August 31, 2022

By Tim Briese

Kennebec and Cumberland: 3.2 miles, 1200’ elevation gain, 3:45 roundtrip time

Indian Trail Ridge: 4.5, 1000’, 2:35

I had never climbed a peak in the La Plata Mountains northwest of Durango nor even done any hiking there and looked forward to doing so today. Brian and I took CR 124 from Hwy. 160 west of Durango and followed it north all the way to the Kennebec Pass Trailhead at 11,650 feet elevation. The road was paved for the first few miles, then nice graded gravel, then rougher gravel and dirt, and finally the last couple of miles were 4WD, so rough that I wouldn’t tackle it with my truck again. Kennebec Peak and Cumberland Mountain were visible to the east. About 830 am we started hiking east on the excellent Colorado Trail on this beautiful morning and in short order reached the saddle between Kennebec and Cumberland known as Kennebec Pass.

cumberland mountain is straight ahead and kennebec pass is to the left

At the saddle we left the trail and headed up a steep slope to the north on Kennebec’s south ridge.

we headed up this slope from the saddle

the slope got a bit rougher here (photo taken on the descent)

Once atop the steep slope we followed an easy ridge about a half mile north to the summit.

the gentle ridge to the summit

It took less than an hour to climb 500 feet in 1.25 miles from the trailhead to reach this easy peak.

brian on top of kennebec peak.  cumberland mountain is the closer peak in the distance.

The sweeping view of the San Juan peaks to the north all the way around to the east was remarkable from this vantage point, as was the nice view of the rugged higher peaks of the La Plata’s to the southwest.

a portion of the san juans on the horizon - the needle mountains

view to the southwest of the higher peaks in the la plata mountains

After enjoying this summit for a while we hiked back to the saddle and went after Cumberland.

we hiked to an old mine shack visible at the far left then went up cumberland's grassy east slope to the summit

While we were briefly on the Colorado Trail again we were amazed to see a younger backpacker come puffing up the slope from the east carrying two backpacks, his own and that of his father coming behind, an older fellow in his 70’s who was dealing with some health issues. From the saddle we elected to follow a trail up to an old mine building east of Cumberland.

on the trail to the mine, at the upper left

the old mine building

looking back at kennebec from the mine

From the mine we hiked directly up a steep grassy slope 700 feet to the summit of Cumberland. This summit was a remarkable vantage point too.

me on cumberland mountain (photo by brian schultz)

a nice view to the south of snowstorm peak and an old jeep road below

After enjoying the summit for about 25 minutes we headed down, choosing to descend via the northwest ridge toward the direction of the parking area. We found a decent trail, somewhat steep and loose in spots, down the ridge and were back at the truck in 35 minutes.

going down cumberland's northwest ridge

 a view of snowstorm peak, at the right, from the ridge

It was only 1230 and the weather was holding up okay so after a break at the truck we decided to hike the other direction on the Colorado Trail and go after Indian Trail Ridge. It was further away than the peaks we had done but the summit was almost right on the trail which added to its appeal. We headed west on the Colorado Trail, which was gentle and easy for a mile and half, and went past beautiful Taylor Lake.

on the colorado trail (photo by brian schultz)

taylor lake

Then the trail ascended crisply a few hundred feet to a ridge which we followed north toward Indian Trail Ridge.

on the nice trail to indian trail ridge

We could see the father and son ahead slowly plodding along. We almost overtook them but just before doing so we neared our peak and left the trail and hiked a short distance up a grassy slope to the top.

view of kennebec peak, left, and cumberland mountain, center, from indian trail ridge

Rain showers were looming now so we didn’t stay long but left and hiked back down.

an interesting cliff band adorned with trees along the trail south of indian trail ridge

taylor lake and cumberland mountain, at the left

nice fall colors along the trail, with kennebec peak beyond

We returned to the truck about 330 and headed back to Durango. It was a lot of fun exploring another new place in the San Juans today.