HUERFANO PEAK
(13,828 ft.)IRON NIPPLE
(13,500 ft.)September 23, 2003
By Tim Briese
I saved this one for September because I hoped to visit the beautiful Huerfano River Valley on a fine autumn day when its vast stands of aspen were arrayed in their finest golden hues. I was not disappointed. I had been here two years before on a memorably scenic climb of California Peak, and I was anxious to return.
On the first day of autumn I left home at 4:30 a.m. with my two labs and headed down I-25 toward Walsenburg. The sky was filled with stars and a thin crescent moon hung low in the eastern sky. The sun rose about the time I reached Gardner, and I was soon treated to an impressive view of Blanca Peak rising grandly at the head of the Huerfano Valley as I drove up the old dirt road toward the trailhead. At 7:30 I reached the Lower Huerfano Trailhead and parked in a grove of yellow aspens off to the side of the road. This unmarked place is the point at which the little-used Huerfano Trail climbs steeply up out of the valley to the east. (Note: The Huerfano Trail does not go to Huerfano Peak.) My plan was to do a grand loop hike, up the valley on the old road to the Upper Huerfano Trailhead, then up the Mt. Lindsey Trail to the Lindsey/Huerfano saddle, along the ridge north to the Iron Nipple and Huerfano Peak, then bushwhack down Huerfano’s north slopes and attempt to pick up the Huerfano Trail and follow it west back down into the valley to my truck. On my climb of California Peak two years before I had done a similar loop on the other side of the valley, hiking up to Lily Lake and then following the ridge north over California’s summit for several miles before dropping back down into the valley. That climb was one of my favorites that year, and I hoped this one would prove likewise.
At 7:45 I struck off up the road, and Allie and Jorie ran excitedly all about. I admired rich stands of golden aspens surrounding me, very colorful even though they still lay in the shadows of the deep valley. Blanca’s snow-covered north face was quite a majestic sight in front of me. After a mile I reached the upper trailhead and found three vehicles parked there. The register said that two parties were off to Lily Lake and one was bound for Mt. Lindsey. I hiked briskly up the Mt. Lindsey Trail, along Huerfano Creek initially, followed by a sharp ascent up slopes to the east out of the valley. The Lindsey Trail seemed much more well-defined now than when I was on it in 1999. This is a testament, I suppose, to the thousands of feet it has seen since then. The trail climbed into a high basin above timberline where I was greeted by grand views of Blanca, the Iron Nipple, and Lindsey’s summit pyramid. After gazing around at the views for a few moments I continued on the trail across the basin and began the stiff ascent toward the ridge above. A chilly breeze blew gently out of the west, which felt rather refreshing during the exertion of the climb.
At 10:45 I reached the saddle on Lindsey’s north ridge at 13,100 feet and sat down a few minutes for a break. I could see two climbers coming down Lindsey’s rugged north slopes. Lindsey looked rather treacherous to me because of the snow lying on its shaded north side. At this point I left the Lindsey Trail and headed northwest along a gentle ridge in the direction of the Iron Nipple. I soon came to some cliffs, went through a big notch, then headed directly up the rough southeastern slopes of the Nipple. This scramble was a lot of fun, especially on the final summit ridge near the top, where the difficulty approached Class 3. At 11:30 I stepped on the summit. What a spectacular perch the Iron Nipple was! I was treated to commanding views of Lindsey, Blanca and Ellingwood, California, and Huerfano surrounding me in panoramic array. I believe the Nipple may be the finest vantage point in the Blanca area, and I quickly decided that its airy summit is one of my (many) favorite places in Colorado!
