After my last trip in the Sangre de Cristo Range, I was
eager to return. I look at the ranges
rugged profile from my house everyday and look forward to further exploring the
peaks. My last blog I wrote about hiking
the Comanche-Venable Loop over the July 4th weekend. After reading info on other routes in the
range and looking over maps, I decided to hike the peaks just south of the
Comanche-Venable Loop.
Just a few miles to the south is the Horn Creek
Trailhead. From Horn Creek, several
trails are accessible. On the morning of
July 21, I woke at 4AM to get an early start.
My goal for the day was to climb Horn Peak via the Horn Peak Trail, then
travel off-trail to Fluted Peak and Little Horn Peak before descending into the
Horn Lakes Basin. I would return to the
trailhead via the Horn Creek Trail after visiting three 13000 foot peaks.
I began my hike just before sunrise. Just a few minutes into the hike I saw the
sun rise to the east over the Wet Mountains.
A mile or so on the Rainbow Trail brought me to the Horn Peak
Trail. The trail traveled through woods
for no more than two miles before reaching treeline. Although the trail is shown on the map as
going to the summit, it fades away quickly on the grassy alpine slopes. A few posts marked the way just as the trail
entered the tundra. Despite the lack of
trail, the route to the summit was pretty straightforward. A beautiful grassy slope led to the first
bump of the ridge. After reaching the
first bump, the route was less steep but rockier as I followed the ridge to the
summit. Upon reaching the summit the
views opened up to 360 degrees.
Particularly stunning was the view toward the Crestone’s jagged profile. The sawtooth arête between Horn and Fluted
Peak that stood before me also looked quite impressive.
Sunrise
First view of Horn Peak
Reaching treeline
Grassy slopes of Horn
Crestone Needle coming into view
Approaching Horn
View over Little Horn to the south
After a short rest to enjoy Horn Peak’s summit, I headed for
Fluted Peak. Much of this traverse
follows a jagged ridge. Most of the
traverse is pretty straightforward although there are a few stretches that
require some scrambling. At least one
spot it was easier to drop off the ridge to avoid a steep scrambling section,
but generally I stuck to the ridge.
Since it was still early in the morning and somewhat breezy, I had to
stop and put on a heavier layer while on the traverse. It was a challenge to focus on the trail and
not the far-reaching views in every direction.
At the low point on the ridge between Horn and Fluted I
dropped off the ridge and traveled across the grassy slopes below to head more
directly to Fluted. I followed what
appeared to be bighorn sheep herd paths across the slope. The slope was covered in sheep tracks as well
as scat. I never did see any sheep
though. This slope was heavily covered
with colorful wildflowers. I regained
Fluted Peak’s summit ridge by climbing a short couloir.
Grassy slope below Fluted Peak
Wildflowers above Dry Lakes
Looking back at Horn from Fluted
Approaching Fluted Peak
Horn Peak and Little Horn Peak framing
Dry Lakes from Fluted's summit
I reached the summit of Fluted Peak quickly. The views are far flung in every
direction. However, the view toward the
Crestones and Kit Carson Mountain are most impressive. I sat on Fluted’s summit and had lunch while
enjoying the scenery. As I looked toward
the Crestones, I decided I would not visit Little Horn Peak. Instead I decided to head to Mt Adams, just
over a mile as the crow flies. 13931
foot Mt Adams is a loftier and much more rugged peak. I was looking forward to its challenge and
the grandstand views it was sure to have of the jagged Crestones.
Not a bad view from where I had lunch
Mt Adams is the pointy peak above the lake
Another look toward the Crestones and Humboldt
Crestone Lake
From Fluted’s summit, the ridge that connected it to Adams
appeared quite rugged. I didn’t have
detailed info on the routes to Adams so I would have to find my own route. I thought it might be easier to descend into
the basin between the two peaks above Crestone Lake and regain the ridge of
Adams part of the way up the peak. That
route turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. I lost a fair amount of elevation in the
process. Then I reached the area above
the lake. The area was a jumble of rocks
that made for slow travel and much of the footing was unstable. As I reached the slope to the ridge, I
encountered lots of scree and talus. As
I climbed to the ridge, the slope became steeper and the travel more
challenging in the loose rock.
Lots of rock below the ridge on Adams
Looking down the slope to the ridge on Adams
above Crestone Lake
Travel was much easier when I reached the ridge. Much of this ridge required scrambling. Sticking to the ridge, a few sections may
have approached class 4 moves, although descending just off the crest of the
ridge made easier passage possible.
Despite the rockiness of the ridge, there were a lot of wildflowers and
the air smelled sweet from them. Having
wasted a lot of energy on the scree and talus, I had to take a short break
before I reached the summit to grab a snack.
While I was resting, I saw a pair descending from the summit, the first
people I saw so far. They descended on a
different route so I never did pass them.
Mt Adams Ridge
Looking toward the final bump of Adams
View from Adams
Kit Carson and the Crestones from Adams
Close up of the Crestones
Another look south from Mt Adams
More jagged peaks
The descent to valley is nearly as challenging as the
climb. Just below the summit I began
dropping east toward the Horn Lakes.
This required descending about 2000 vertical feet in about a mile over
the mostly grassy slopes. As I
approached the lakes, I reached bands of cliff.
I was able to descend chutes between the cliffs with no real down
climbing. The grassy slopes were filled
with wildflowers. When I finally reached
the basin near the lakes, I encountered thick sections of willows that were
difficult to traverse. About an hour
after leaving the summit I reached the Horn Creek Trail that led me back to the
trailhead.
Fluted (left) and Horn (pointier peak) from Adams
Horn Creek basin from Adams
The slope I descended from Adams to the Horn Lakes
Steep walls above Horn Lakes
Adams is on the right
Another look at the steep walls
Little Horn Peak from the Basin
One last look back before entering the woods
I reached my car just after 3PM, a little more than 9 hours
after I started the hike. I don’t have
the exact mileage or elevation but the trip was in the neighborhood of 13 miles
with nearly 5 miles off trail and somewhere around 7500 vertical feet of
climbing. I crossed paths with a few
groups around the Horn Lakes and saw a pair in the distance on the summit of
Adams. I basically had the entire alpine
stretch of the trip to myself. Despite a
few high clouds, the weather never appeared threatening. I’m lucky I had such nice weather. Just a few days earlier I was forced to turn
around on a hike as I encountered a thunderstorm above treeline and
thunderstorms are quite common this time of year in the afternoon in the
mountains.
This hike was more challenging than the
Comanche-Venable Loop. The views on this
hike were quite impressive and the vast wildflowers added to the experience.
This trip isn't for anyone that is uncomfortable with exposure, scrambling,
route-finding, or traveling off-trail.
More wildflowers along the descent from Adams
Columbines
Superb Alpine Voyaging!
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