cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 17, 2020 7:13:10 GMT -8
Has anyone run any portion of the main range crest between, say Comanche Pass and Mt. Adams?
I'm interested in route beta, and especially in where the most feasible places to drop off the ridge to the east might be, into the Cottonwood, Dry Creek, or Horn Creek drainages.
I know from firsthand experience that there's a good class 2 route down to N Crestone Lake (west of the range crest) from the pass just NW of Fluted Peak.
I do know that Mt. Adams is sometimes climbed from Horn Creek, and that it is considered a class 3 route. (Class 3 is my max). But I don't know if the pitch between the ridge and Horn Lake has class 3 moves, or if it is just long and steep.
I might also be interested in hearing about the traverse from the main crest to Horn Peak. My map doesn't seem to show it, but there is some form of a trail to Horn Peak from the east, right?
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Feb 17, 2020 8:16:22 GMT -8
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 17, 2020 8:29:50 GMT -8
Thanks--yeah, I always check Summitpost. Even if you're not a peak-bagger, there's often good information on scramble routes built into the route descriptions. Also, I have a great guidebook on the Sangres at home (by Jason Moore?) that may have some info relevant to these questions. But there's no substitute for talking to people who have firsthand experience. Summitposts's info on Fluted Peak says its a class 2+ climb from Horn Creek to the east, so that's also useful info. They recommend gaining the saddle between Fluted and Little Horn from lake 11,632 on the Horn Creek trail. So it seems my real question is about the ridge traverse from Comanche Pass South to Fluted Peak (or beyond). I'm imagining a loop where one hikes Comanche Creek to Comanche pass, then, if the weather is good, runs the ridge south, dropping to one of the other east-flowing drainages (Cottonwood, Dry, or Horn) and completing the loop. I *think* one could bivy, if needed/desired, in the broad drainage west of the crest that drains straight south into North Crestone Lake, assuming you could find a flat spot far enough down from the crest to be reasonably lighting safe. The main reason NOT to do this, IMHO, would be the necessity of carrying a full pack up to and along the ridge. But I've engaged in such folly before, so... |
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Post by burntfoot on Feb 17, 2020 18:45:59 GMT -8
Keep me in the loop. I've been looking at something like that, maybe even starting as far north as Mosquito Pass. With 2 vehicles, a longer stretch could be possible. Thunderstorms and a good forecast would be my main concern up there.
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 17, 2020 18:54:35 GMT -8
Thunderstorms and a good forecast would be my main concern up there. Exactly. I'm thinking June of an early thaw year, or September, would be ideal times for such things: possibly before or after the almost sure daily storms of July and August. That's why I like the idea of this particular stretch of the ridge--it looks like there are multiple feasible retreats to the east, and they all end up at the same trailhead, by way a possible few miles on the Rainbow Trail. I'm also thinking about a possible basecamp in Groundhog Basin, west of Venable Pass. I spent a night there once and would really like to explore it further. |
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 17, 2020 19:37:10 GMT -8
maybe even starting as far north as Mosquito Pass Also, I'm not sure where this is. |
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Post by burntfoot on Feb 18, 2020 7:34:11 GMT -8
Wrong range, sorry! I was thinking one thing and typing another. I meant Hermit Pass.