After twenty minutes I left the summit and headed down rocky slopes to the Iron Nipple/Huerfano saddle 200 feet below to the northeast. I quickly hiked up easy grassy slopes to Huerfano’s summit, where I arrived at 12:25. It took only 35 minutes to go from the Nipple to Huerfano. This, too, was a fine place to visit, but the views did not quite equal those from the Nipple. Nevertheless, I could easily see all the way to the San Juan and Sawatch ranges in the clear air. California Peak lay directly across the valley to the west, while Blanca and Ellingwood pierced the southwestern skyline. I noticed a faint plume of smoke from a forest fire in the La Garita range far to the northwest, some 75 miles away. The sky was very clear and blue to the north where high pressure was in firm control, but rather hazy and cloudy to the south toward New Mexico. The temperature was a moderate 48 degrees, quite pleasant for this time of year. A new register had been placed on the summit in June, and about 30 people had visited since then.
After enjoying the summit for about 40 minutes I summoned the dogs from their naps and headed to the north down Huerfano’s rough north ridge. The descent was complicated by a little snow, and I found it necessary to assist the dogs in a couple of tricky spots just below the summit. After 200 yards I reached the confluence of the mountain’s northeast and northwest ridges and proceeded down the northeastern one. I paused several times to study my topo map and gaze at the route I would take across the basin far below to the north. I tried to pick out the correct drainage to follow out of the basin into the distant woods beyond, realizing that a mistake could take me into the wrong valley, leaving me many miles from the trailhead. There was no longer any trail whatsoever to follow. I descended to about 13,400 feet on the crest of the ridge then left the crest and went down a steep talus slope to the north, finally reaching the gentle grassy basin several hundred feet below.
I was attempting to follow Roach’s description of what he calls Huerfano’s north slopes route, most of which is a bushwhack. I soon realized that although this may be a relatively straightforward way to ascend, it is a tricky routefinding challenge to go down this way if one has ascended by way of another route as I had done. One must select the correct drainage to follow down from the north slopes, then follow it down through dense woods for a mile or so and leave it at the correct point, with little room for error, and bushwhack off through the woods a half mile to the northwest to pick up the Huerfano Trail. I do not recommend attempting this unless you are confident of your routefinding skills.
I hiked to the north down across the grassy basin for about a half mile and descended into the woods along Dutch Creek, after carefully consulting my topo map and convincing myself that I was indeed where I thought I was. I bushwhacked down through the dense woods along the creek, pausing numerous times to check my elevation and location coordinates on my GPS. The GPS was priceless for providing information so I knew when to leave the creek and bushwhack off into the woods. It would have been easy to get lost without it. Nevertheless, I suffered some uncertain moments because the performance of the GPS was spotty and erratic in the dense woods. I managed to find my way without too much trouble, but this route had the potential to be a real bushwhacking disaster.
Eventually I made my way through the woods to the Huerfano Trail. I paused at the top of an open slope and looked back at Huerfano in the distance to the south about two miles away. It was a relief to finally be back on a real trail, and I rapidly clipped along on its easy grades to the west through the woods. After about three-fourths of a mile I came to the rim of the Huerfano Valley and began to descend numerous switchbacks down the steep slopes into the valley, whose floor was some 800 feet below. Vast stands of beautiful yellow aspens shimmered in the golden afternoon sunlight far below, and Blanca Peak was a striking sight up the valley to the south. The dogs were showing signs of slowing down a bit but pressed gamely on.
At 4:30 I reached the floor of the valley and strode along the trail a hundred yards back to my truck. I could not resist sitting on the tailgate of my truck for a few minutes to soak up the beauty of the golden yellow aspens quaking in the soft breeze around me. The drive back down the aspen-lined road was very scenic, too, and I stopped to take a few more photos of mighty Blanca Peak and the valley's colorful glory. I concluded that this is one of my favorite places to visit in the fall.
This grand loop hike was everything I hoped it would be. It served up plenty of wonderful adventure, color, and grandeur. I estimated that I hiked about ten and a half miles and climbed 4100 feet of elevation gain on this outing. It was a bit more difficult than the California Peak loop hike on the other side of the valley, but was every bit as rewarding and memorable.
