MT. LINDSEY
14,042 ft.
August 16, 1997
By Tim Briese
My friend Tony and I talked about climbing a mountain together sometime during the summer, and finally in August we were able to coordinate our schedules to do one. We left home at 5:45 and headed south down I-25, intending to climb either Mt. Lindsey or West Spanish Peak. Tony did not care which one we climbed, for he was just looking for an alpine adventure. At a gas station in Walsenburg we flipped a coin and chose Lindsey, and headed west toward Gardner. It was interesting driving through that area, because I had never been there before, and I particularly enjoyed the scenic drive up the Huerfano River Valley to the trailhead. That is certainly a remote and beautiful part of the state.
We hit the trail a little before 9:00 and headed up the valley on a nice trail along Huerfano Creek. After about a mile we left the main trail and veered to the left and made a tricky crossing of the creek on some haphazardly placed logs. The route became rather indistinct as we thrashed about in the damp woods for a short distance before finding a climber’s trail that headed steeply up out of the valley near a rough talus slope. As we climbed higher the trail took us along the north side of a pretty little stream that cascaded abruptly down the steep slope. Presently we reached a scenic basin at timberline with an impressive view of Blanca’s north face about two miles to the southwest. To the east beyond an intervening ridge we could see the sharp summit pyramid of Lindsey thrust into the sky. Tony exclaimed in surprise that our goal looked very formidable. I felt the same way, and momentarily wondered if we had tackled more than we could handle.
As we headed across the grassy basin toward Lindsey our attention was riveted to the very impressive Iron Nipple (13,500 ft.) which towered above to the northeast. The Nipple is a rugged and unique subpeak that dominates the landscape in the upper reaches of the Huerfano Valley. We met a couple of other climbers already on their way down as we began to climb up a steep slope on poor footing toward Lindsey’s northwest ridge.
Tony and I were fascinated by the great variety of colors and textures in the rocks along the trail. There were pieces that were green, gold, gray, and black with forms that were angular, smooth, or conglomerate. This was quite a contrast to the monotonously consistent gray granite found on most 14ers. The entire Blanca massif, including Lindsey and the other 14ers nearby, was once a giant volcano which blew off its top in a cataclysmic event eons ago. The wide variety found in the rocks, and the Iron Nipple itself, are remnants of that violent volcanism.
When we reached the top of the steep slope the trail flattened out briefly before we angled upward across a boulder field and gained the crest of the northwest ridge. We contoured along the east side of the ridge, with Lindsey’s steep northwest slope looming before us. We could see the route up a gully on the slope ahead, and it looked rather intimidating. It turned out to be easier than it looked, though, and was actually quite a bit of fun to climb. This was probably the steepest climbing I had ever done at the time. There were plenty of nice hand and footholds to use as we climbed the loose dirt and rocks in the gully, but we had to be careful to avoid knocking rocks loose that might roll down and endanger other climbers. We passed a group of Boy Scouts in the gully and soon reached its upper end, and then followed a gentle upper ridge 200 yards southeast to the summit.
We lounged on the summit in the sunshine for a while as we enjoyed the views around us. Although it was rather hazy, we could see the Spanish Peaks, the Crestones, and other notable features. Especially dramatic was the view of Little Bear and Blanca Peak nearby to the west. Tony said he would like to climb Blanca someday. The Boy Scouts soon arrived, about a dozen in number, and we listened as their adult leader told his admiring troops about his past exploits in climbing Little Bear Peak and the Crestone Needle. I was as impressed as the younger listeners, although it seemed that perhaps a little braggadocio was involved.
A big black thunderstorm was rapidly building to the west so we decided it would be wise to begin our descent. We quickly slid down the gully, bypassing a couple of other hikers going down who politely stood aside and let us by. We kept an eye on the thunderstorm as we scampered across the boulder field and hustled down into the basin below. Lightning was starting to crackle through the sky and sheets of rain were approaching. I wondered where the Boy Scouts were now. We began to get wet as we neared timberline and stopped to put on our raincoats. We hiked at a rapid clip down through the woods back into the valley as the rain steadily pattered down. As we walked down the gentle trail on the valley floor the clouds moved away and the sun came back out just before we reached the trailhead.
We sat by my truck and rested for a while and gazed up at the high rugged slopes to the east that were now bathed in the bright sunshine. When we drove back down the road out of the valley I turned back and admired the view of Blanca Peak, with a grove of aspens in the foreground, and resolved that I would like to come back here someday to see that scene in the fall when the colors had turned. This was certainly a pretty spot, and I was glad that mountain climbing had once again taken me on an adventure to visit a new and beautiful place.
