Culebra Peak (14,047 ft) & Red Mountain (13,908 ft) by Brian Schultz Friday August 22, 2003
I heard about the Culebra lottery back in April when the information was posted on fourteenerworld.com. My interest was piqued with the Colorado Mountain Club's addition of centennial thirteener Red Mountain because it hasn't been offered in the lottery since the Taylor Ranch was sold. I called Tim to see if he wanted to enter as a pair and knew he'd say yes because he's chasing the thirteeners too. We entered in April and were chosen in July, coincidentally, when I arrived in Colorado to embark on a climbing trip. I was thrilled to be selected because only four people outside of Colorado were picked for the Friday climb.
We were notified by email a few days before the climb that we'd be meeting an hour earlier in San Luis, at 4:30 AM instead of 5:30. This was encouraging because of the long mileage on the hike and not knowing how much time a large group hiking together would need. As a flatlander I was especially worried about slowing the group down.
Tim and I left Fort Garland and arrived in the small town of San Luis just past 4:00 AM. Arrangements were made to meet at the Catholic church and while slowing down in the dark to look for it we noticed a fellow standing in the street. We stopped and asked if he was one of the climbers and of course he was. Who else in their right mind would be there in the dead of night when they could be home sleeping? We parked and he introduced himself as Petter, from Norway. He recognized my name and knew of my webpage, which I thought was pretty cool. As others arrived, I sought out Kay Wieder, a friend of a friend, and made introductions. Tim and I enjoyed hearing of her California fourteener climbing adventures this summer because we were climbing out there too.
Jenny, our group leader, took attendance and let us know in advance she wasn't feeling up to par. She was taking medication for recent dental work but still hoped to climb Red Mountain. With everyone accounted for, our convoy of vehicles left San Luis and headed into the dark of the morning for the ranch. And proceeded to get lost! We stopped at a T junction where the lead vehicle idled for some time before turning around. Tim and I looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief as everybody made a U-turn and headed back in the opposite direction. Somehow we managed to find the correct road to the ranch, even though the whole caravan stopped once more to be sure before pulling up to the gate.
Then we waited for the ranch manager who was supposed to meet us at 5:00 but wasn't there, and also wasn't answering his phone when Jenny called him. When he finally arrived and let us in, he explained that something had come up. He didn't say what though. He talked about safety issues and rules, wished us well, and specifically told us not to take the left fork in the road ahead. Jenny spoke also and finally unleashed us. The time was 5:56, and I was not pleased with losing almost an hour as we charged up the road.
I can't explain how it happened but the entire group did exactly what the ranch guy told us not to do. We took the left fork, everybody following the hikers in front like a bunch of lemmings. Fortunately, the ranch manager was watching and drove up to correct us. With the false start behind us our group moved quickly up the other road, determined to make up lost time and get on to the summits. I'm sure everybody noticed the clouds building up early. Tim didn't like the way they looked and his uncanny ability to read the weather had me concerned because he's usually right.
Jenny allowed the group to split up but requested that everyone regroup at the parking area at the end of the road so she could go over instructions from that point on. Tim and I set what we thought was a good pace but it wasn't anywhere near as fast as the majority who zipped right up the road. We stopped once for a short break before joining the patiently waiting group. The remaining hikers soon pulled up, with Jenny the last to arrive and breathing hard. She was not feeling well as she congregated everybody together.
Jenny announced that we could split up again as long as nobody climbed alone. Whoever reached Culebra's summit and wanted to continue on to Red Mtn could do so. She also reiterated that nobody was to leave the ranch until everybody was back and accounted for, and then promptly turned the reins over to the co-leaders. The group immediately split with the fastest climbers moving ahead and the rest stringing behind, eventually forming three scattered groups. Tim and I were in the back of the middle group, Jenny was lagging in the rear.
We approached the basin on a good trail up the left side which I didn't use when I was here in 1996- I had hiked straight up the middle then. Before long we reached the huge cairn at the top and saw the faster climbers already making their way up Culebra while dark clouds threatened to ruin the day. The route drops down to the right and curves around left to meet the summit ridge, which we hurried to as fast as we could.
As we approached the false summit I felt a strange sensation. I usually hold my trekking poles with my little fingers extending below the rubber grips and touching the metal, and for some reason, my fingers were feeling little jabs. I just curled them back on the grip, assumed they were numb from the cold, and ignored them. But a young couple hurrying down from Culebra's summit commented on the electricity in the air and then it made sense... shocks! I'd never experienced this before and wondered if we should turn back but the sky over Culebra was clear and we could see the faster climbers already on their way to Red Mtn. We pushed on and reached Culebra at 10:47.
Two leaders on Culebra were waiting for the last group and made a comment about how bad the weather was looking. We told them we were going for Red anyway and five minutes later we took off, believing we could beat the thunderstorms flashing in the distance. They made no attempt to stop us. The descent was fast and easy on the rocky ridge, and when we looked behind us, two more climbers were following us and behind them were the leaders. I guess they wanted Red as much as we did! Tim and I reached Red's summit at 11:37, took some quick pictures and immediately left. The other four summited shortly after us and everyone hurried back to Culebra. The clouds were black as night and approaching rapidly as we decided to break one of the ranch rules by contouring under Culebra's ridge instead of reclimbing the summit.
It was safer, but very time consuming, scrambling over the boulders and talus before regaining the ridge. The others were following us in the distance and when Tim and I finally reached the huge cairn at the top of the basin, all hell broke loose. Tim and I descended straight down the slope as lightning blasted the ridges around the basin and rain poured, eerily similar to my first Culebra descent seven years ago. We lost sight of the four behind us but noticed two climbers moving quickly down the slope in front of us and caught up to one of them, a fellow named Duane Nelson, at the road below.
Within moments, Jenny, who'd given up on the climb earlier, drove up with the ranch manager to find out how many climbers were still on Culebra. We mentioned there were four behind us. She said that accounted for everybody and they'd wait to make sure those four descended safely. Meanwhile, Tim, Duane, and I started hiking down the road in the rain and Duane regaled us with stories of the many thirteeners he's done. The fellow he was climbing with caught up to us later, and other than stopping once for a brief break, we hiked straight out. Just before reaching the ranch we were passed by the truck, with the four rescued climbers sitting in the open back and joking about taking the easy way down. We strode in to the ranch at 3:25.
Everyone who went for Culebra except Jenny made the summit. Everyone who went for Red Mtn also made it, except the climbers in the rear group who didn't attempt it because of the weather. All in all, this was a successful outing with a very motivated group. Tim and I not only grabbed the elusive Red Mountain but I also completed my goal of "officially" climbing all the fourteeners by gaining (and descending) at least 3,000 feet on each one. After saying goodbyes to the others, Tim and I headed to Buena Vista for our much awaited rematch with Ice Mountain.
Ranch trailhead to Culebra- 3 hours 51 minutes, including breaks and getting lost
Culebra to Red Mtn- 45 minutes
Red Mtn to Ranch trailhead- 3 hours 43 minutes
Start to finish- 9 hours 29 minutes