"Kennebec Peak" (12,101), Cumberland Mountain (12,388), & Indian Trail Ridge (12,338) by Brian Schultz Wednesday August 31, 2022

Kennebec Peak & Cumberland Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 3.3 miles from Kennebec Pass trailhead
Elevation gain: 1,190'
Start to finish: 3 hours 45 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We drove Highway 160 west from Durango and turned north on CR 124, a road that starts out great but gets progressively worse the higher you drive. It's definitely four-wheel drive, rough, and quite narrow as it nears the Kennebec Pass trailhead. It was a relief to reach the trailhead parking area. This is a popular place even during the week, as we saw vehicles coming and going throughout the day.

We began at 8:35 AM on the trail to Kennebec Pass. This trail (photo 1, photo 2) is also the Colorado Trail (#622) and and we followed it a short distance to the pass. Easy terrain on Kennebec's ridge (photo 1, photo 2) put us on the summit at 9:30 and we sat for a nice break enjoying the fine weather and great views (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3). We left at 9:55, and once back on the trail headed over to Cumberland Mountain.

We stopped to visit with a father and son backpacking before continuing to a miner's cabin a short distance ahead. This dwelling was in great condition and would be a handy place to wait out a storm for backpackers. We started up Cumberland's steep east ridge from there and hiked by an interesting, small rock, inscribed as a memorial to a woman, and wondered what the story was behind it. Most of the ridge was grassy and despite being steep (~500 feet elevation gain in 1/4 mile) it was easy and we topped out at 11:20.

Again, great views in all directions were enjoyed. We looked over to Snowstorm Peak and although it was a peak we considered climbing and wasn't very far away, we relegated the peak to orphan status, a list that keeps growing as we get older. Our descent at 11:45 was on Cumberland's northwest ridge, on a very nice trail that we'd spotted earlier from the parking area. This handy trail avoids the talus area lower down and intersects the road below. From there we walked back to Tim's truck, arriving at 12:20.

Indian Trail Ridge:
Roundtrip mileage: 4.5 miles from Kennebec Pass trailhead
Elevation gain: 1,070'
Start to finish: 2 hours 35 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We took a break when we got back to Tim's truck and debated whether to continue on to Indian Trail Ridge. The weather was looking like it might rain but we decided to go for it and began at 12:50 PM on the Colorado/Highline trail (#520). Others at the parking area recommended at least going to Taylor Lake because of its scenic setting but we intended all along to go for the summit. The trail is excellent, popular with mountain bikers as well as backpackers, and we stopped for a few minutes to chat with a female backpacker before continuing. Taylor Lake is indeed scenic, especially when gaining elevation and looking down on it.

When we reached the relatively flat area above the lake we could see the summit of Indian Trail Ridge ahead and how the trail would take us nearly to it. We also saw the father and son we'd talked to earlier moving slowly on the trail near the summit. The female backpacker told us she was worried about them because the son was carrying both packs. The son had actually been carrying both packs when we chatted with them earlier and he seemed fine at the time but it sure would explain why they were moving so slowly now.

It was a short jaunt to the summit from the trail. Our arrival time on top was 2:05 and we stayed ten minutes for photos and a quick snack as dark clouds threatened. Fortunately, no storms materialized and we had no issues on the descent. We were back at the truck at 3:25 and set up camp chairs to relax and enjoy a cold beverage. Lots of people were milling about and we talked to a few of them. This was a fun day to climb in an area we've been interested in for a long time.