One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: March 25, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1986_0831_CrestonePeak.htm)
(A
Fourteener
trip report.)
Crestone Needle was a fun peak for people used to exposure! One I wouldn't have minded climbing again, to see the view (sigh) if nothing else -- so three years later, I did!
After climbing Crestone Peak the previous day (when Chuck Reese turned back), it rained during the night. Monday mrning dawned overcast with strange wintry clouds and the tip of the Needle hidden far above our camp.
It was cold and hard to get going after the last two days of climbing. Chuck and I started through the willows south of Lower South Colony Lake at 0800 on a trace of a trail. (The least fun part of this mountain was getting out of the willows!)
The conglomerate in this area was already a mixture of many rock types, worn in shapes carved by ancient streams, so the talus it formed was, well, messy. We found a good dirt and scree trail up jumbled talus with a few steep spots and grassy tundra at the top, to the southeast saddle of Crestone Needle at 12920', 0910.
We must have been moving fast because we made this first 1300' in only 70 minutes. Still it was further up to the saddle than it looked. Once there we were halfway to the top, sitting astride the crest of the Sangre de Cristo Range with a nice view down west to the San Luis Valley.
Beyond here the climb was a pair of contrasting parts. A well-worn trail through grass, sometimes braided but well cairned, led around the back (southwest) side of the ridge and gradually up to the base of the pinnacle. After a short drop on conglomerate ledges, just to warm us up, we found ourselves at a large arrow on the ground made of loose rocks, pointing at a nasty looking wall of stone.
Prior advice guided us to skip the arrow and instead drop left about 50' on an obvious but uncairned trail. This took us to a broad, steep gully that was much easier to climb than the "standard" route. The latter apparently entered this gully a couple of hundred feet higher. Pity the poor souls who followed the arrow and then, not knowing any better, returned the same way, downclimbing precariously. (Three years later during my second visit, I revised this arrow based on past experience!)
Once in the gully the remainder of the route, the second part from the saddle, was always steep. But as advertised the rock was knobby and firm, making for fun fast climbing. We were into the clouds before long, and almost missed the turn left out of the gully as it became more cliff-like. I spotted a number of cairns across the deep cut in the gully bottom. Getting across the cut and up the far face, about 50', was the crux, I thought, the worst part of the climb.
Out of the gully and over a rock rib took us into a second deep cut, more of a couloir (narrower and deeper). Here there were ample cairns to lead us up consistently steep, firm, bumpy conglomerate rock, eventually onto the main southeast ridge, then along it for the last 200' or so to the small summit of Crestone Needle at 1055 (2:55 for 2650' -- not bad!)
The clouds were so thick we couldn't see more than 100', a disappointment we saw and expected on the way up. We spotted a party going down the northeast face -- who knows where (probably attempting the Peak traverse) -- but encountered no one else for the rest of the trip!
Not wanting to downclimb in rain or snow -- a definite possibility -- we didn't stay very long. We climbed down the same way, slowly and carefully, from 1118 to the saddle at 1305 (1:47 from the top). Here the summit finally emerged from clouds. It was a typical pattern, morning overcast burning off incompletely to lead to afternoon showers or storms.
We returned to camp at 1355 (just 5:55 round trip!) Compared to the last three (weekend) days it was dead quiet; almost everyone had left. As did we, after breaking camp in short order.
The trip down the 4WD drive road in the Jeep was uneventful other than giving some ladies a ride, but it was slow, rough, and tedious. It took us 1:35 to go the 6.0 miles. We had dinner in Westcliffe and left at 1815.
Unfortunately we didn't make it home that night because apparently the dropping of the gas tank on the way up (see earlier report) had opened up a vent connection enough to allow water to enter the tank during a creek crossing. (That's my best guess anyway, after we found and reconnected the vent.)
We had to limp into Florence with a Jeep that was very tough to start (pump pump pump!) and wouldn't stay running for long. The problem slowly corrected itself, but we stayed in a motel that night before driving home on Tuesday.
(Next trip report: 1986_0905-07_ElDientePeak.htm)