California Peak (13,849 feet) by Brian Schultz Monday June 27, 2005
The Zapata trail was a short 50 foot walk from where I was parked at the Lower Huerfano trailhead. The predawn sky was clear when I began at 5:25 AM. and the excellent trail was easy to keep a fast pace on as it wound through the woods. It faded out in a meadow but resumes, as indicated in a trip report by Chris Junda, in the SW corner of the meadow. I found it by staying on the left side of the meadow, going past the rock field, and bearing left at the trees. It's worth finding rather than bushwhacking through the trees to reach the saddle on California's north ridge.
Fast progress again brought me to large snowbanks covering the trail near the saddle, which required hiking another hundred feet to gain the ridge. At 6:45 I was on the ridge preparing for the long two and a half mile slog to the summit as strong winds kicked in and the temperature turned cold. I didn't mind though because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No storm worries, just great hiking weather. I stayed on the left side of the ridge- there's no trail - and followed the ups and downs of the false summits until reaching the summit at 9:15. For a class 1 hike, it was surprisingly tiring.
California's summit is even better than Huerfano's for viewing the nearby fourteeners. Little Bear looks especially imposing as do Blanca and Ellingwood. The weather on top was clear but I wondered why the Crestones, along with the Sand Dunes, looked so hazy. I heard on the radio later that forest fires in Arizona were responsible for the haze, which brought to mind the summer of 2002 when Colorado was on fire in so many places and many peaks were closed to climbing.
I stayed on the windfree summit for 35 minutes but as soon as I departed, the winds blew hard and accompanied me all the way down the ridge. Near the bottom of the ridge 10 bighorn sheep scampered down the cliffs before they let me get too close, and upon reaching the saddle I shortcutted the extra 100 feet beyond the snowbank by descending the snowbank itself. This was not a smart move. I slipped and went sliding right over the edge but fortunately, the landing was soft and nothing was bruised except my ego.
The hike back to the trailhead was pleasant and quick. I pulled in at 12:15 and wasted no time leaving because the drive out would be slow and I was eager to get to Buena Vista before Tim arrived. So far, the snow cover in the Sangres was manageable but the Sawatch peaks further north had me wondering about conditions on Cronin Peak (formerly North Carbonate), next up on the itinerary.
Trailhead to summit- 3 hours 50 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 2 hours 25 minutes
Total hiking time including breaks- 6 hours 50 minutes