Culebra Peak (14,047) by Brian Schultz Monday July 8,1996
I stayed in Alamosa last night and called the ranch foreman to ask permission to hike the peak and he told me to call back in the morning. This I did and he granted the ok to enter the ranch. I was very disappointed to find the user fee had jumped to $40.00 but what can you do? I paid and drove up to the area called Fourway and parked the Jeep. Eager to start up, I took the right fork as described by Dawson but this road never started gaining, it only lost elevation and I knew after a while I was off route. There are lots of roads for the hunters up here and once again I was not paying close attention. A poor start but I hiked back to the Jeep and instead of following the correct fork which I now recognized upon closer inspection, I simply made my way straight up the basin and after some time gained the scenic vantage point on top. It was cold and raining lightly for the first time on any of my fourteener hikes and fogging in quickly as I stood there.
I studied the surroundings and made my way to the right after dropping my pack and camera under the largest cairn I've ever seen. The only other hiker on Culebra passed me on his way down and told me he stopped at the second summit, figuring Red Mountain was the next one. I followed the ridge and gained both summits quickly and decided to go on even if the third was Red Mtn; for $40 I wasn't taking any chances. I had to hurry, the clouds were darkening fast, and when I arrived I saw a register. The third one was Culebra! I signed in, complained like many others' comments about the price increase and left immediately. I made it back to the cairn in quick order, grabbed my pack and camera, and flew down as fast as I could. Lightning from the storm was striking the high points a couple ridges over and I was nervous.
Thirsty and cold, I never stopped until I reached the Jeep. Safe at last, I cranked up the heat and ate lunch. I drove back to the office and visited with the foreman for and hour and then headed to Westcliffe.
Other than the false start and threatening weather, this was an easy peak and I was glad I pushed on to the true summit.