First 13er for the Kids

Last weekend was the first 13er for the Spong and the Coffin kids.  We chose a relatively straightforward route up UN 13,541 that began nice and high on Independence Pass.  I was a little concerned when we arrived that the clouds were looking like they might rain.  We did get a little sprinkle, but it eventually burned off and made for a pleasant stroll.

Gloomy Castle Peak in the distance

To keep the little ones motivated along the hike, they conveniently found little "gems" along the trail.  The boys showed no sign of fatigue throughout the whole hike.  Once we reached a good spot not too far from the summit at around noon, we could see the clouds beginning to build upward and knew we could soon be in trouble with thunderstorms.  We decided to split up to a fast moving group that would summit and a slower moving group to stop here and then head back.  The ladies decided to stop and the boys went on. 

Girl Summit!

Grizzly Peak

La Plata

Twining Peak

We did get a little bit of tiny hail balls on the way down, but we were prepared to take cover in the bushes.  On the drive back along the road there was a marker pole that was sticking diagonally into the road.  We had to swerve into the oncoming lane in order to miss it.  Whew... close one!  Wait, a little while later we found T&D's sprinter van pulled over.  We stopped to find out what was going on.  Apparently, they didn't see that marker pole on their way down and it smashed their rear view mirror.  They figured out a way to tape it back on and had a good attitude about it.  

Overall it was a great hiking/camping trip with good friends and good food and good times.

Return to Uncompahgre Peak - July 2024

 

There was a group of friends we had scheduled to do a 14er hike last week, but right at the last minute, they all bailed for one reason or another.  So J and I got to have some good bro time and decided to drive a little farther and climb on of my favorite San Juan peaks. I no longer have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, so we backpacked 4 miles up the 4 wheel drive road to the upper trailhead and hung out with a campfire.  

We woke for an early start as there was a chance of thunderstorms before noon that day.  As we reached treeline, we were rewarded with a colorful sunrise on the mountain.  I ran ahead to take some photos off the trail in the wildflowers.  J must have missed me and hiked way up the trail figuring I had gone farther ahead.  I didn't notice him passing on the trail and we got separated.  I went a ways back down the trail and couldn't find him, so I figured he must have went up ahead.  I finally caught back up to him as he was heading toward the saddle.  Whoops!  

Nellie Creek

Uncompahgre Peak Wildflower Sunrise - Prints available

Once on the ridge around 8 am, it began to rain a bit and became quite windy.  We continued up through it because it looked to us like those rain clouds would soon burn off.  After some unfriendly warnings to turn back from other hikers, the clouds did indeed burn off and the weather turned out to be very nice for the rest of the hike. We enjoyed some fun little scrambles toward the summit.  The top of this mountain is one of the most interesting with some of the best views IMO.  There is a spot where you can stand and the cliff below looks like it drops about 2000 feet and gives some good butterflies. 

Wetterhorn Peak

Handies Peak

Sneffels (right of center)

Precipice Peak

Dragon's Back?

We had some great conversations on the way back down including creating our own "rules for men".  For example, a man should never dye his hair for any reason.  A man should know how to shoot a gun and start a campfire.  A man should do at least 80% of the driving on family road trips (our wives don't like to drive)...etc...etc.    I'm thankful for the good memories and a fun and rare hike with my brother, especially with how busy he is with his business - Dry Out Restoration. 

Nellie Creek Falls

About half way down as we were packing out on the road a friendly couple from Texas who owned some land in the area offered us a ride the rest of the way down. Thanks Texas couple!  You saved our knees some soreness. 

5 Miles in the Wrong Direction - Mt. Adams - 2024

 

Brad and I originally planned to do a backpack into the Weminuche this past week, but there were forecasts of heavy rains so we called and audible and instead headed down to Willow Lake in the Sangre de Cristo mountains for a shorter hike that would take less time.  Mt. Adams was on both of our lists, and was highly recommended by other hikers.  We started on the trail completely engulfed by mosquitos.  Wow.  I'd never experienced such thick clouds of these vampires.  They were so numerous that we would accidentally inhale them and gag every so often.  It made for a miserable 5 miles and 3000ft. of elevation gain to the lake.  Relieved to arrive at the lake, we looked around to enjoy the majestic mountain scenery.  Only...wait...none of this looks like Willow Lake.  Where was the massive waterfall and the views of Kit Carson Peak?  Another hiker noticed that we looked confused and told us that we were 5 miles in the wrong direction! This was actually South Crestone Lake, not Willow Lake.  

Bighorn Sheep

Brad's Karate Mobile

"This doesn't look right."

We had a good laugh (either that or cry) and sat down to think bout our options and look at a map. We figured out that we were looking up at Unnamed 13,159 to the east and Unnamed 13,552 to the south.  Both of these were connected to Adams via their ridge so we decided to try and create our own route from here and see if the terrain would let us summit Mt. Adams.  We did some scouting of the route that evening to see if we could gain the ridge of UN13,159.  Once we realized we could do that, we had high hopes that we'd have a good shot to summit Adams the next morning.  We built a campfire and enjoyed a mosquito-less night once the temperatures dropped.    

Sunset over UN 13,552

The next morning we trailblazer our way to the top of UN13,159.  It was another beautiful sunrise in the Sangre de Cristos.  It's always a special experience to hike in places where you know very few others have traveled and experience the solitude.  From the top of our first 13er, we looked at the route up Mt. Adams and had some serious doubts weather or not we'd be able to summit from here.  The slope turned out to be much more doable that it looked from a distance.  Once we reached the saddle, it was over 1000 ft. of type 2 fun climbing on steep loose talus.  At the top was the summit blocks that we weren't sure we'd be able to safely climb, but hoped that the ridge would offer some doable options on the back side.  Our hopes came true at the top and we had some quick fun scrambling to reach the summit.  Brad and I agreed that Mt. Adams must be one of the best summit views in this mountain range.  You could see a clear angle on all 5 of the Crestone 14er group.  

Approximate Route up UN 13,159

Jagged Spires - Prints available

Approximate route up Mt. Adams

Horn Lake

Approximate route to summit from the saddle

14ers Crestone Needle,Cestone Peak, Columbia Point (13er), Kit Carson, and Challenger

The way back was grueling, but uneventful.  Burgers in Buena Vista! 

Approximate Route from South Crestone Lake