200 mile trail run. Music Pass Trailhead is about two hours from home and is a beautiful area with great mountains surrounding. Laura and I started hiking at 7 am from the Music Pass Trailhead and made quick work to the summit of the pass. This was a familiar area for Laura as it was the turnaround for Brian's race.
 |
| Justin on the shore of lower Sand Creek Lake |
Passing the post at the summit, we descended 400' to Sand Creek that leads to lower Sand Creek lake. Stopping for a break along the shoreline, Laura and I looked up and chose a preferred route as well as a second option in case the gulley we chose was holding too much snow. We walked around the lake and found good access to our preferred gulley, quickly learning that the difficulties would lie in the loose snow covering the slick and exposed lower section of the gulley.
 |
| Discussing our route options |
 |
| Justin leading the path up the gully |
We made the decision to ascend the farthest left gulley and as I went first, I was quickly committed. Laura followed as we moved through the most difficult lower section. Once out of the gulley, we scrambled over talus for 1000' to the ridge and headed north to the summit.
 |
| Justin on the ridge headed toward the summit of Tijeras Peak |
It took us exactly 3.5 hours to summit Tijeras Peak. Next up was the downclimb and traverse over to Music Mountain.
 |
| Signing the summit register |
We would follow the South Ridge route to the summit. We crossed the col in about 45 minutes and were soon at the beginning of what would be the best part of the route. The scrambling was exciting and exposed, but all the rock was solid. Laura and I enjoyed the 4th class route and were standing on the summit of Music Mountain at 11:45 am. We descended the west ridge directly back to the lake and picked up our original trail back to Music Pass and eventually the trailhead at 2:15 pm.
 |
| Fun scrambling on the south ridge of Music Mountain |
 |
| More scrambling on the south ridge |
 |
| Looking back at Tijeras Peak where we had just come from |
 |
| Laura on the ridge between Tijeras and Music Mountain |
 |
| Justin and Laura on the summit of Music Mountain |
 |
| T for Tijeras |
 |
| Justin on the south ridge of Music Mountain |
 |
| More fun scrambling on the ridge |
 |
| Justin headed up the crux of the traverse |
 |
| Having fun in the mountains |
 |
| Justin trying to decide where the highest point is |
 |
| M for Music Mountain |
No comments:
Post a Comment