Humboldt Peak - June, 2018

The past few weeks have been very warm and dry throughout the state.  A huge fire near Durango had closed the San Juan National Forest.  This weekend the mountains received a fair amount of needed moisture, which has helped to calm the fire.  We also received a fair amount of moisture this weekend making for a cold, wet trip to the Sangre De Cristo mountains.

James, Lindsey, Cami and I backpacked into South Colony Lakes Basin on Friday afternoon.

I woke early to catch the sunrise on Crestone Needle.

Sunrise on Crestone Needle - Prints available

Once we all reached the lower South Colony Lake, James and Lindsey decided to hang a hammock here and relax while Cami and I continued up Humboldt.  The cloudy sky held steady until we neared the summit of the peak around 10 AM.  Then the wind and clouds came in rapidly and covered us and the peaks in white.  This was my second time hiking this 14er and both times have been covered in clouds with no views up high.  Rain and hail soon followed and we descended quickly.  The temperature went from hot to cold so fast!

From the saddle

Last shot before the clouds covered everything

While up there, I was able to confirm a long debated theory about the existence of an elusive creature called Sasquatch (A.K.A. Bigfoot).  On our descent, Molly started barking at a huge apelike creature that came up out of the mist.  He waved at us just as I whipped out my camera to take his picture, then ran back down the mountain and disappeared.

Proof of Bigfoot

Back at camp it poured for a few hours.  We built a fire to dry out our clothes and make some delicious dinner.  We talked about personality types and had a great time with good friends.  We all turned in before it was dark.  In the middle of the night it started pouring again.  We were all awakened by a loud rock-slide on Marble Mountain south of us.  It sounded like we might be crushed in our tents, but we survived.

The next morning Lindsey joined me on a hike back up to the lake to catch the sunrise again.  The peaks were covered this time, but there was bright color to the east.

Sangre De Cristo Sunrise - Prints available

Humboldt from Camp

On our way out, we realized none of us had ever seen Bishop's Castle that was down in that area.  There's an interesting story about this unique attraction if you google it.  The castle is quite impressive.  Much larger than I thought in real life.  James and Lindsey went up in it to explore.  Cami and I were tired of stairs.

Bishop's Castle