Crestone Peak (14,294) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 26, 1998
After dinner yesterday in Poncha Springs I called home to let my family know everything was fine and then headed to Westcliffe, thinking about climbing a peak I said two years ago I would never do and getting nervous about the prospect. I really hoped Tim would show up. Dreading the drive up to South Colony Lakes and wanting to get there before dark, I started up under a light rain. The road had deteriorated since I'd last been up it, much worse than the first time. It was pretty greasy from the rain and I wondered if I'd be able to negotiate the terrible sections I remembered from two years ago.
Four wheeler aficionados might enjoy this type of road but I don't. It's grueling and a nightmare. You get to a bad spot and wonder how you can possibly drive over those rocks without getting hung up. There is rarely a smooth stretch and as you are slowly inching along with everything inside bouncing around, including yourself, you just hope you're nearing the end, but you look at the odometer and realize you've only gone a quarter mile with forever to go. I managed somehow, slipping a lot on the wet rocks, to finally reach the parking area where I stopped two years ago. But Tim told me to drive a little further and cross a stream to another parking area with a gate at the end. Sure enough, there was his hard to miss truck. He made it- no worry about solo climbing on this one!
I wandered over to the camping area and found Tim with two friends, Tony and another Tim. They'd already set up camp and we made introductions and visited as darkness fell. Since I was carcamping, I didn't have to worry about getting my tent up. They wanted to hear about my fourteener adventures of the past week and we talked well into the evening but all the while I was thinking how glad I was to have company in the morning. As it got later we agreed on our departure time and I headed back to the truck to rearrange the entire load; everything had shifted in back from all bumping on the road. I got the pack ready for the morning and tried to stretch out for the night, wondering how we would fare on the South Face route. Our choice was based on a fellow hiker's recommendation (Paul, whom I met on Blanca Peak last year) and also having read a trip report of success on it.
We planned on leaving at 5:30 but it was 5:45 before everybody was ready. We squeezed around the locked gate- the route begins as an old road which continues for a ways before it becomes a footpath. We started out at a fast pace and avoided hiking to the lake by cutting up before it. At that point Tony was starting to get nauseous and short of breath. We had to stop often for him to rest and began to wonder if he'd make it much further. As we approached Broken Hand Pass, Tony was nearly wiped out. He chewed down a bunch of Rolaids and took a ten minute nap as we discussed whether somebody should stay back with him in case he was done in, but when he awoke he was instantly transformed!
We scrambled up to the pass and surveyed the route down the other side to Cottonwood Lake. Another group caught up to us, going for the Needle. Their group leader commented on the length of our route and I got the impression he thought we were crazy. Both the Needle and Peak were completely cloud covered as we descended- the route was mostly obvious on the way to the lake but once there we were confronted with a problem. The cloud ceiling was so low we could not see the described red notch or even make out the proper gully. Tim checked the topo map and route description while I pulled out Dawson's book to study the picture. We only had the lower features to match rock formations with and agreed on a gully and started up, fairly confident of our choice. That photo turned out to save our day. Some climbers were working their way up another gully to our right and we never saw them again, not sure of their destination but certain they came up the Cottonwood Lake approach. Unless they were going for the Needle, they were off route for the Peak.
The rock in the gully was wet and steep. A virtual waterfall ran right down the middle and we started on the left side, encountering some difficult areas- especially one class 4 move on smooth slick rock. The better route going up is on the right and then switching over to the left side when the gully widens up some more. The couloir is long and with the limited visibility we couldn't judge our remaining distance. We couldn't see below us or above and got a little worried when we came to snow. A slip here would have been dangerous but we carefully made our way up and to our collective relief soon topped out at the red notch. We were elated at having picked the right gully! It was 11:00 and we dropped our packs for a break.
I looked down the other side of the saddle and it seemed even steeper than the side we came up, at least what I could see. We left our packs, except Tim B, and scrambled up to the summit, stepping on top at 11:20. What a relief after the long journey up the gully. I so desperately wanted to see Humboldt from here after sitting on Humboldt's saddle in 1996 telling myself I wouldn't do the Crestones, but we could hardly see anything except a bit of the jagged ridgeline behind us. We were the only ones who signed in on the weekend, no surprise with the poor weather, and spotted a small Swedish flag recently planted near the register. Those Swedes love our mountains too! After some summit photos we descended back to the saddle.
I wasn't eagerly anticipating the trip down the gully but we took our time and when we got halfway down, the clouds opened up below- finally giving us some views. Only for a short while though; when we reached Cottonwood Lake they thickened up again. Safely out of the gully, we trudged back up to Broken Hand Pass- I was beat. Both Tims waited for Tony and me to drag ourselves up. At least it was all downhill from there and after a rest we started down. We made it back to the trucks at 3:45 and ran into the other group who successfully summited the Needle; some of them were terrified with the climbing on their route. They spent nearly as much time on their climb as we did on ours.
The guys invited me to eat dinner with them in Westcliffe and I left immediately while they broke camp. I drove back down the hated road and checked in at the Westcliffe Inn, anxious to clean up before they got there. In the lobby was an older fellow inquiring about the South Colony road I was just on, planning to hike Humboldt in the morning. I told him what to expect and would have talked more but the shower took priority. We ate at the only open restaurant we could find on a Sunday night and after our meal they went home to the Springs, Tim promising to connect again next summer. I was tired but prepared the pack once again for the morning.
Some things to keep in mind about the Peak: the holds are very solid in the gully- when you need them you can count on them. Rocks kicked loose in the gully will travel a long ways down so wear a helmet if anybody is above. And allow for a long day- it's 6.6 miles roundtrip with a total elevation gain of 4500 feet from where we parked (including the return from Cottonwood Lake).
Total hike and climb time- 10 hours