Trinchera Peak (13,517), "Leaning North Peak" (13,100), "Leaning South Peak" (13,203), & Cuatro Peak (13,487) by Brian Schultz   Tuesday   June 12, 2012

Roundtrip Mileage: 8.5 miles, starting at 11,600' on the Trinchera road

Start to finish: 7 hours 15 minutes

Elevation gain: ~3,600'

Participants: Mark Silas, Tim Briese, & Brian Schultz

Tim & I drove from Walsenburg to the Blue Lakes Campground road (south of Cuchara on Highway 12) and met Mark at 5:05 AM in a parking area near the beginning of the road. We drove past the Blue Lakes campground to Road 436 (the "Trinchera Road") and parked on the 4x4 road at 11,600', just below a muddy section that we tried to get past but retreated from when the truck kept sliding. Even if we'd gotten around it there was a road-blocking snowbank shortly after it. With dry road conditions one could drive all the way to the saddle below Trinchera's north ridge but we weren't complaining as we headed up the road at 5:55.

The morning was sunny, windy and cold. The forecast called for afternoon storms but we were hoping to get all four peaks in before any inclement weather rolled in. It didn't take long to get above timberline to the open area below Trinchera's saddle. Trinchera Peak came fast and easy and the few obstacles on the ridge were skirted on the right side. We stepped on top at 7:40 and had a clear view of our next three peaks along the ridge as well as fourteener Culebra Peak looming in the far distance. We departed after 10 minutes and on the way down to the Trinchera/Leaning North saddle, Mark and Tim checked out the east side for escape routes in case bad weather hit us on the return.

We reached unranked Leaning North's summit at 8:25 and five minutes later departed on easy terrain to Leaning South. With barely over 300 feet of elevation gain to Leaning South, we easily made the summit at 9:00 and stayed on top for fifteen minutes.

The descent off Leaning South went quickly but the talus on Cuatro was tedious and it took a full hour to reach the summit. We arrived on the large and flat summit at 10:15 with skies still looking good but clouds beginning to form. Mark beat us by a few minutes and had climbed to another high point separated by a steep notch. He couldn't tell if it was actually higher so Tim and I headed over to find out. Mark had climbed up exposed class 3 slabs (about 15-20 feet total length) to the top but Tim and I climbed around them on the right. The short scramble was fun and only took a few minutes but we did descend the slabs on the descent. Both Tim's and my GPS showed this south point to be seven feet lower than the north summit.

We left Cuatro at 10:50 with skies beginning to threaten, once past the talus we took a lower trail to avoid reclimbing Leaning South. At the Leaning South/Leaning North saddle we dropped down to the east on a steep talus slope, and began a bushwhack that would contour around both Leaning North and Trinchera, aided by an occasional game trail. Thunder rumbled and it began snowing at 12:05 for a few minutes, then in earnest at 12:50 for much longer. The steep talus was hard on the feet but we got relief on various grassy areas and snowfields along the way. Mark led the bushwhack and his intuitive route-finding handily got us through all questionable areas without running into dead-ends or having to regain elevation. After finally getting around Trinchera we followed a bearing leading to the road we came up in the morning and arrived at Tim's truck at 1:10, pleasantly surprised at finishing so soon and relieved that snow flurries were the extent of our weather issues.

We saw lots of wildlife today- bighorn sheep, deer, elk, and, of course, many marmots. A great day in the mountains with great company.

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