LITTLE HORN PEAK
(13,143')FLUTED PEAK
(13,554')October 27, 2008
By Tim Briese
12 1/2 miles, 5000' elevation gain, 9:10 roundtrip time
The sun=s first rays were just beginning to shine on the Sangre de Cristos as I drove to the Horn Creek Trailhead southwest of Westcliffe on a beautiful October morning with my lab Allie. The thermometer on my truck registered a chilly 15 degrees when I drove through town but it climbed to a more balmy 27 as I drove up out of the pool of cold air on the valley floor to the trailhead. I left the trailhead at 7:55 and hiked briskly up the trail to the Rainbow Trail which I followed a short distance to the Horn Creek Trail. I was in high spirits as I cruised smoothly up the valley on this nice trail to about 10,500 feet, where I began to encounter numerous trees lying across the trail that blew over during a big windstorm two weeks before. I crawled over or went around them but generally found them to be but a minor impediment. There was a little snow on the trail in shady places but it was mostly dry.
After hiking for two hours I came to a stream crossing at about 11,600 feet, about four miles from the trailhead. Shortly beyond this crossing I left the trail and began bushwhacking through the woods northwest into a basin below Little Horn and Fluted. A coyote howled at Allie and I from a rocky area on the other side of a frozen lake as we walked past. The animal sounded very close by but I was unable to catch a glimpse of it as I scanned the terrain on the opposite shore. Allie peered in the direction the sound came from for a moment before strolling nonchalantly onward. I turned to the northeast and hiked through the last of the trees before engaging a long grassy slope up to Little Horn=s summit. This climb was straightforward and vigorous, and I stepped atop the rounded summit at 11:50.
The wind was a little gusty as I sat in the sunshine and ate my lunch, but not too bad for this time of year. I gazed about at the surrounding splendid views, especially of the rugged peaks to the south above the Horn Creek basin. Mt. Adams pierced the blue sky a mile and a half to the southwest, and Horn Peak was an impressive sight directly across the valley to the north.
After fifteen minutes I left and headed west down the ridge to a saddle on my way to Fluted. The crest of the ridge was considerably rougher beyond the saddle with numerous rocky ribs and cliffy steps, so I found it necessary to drop below the ridge on the south side and sidehill for a considerable distance on varied rocky terrain. Eventually I made my way to a grassy slope that I climbed directly northwest to Fluted=s southern false summit. From there I proceeded over a couple of other false summits on rocky and grassy terrain to the true summit. I arrived there at 1:35, an hour and a half after leaving Little Horn.
The summit of Fluted was a beautiful spot from which to sit and gaze around at the surrounding Sangre grandeur. I was afforded a bird=s-eye view of North Crestone Lake directly below in the valley to the west, and Mt. Adams and the Crestones were as impressive as ever off to the south. Horn Peak and Little Horn stood boldly off to the east. I contemplated hiking on around the ridge to claim Horn Peak today as well, but after studying the uncertainties of Horn=s west ridge and observing the sun steadily sinking into the late October sky, I allowed reason to prevail over my enthusiasm and decided to save that noble peak for another day. A west wind was steadily blowing at around 20 miles per hour, but it=s chilling effect was mitigated by a surprisingly mild temperature of 40 degrees. A summit register showed that about 20 climbers had signed in this year, the most recent having done so about three weeks before. One notable entry recorded a climb by 14erWorlders Sarah Thompson and others in late January of 2007, which seemed to me a rather challenging feat.
I left the summit after fifteen minutes and began my descent. I had observed on my way up that a direct descent back into the basin from Fluted would be difficult and possibly dangerous because of cliff bands, so I sidehilled all the way back below the south side of the ridge to a point where I could descend on steep but easy grassy slopes back into the basin. After I made my way back down to the pleasant basin I took a nice break in the warm sunshine before bushwhacking back through the woods to the Horn Creek Trail. The shadows were steadily lengthening as I hiked four miles back down the trail to my truck. My ankles and feet were particularly sore from the unusually large amount of sidehilling I had done today. I returned to the trailhead at 5:05. The sun dropped from sight behind the Sangres as I drove back into Westcliffe and headed for home.