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 18, 2020 8:10:27 GMT -8
Wrong range, sorry! I was thinking one thing and typing another. I meant Hermit Pass. No worries--I thought that might be what you meant. I have concluded, through piecing together various sources, that Venable Pass to Fluted Peak is all class 2 max (assuming optimal route finding, of course. But it's ridge hiking--route finding is generally pretty straightforward unless the weather is bad, in which case, WTF are you doing on the ridge?) Eureka is definitely climbed by people without technical gear from both Venable Pass and (more frequently) from Hermit Pass. So, we can infer from that that it's class 3 max from Hermit Pass to Veneble Pass (maybe class 2). It's class 3 from Fluted Peak to Mt. Adams, and class 2-3 to descend from Mt Adams to the Willow Lake trail. From Mt. Adams south along the main range crest, to "bears playground" (the flat area immediately north of Crestone Peak) *MAY* be class 3 or below, but my confidence level is low looking at the map and there's very little beta available on that stretch of the range crest. Some of that ridge route looks pretty suspect to me on the map. From bears playground south is definitely steeper, more technical terrain to Broken Hand Pass, over the Crestones. Both Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are considered class 3 routes, but class 3 with tricky route finding and a lot of exposure. But, Hermit pass to Fluted Peak, at least, is all class 2 or maybe a class 3 move or two on the slopes of Eureka. And there are multiple possible retreat points, all of which take you back to the Rainbow Trail. So, it would be an absolutely epic traverse, but should be doable if the weather cooperates. You could camp at Hermit Pass the night before. Looks like maybe 6-7 travel miles along the ridge crest from Hermit Pass to the Fluted/Little Horn saddle. If you left Hermit Pass at dawn, it's not unrealistic to think you could be off the ridge by early afternoon--the route finding is presumably pretty easy. Another mile from there would drop you to a camp on Horn Creek. Or, if you did it without overnight gear, you'd have a long but uneventful hike back down to the car from there. |
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Feb 19, 2020 7:22:54 GMT -8
From bears playground south is definitely steeper, more technical terrain to Broken Hand Pass, over the Crestones. Both Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are considered class 3 routes, but class 3 with tricky route finding and a lot of exposure. Also, that stretch could be bypassed by dropping from Bears Playground down to South Colony lakes (there is a climbers path), then climbing to Broken Hand Pass (climbers path), then traveling cross country over the Broken Hand/Crestolita saddle to the upper Cottonwood drainage, climbing from there (bits of abandoned trail) to Milwaukee Pass (AKA Cottonwood Pass). From there south, it would be no problem to follow the main range (over Marble Mountain and so on). |
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Mar 3, 2020 12:15:16 GMT -8
I spent many hours looking at USGS topos dreaming about these routes after my first hike to Little Horn Lakes maybe 1996. I hiked to Dry Lakes a couple times after that hoping to get up on the ridge, but the weather turned bad both times. Have fun!
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Mar 3, 2020 12:59:47 GMT -8
I spent many hours looking at USGS topos dreaming about these routes after my first hike to Little Horn Lakes maybe 1996. I hiked to Dry Lakes a couple times after that hoping to get up on the ridge, but the weather turned bad both times. Have fun! Yeah, the summer weather in the Sangres is about the most predictable storm cycle of anywhere I've hiked. It *will* storm virtually every day, and the storm will probably hit some time between 12:30 and 2:00 pm. The last time I was there, we were base camped one day at S. Colony Lakes, and climbed Humboldt. We cut our time on the summit a little short because the clouds were starting to roll in. We made it back down to camp around 1:00, pleased with ourselves for beating the storm. But the storm actually never came that day, oddly. There were maybe 10-12 people camped around the basin, and everyone was just kind of sitting around awkwardly, aimlessly, all afternoon in the non-storm. It was such an unexpected development that no one quite knew what to do with themselves. (I usually nap during the storm, if I'm lucky enough to be at camp by then.) |
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rangewalker
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Post by rangewalker on Mar 21, 2020 8:18:21 GMT -8
The storm that never showed up There were maybe 10-12 people camped around the basin, and everyone was just kind of sitting around awkwardly, aimlessly, all afternoon in the non-storm. It was such an unexpected development that no one quite knew what to do with themselves. That has to be a Rocky Mountain climbing classic. :D I followed this thread despite as I lived in the Alamosa-Mosca-Crestone area in the mid 70's I only ventured into the Sangres a couple of times. Blanca is one of only three 14'ers I ever done. My college in AZ lost a student and several injured to lightning near the Crestone Needles a year after I left. |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 24, 2020 8:30:21 GMT -8
I've never seen storms come up as fast anywhere else. Those little puffy clouds lazily drift across the San Luis Valley, then the hit the updraft at the base of the mountains and BAM!
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cweston
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Post by cweston on Mar 24, 2020 10:07:16 GMT -8
I've never seen storms come up as fast anywhere else. Those little puffy clouds lazily drift across the San Luis Valley, then the hit the updraft at the base of the mountains and BAM! Yep. I believe that the climbing fatality rate is higher in the Sangres than in Colorado at large, with the difference being that lightning is more dangerous there for exactly the reason you cite--it comes up so fast. This is particularly a problem in the Ellington, Little Bear, Blanca Peak area, because those routes are popular and because retreat is a particularly treacherous proposition in some parts of those routes. |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 25, 2020 10:17:56 GMT -8
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