Napoleon Mountain (12,563), Yellow Pine Ridge (9,984), & High Dune (8,691) by Brian Schultz Wednesday July 24, 2019

Napoleon Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: 2.4 miles from Cumberland Pass (12,015')
Elevation gain: 550'
Start to finish: 1 hour 40 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

It's pretty nice when you can drive up to 12,000' to begin a climb. The road from Pitkin to Cumberland Pass is very good and we parked near the pass (photo 1, photo 2). We started at 8:20 AM following an old road toward Napoleon Mtn and soon departed it to head cross country toward the peak. The terrain was easy and traveled quickly, and we reached the summit 35 minutes later at 8:55. My kind of climb! We debated continuing over to Fitzpatrick Peak but decided not to, instead saving it for another trip via Tincup Pass. Little did we know that would happen less than a month later in August. We enjoyed the sunny weather from Napoleon's summit and departed 30 minutes later, made quick work of descending to the pass, and got back to the truck at 10:00.

Yellow Pine Ridge:

Roundtrip mileage: 1.65 miles from Forest Road 802
Elevation gain: 530'
Start to finish: 55 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We were in the area so we added Yellow Pine Ridge to our day. From CR 76 and CR 44 northeast of Parlin, we drove CR 44 to Forest Road 802 and followed FR 802 about 5 miles to our parking spot northwest of the peak. FR 802 is a very good dirt road most of the way and it was dry today but if wet, I suspect it would be a slip and slide mess even with 4 wheel drive. It became much rougher as we got closer to the peak.

We began at 12:00 noon hiking up the road until we were due north of the peak. We departed the road and began the bushwhack, a very easy endeavor, and reached the summit at 12:25. Fifteen minutes later we headed down, keeping a bearing toward the truck, and fifteen minutes later we were back at our parking spot. With plenty of time left in the afternoon, we drove back to Highway 50 and headed slightly west of Parlin to Highway 114. We drove to Saguache and from there to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

High Dune:

Roundtrip mileage: 2.65 miles from Sand Dunes parking lot
Elevation gain: 700'
Start to finish: 1 hour 10 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park just before 4:30 pm. When we got to the gate, the attendant waved all the cars through, perhaps because his shift was soon over. Regardless, it saved some time and undoubtedly saved the climb because dark clouds were moving in the west and getting closer and closer. Tim suggested starting immediately without our packs but I wanted rain gear with just in case so we hurriedly put on our packs and at 4:50 made a beeline across the wet flats.

We saw a line of people heading up High Dune as we made our way over to the ridge. We set as fast a pace as we could, which wasn't easy because the sand shifted on every step, but kept at it. When we reached the final turn to the summit, the others ahead of us had already summited and were descending as we motored up to the top. The winds were gusting heavily now and the dark clouds caught up to us as well. We claimed the summit, took a quick picture, and immediately began our descent.

We decided to take a shortcut down to the flats instead of returning the way we came. No sooner had we reached the sand slopes below the summit ridge than the skies opened up. We quickly put on our rain jackets and pack covers as the rain poured, and descended as quickly as we could. Then a lightning bolt flashed in front and below us. Scary! When we reached the flats, water from the heavy rains was flowing over the sand in waves and soaking our boots but we reached our trucks safely at 6:00. I had to turn the heat on to warm up my chilled body as we drove on to La Veta. This was an interesting combination of peaks we did today although we could've done without the thunderstorm.