KIT CARSON PEAK
(14,165 ft.)CHALLENGER POINT (14,081 ft.)
September 9, 1999
By Tim Briese
I have always liked to climb 14ers on day outings from my home near Colorado Springs when I could, driving to the trailhead in the morning and returning home in the evening. This minimizes the disruption in my schedule that overnighters entail. About half of the 14ers in the state are close enough to my home to do this. I have climbed many mountains on day outings, including some very long expeditions to distant summits such as Castle and Blanca Peaks. Kit Carson Peak, however, was the greatest challenge I have ever undertaken on a one day outing.
I wanted to climb Kit Carson via the Willow Lake approach from the west, in order to avoid the rough South Colony Lakes road and the rugged climbing that the southern approach involves. (Note: For a description and photos of that route, see my trip report for Kat Carson on the More Climbs page.) Also, the Willow Lake route would take me over the summit of Challenger Point, a subpeak of Kit Carson that may someday join the venerable ranks of the “official” 14ers. However, my chosen route required a 13 mile hike, which would take me at least ten hours, and demanded about 6300 feet of elevation gain, which was more than I had ever done on a day hike before. Furthermore, the trailhead was a three and a half hour drive from home. I went over these daunting facts many times in my mind, and I wasn’t sure if the climb was possible for me on a day outing. Finally, though, after the summer climbing season had brought me into top physical condition, I was ready for the challenge.
I left home on a clear September morning in the starlight at 4 a.m. with my lab Allie, and drove off into the mountains. The first hint of dawn appeared in the sky as I neared Buena Vista. The sun began shining on the mountain tops as I drove across the floor of the broad San Luis Valley. Shortly after 7 a.m. I reached the village of Crestone at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, a quaint little place I had never visited before. I drove through the town into the Rio Grande National Forest and ascended through stands of cedar trees in the foothills to the trailhead.
Allie and I hit the trail just after 7:30. We crossed South Crestone Creek and headed up the Willow Creek Trail toward our destination. It was a beautiful hike on an excellent trail up to Willow Lake. The trail was sandy at first, reminding me of the Great Sand Dunes 20 miles to the south. Along the way there were a few stands of aspen that were just beginning to turn yellow. We switchbacked up over a ridge into the Willow Creek drainage and passed high above an expansive meadow on the floor of the valley below. The trail then switchbacked gracefully upward to a massive granite headwall across the valley that had a sparkling waterfall cascading over it. After we gained the top of the headwall on the fine trail we wound through the woods for another three quarters of a mile to the lake, which is quite a spectacular place.
Willow Lake is located just at timberline, deep in a valley with an imposing 2000 foot granite wall towering above it to the south. The east end of the lake is ringed by a 100 foot high cliff, which is graced by a waterfall that drops over it into the boulders at the east edge of the lake. This is certainly one of Colorado’s magnificent places, and the approach hike one of the prettier among the 14er routes. It took a little over two hours to hike the four miles or so up to the lake. I found the route to the lake to be somewhat longer than the guidebooks state, apparently because of a recent trail improvement project that had added numerous long switchbacks to the trail in an effort to reduce the grade and control erosion.
After resting at the lake and filtering some water, I hiked around the north side of the lake through willowy bushes to the top of the cliffs by the waterfall. This was a grand place, with the lake below and a high alpine valley stretching away above, with Kit Carson towering over me to the southeast. The surrounding vegetation shimmered in hues of green, yellow, and red, reflecting shades of autumn in the golden sunshine. There was a hint of fall in the air, with a definite chill and a breeze blowing, indicative of the energy of weather systems which start to move through at this time of year.
I looked at my route up the long, steep slope to the south and selected a line toward a notch high on the ridge above. The trail had been excellent up to Willow Lake, but beyond the lake it became a climber’s challenge. It was a stiff climb up that slope, with an elevation gain of about 2200 feet in a little over a mile. I stayed on grass and avoided scree where I could for best footing, although the last few hundred feet of climbing to the crest of the ridge was on rough, loose rock. When I finally gained the ridge at 13,900 feet a magnificent view abruptly appeared of the San Luis valley stretching off to the southwest far below. One of the exciting things I enjoy about climbing mountains are the unexpected views that suddenly appear when rounding a corner or attaining the top of a summit or ridge. I hiked southeast a couple of hundred yards along the crest of the easy ridge and arrived on the summit of Challenger Point a few minutes after noon. There was a metal plaque attached to a rock on the summit commemorating the shuttle astronauts who perished in the Challenger accident. Beyond was an inspiring view of Crestone Peak, the Blanca massif, and the Great Sand Dunes. One letter on the plaque was deformed, and I wondered if it had melted in the intense heat of a lightning strike. There was one other climber resting on the summit, with whom I spoke briefly.
From the summit of Challenger I descended 300 feet to the saddle between Kit Carson and Challenger, and then began following the remarkable Kit Carson Avenue ledge system around the mountain. That ledge is an amazing feature. Over ten feet wide, it affords easy passage almost halfway around the mountain, as it traverses from the west side around to the mountain’s southeast gully. From that point it is a relatively easy class three scramble up the remaining 400 feet to the summit. Kit Carson is a high and wild mountain, like the nearby Crestones, with menacing cliffs nearly all the way around its summit, but it is made quite accessible from the Willow Lake approach by that remarkably placed ledge.
I reached the summit at 1:05, five and a half hours after leaving the trailhead. The view of Crestone Peak and the Crestone Needle off to the south was breathtaking. That view of Crestone Peak’s sheer north face is one of the most rugged mountain views I have ever seen. Far below to the northwest I could just glimpse the waterfall at Willow Lake where I had been a few hours earlier. The lake looked like a tiny pond from up there. It was exhilarating sitting atop the summit absorbing the magnificence around me.
As I rested in the cool 43 degree air I visited with a trio of climbers from New Mexico. They had backpacked up to Willow Lake the day before and climbed to the top that day. They were astonished that I had driven in from Colorado Springs that morning, and even more so that I was returning home that evening.
I began my descent at 1:30, and retraced my steps down the gully, around the ledge, and back up to Challenger’s summit. That was the last of the elevation gain for the day, and I was very grateful to have only downhill grades the rest of the way. It was a steep descent, though, back down to the lake on my tired legs, and I placed each footstep carefully to avoid slipping. It took 45 minutes to descend the 2200 feet from Challenger’s ridge to the valley below, where I refilled my water bottle at the stream above the waterfall. Allie was very thirsty, for I had never seen her stand and drink from a stream for so long.
The landscape in all directions was gorgeous in the golden afternoon sunlight as I looked about. I skirted back around the north side of the lake, threw a couple of sticks in the water for Allie to retrieve, and headed on down the trail. Some high clouds began to move in and obscure the sun, which had otherwise been shining brightly all day to bring out the best in this beautiful place. I thought about how fortunate I had been with excellent weather that day.
I hiked rapidly down the trail on my exhausted legs, humming the tune, “feet don’t fail me now!” At 5:30 I reached the trailhead, back down in the dry warmth of the valley floor. It had been quite a hike. Allie jumped in the 4-Runner, curled up, and didn’t move until we got home.
Although I was very tired, I enjoyed the drive home that evening, as I had enjoyed the entire day. I arrived home about 9:30, after a long 17 hour outing. It had been a grand adventure to climb a magnificent mountain.
