MARBLE MOUNTAIN
13,266 ft.
October 17, 2002
By Tim Briese
The Upper Sand Creek Valley in the Sangre de Cristos is a scenic place to visit, and it also provides access to several fine 13ers, so when I read about it I knew it was a place I had to go see. The season was getting late, though, so I wasn’t sure about the snow or weather conditions I might encounter for climbing. I decided to go visit the valley on a scouting expedition and perhaps try to climb Tijeras Peak (13,604') or Milwaukee Peak (13,522') if conditions permitted.
I left home at 4:30 a.m. and drove into the mountains under a star-filled sky. Dawn was just breaking as I headed down Highway 169 into the Wet Mountain Valley south of Westcliffe toward the dark, rugged forms of the Sangre de Cristo peaks that loomed to the southwest. I began to follow the county road I had taken many times toward South Colony Basin but this time I turned left at a signed fork in the valley and followed the route eight miles to the Music Pass Trailhead. The last two and a half miles were on a narrow four wheel drive road, but it was quite moderate by Sangre standards and this section took only about twenty minutes to drive up.
There was no one else at the trailhead when I hit the trail at 7:40 with my enthusiastic labs Allie and Jorie. It was clear and cold, and a steady breeze blew through the woods. I hiked briskly a little over a mile up to Music Pass, gaining about 700 feet of elevation from the trailhead. I was greeted by a spectacular view of the Upper Sand Creek Valley on the other side. Directly across the valley stood Tijeras Peak, with its dramatic profile reminding me of Pigeon Peak or the Crestone Needle. I pulled out my topo map and studied the other summits ringing the valley, identifying as many as I could. Up at the end of the valley lay a saddle between Marble Mountain and Milwaukee Peak, and I knew that South Colony Basin with its spectacular 14ers was just on the other side. A strong, cold gale was whipping around me and forced me to quickly fold up my map and put my gloves back on. I decided to save a climb of Tijeras for another day after noting a considerable mantle of snow on its north-facing cliff band that the route goes up through. It looked too dangerous for a safe solo ascent today.
After admiring the grand views from this wonderful vantage point I continued on the fine trail and descended 400 feet to a meadow in the floor of the valley below. I was eager to explore this special place. Continuing up the trail I soon came to a spur trail that led to Lower Sand Creek Lake, but I decided to hike on up the valley to the upper lake instead. The trail entered the timber and crossed Sand Creek as it gently ascended. I stopped for a moment to enjoy a fine view of Tijeras Peak through the trees. There were a few patches of hard snow along the trail here and there but not enough to hinder my progress. After about a mile I came to another marked spur and followed its switchbacks upward for a half mile or so to the upper lake, where I arrived at 9:45. Upper Sand Creek Lake lies in a broad bowl at 11,745 ft. with a spectacular backdrop of Music Mountain (13,355') towering directly above to the southwest. To the northwest the rugged ramparts of Milwaukee Peak jutted into the sky. A cold wind whipped across the surface of the icy lake, but that didn’t hinder my labs from plunging into the cold water to retrieve a few sticks that I threw in for them.
As I sat on the shore of the lake I pondered where to hike from there. I wanted to ascend further into the upper reaches of the valley to explore what secrets it might hold. I was especially attracted to the idea of climbing to the saddle to have a look at South Colony Basin on the other side, supposing that the views might be spectacular. I considered an attempt to climb Milwaukee Peak, but was dissuaded by Garratt and Martin’s mention of a very exposed two foot wide ledge that I would have to tackle on its difficult north ridge. A wind-whipped, snow-covered ledge didn’t sound like a very good place to be today. Then the idea occurred to me to climb to the saddle and follow the easy ridge around to the east to Marble Mountain, and that prospect appealed to me most of all. That way I could see the views from the saddle and still climb a mountain today, even if it was a peak I had never considered climbing before.
From the lake I could have dropped a few hundred feet back down through the timber into the valley and then climbed toward the saddle at the valley’s upper end, but I instead chose to bushwhack up a grassy slope northwest of the lake over a buttress below Milwaukee. I hoped that I would find the unseen terrain on the other side manageable. As it turned out this route afforded a fine view of the lake and the valley from above. Fortunately the terrain on the other side was indeed manageable, so I contoured along a steep slope high above the floor of the valley and aimed for the saddle. I had to deal with some snow on these northeast-facing slopes, but it was packed hard enough that I didn’t need to use my gaiters. Jorie was excited when two white ptarmigans fluttered into the air from their icy hiding spot. I was soon in the far north end of the valley just 200 feet below the Milwaukee/Marble saddle.
I quickly climbed up the grass and rock covered slope to the 12,740 foot saddle and was greeted by a stupendous view of South Colony Basin and the Crestone Needle on the other side. This was indeed a dramatic position, as I was perched on a crest between two spectacular drainages. The view of the Needle from this perspective was one of the finest views of it I had ever seen. Just to the northwest lay Broken Hand Peak. Far below I could see the South Colony Trailhead and the trail up to the South Colony Lakes I had been on so many times before. It was quite a thrill to see it all from this new bird’s-eye perspective. This morning I hiked about six miles from the Music Pass Trailhead to reach this privileged position.
After a break I headed southeast along the ridge toward Marble Mountain, the high point on the ridge nearly a mile away. I climbed over two points along the way but generally stayed to the right of the crest to stay out of the fierce north wind. This sunny side of the ridge had the additional advantage of being mostly free of snow, too. The ridge that I followed is the one that towers high above to the south side of the rough four wheel drive road to South Colony Basin. I had often gazed up at this ridge while going up that road before, not realizing that I would someday be climbing on it. The ridge was generally easy but became a little rough over the last quarter of a mile. At about 12:45 I stepped atop the windswept summit of Marble Mountain. The surrounding grandeur was spectacular, especially the rugged summits across the valley to the west. There was no official register on the summit, but a list of visitors on a notepad in a glass jar showed that about fifteen people had been here this year, with over half of them being members of a single party that came one day during the summer.
My plan was to return back to a previous point on the ridge and then descend down a long grassy slope back into the upper end of the Sand Creek Valley, but it occurred to me that it might be more expedient and entertaining to continue southeasterly another mile or so on the ridge to a saddle at 12,450 feet before dropping back into the valley, so that is what I decided to do. It was sheer fun hiking along the crest of this marvelous ridge, with the birds-eye view of the valley and the surrounding summits that it afforded. I came here today to explore this beautiful area and see as much of it as I could, but this far exceeded my expectations. What a grand hike this was!
When I approached the saddle on the ridge south of Marble Mountain I began to question my plan to drop back down into the valley there, realizing that I would have to bushwhack through the timber below for a ways to regain the Sand Creek Trail and then reclimb 400 feet back up to Music Pass. Why not follow the ridge all the way back to the pass, I thought!
I did not want to climb up over Point 12,650 that lay ahead of me so I decided to contour around its right side. Jorie began to chase four elk that we startled grazing on the high grassy slopes but I called her off. The terrain became rougher on the southwest side of the point and I found it necessary to cross a couple of steep, rocky gullies. Then I hiked past some massive rock towers and descended into a gnarly wooded area lower on the ridge as the Music Pass Trail came into sight. This was truly a magnificent ridge hike covering some three and a half miles from the Milwaukee/Marble saddle to Music Pass. I thoroughly enjoy the euphoric experience of hiking along the crest of ridges, and this one provided some of the most panoramic scenery I had seen on a ridge hike.
My tired feet were glad to get back on the trail at Music Pass, though, for I had covered a lot of miles on rough off-trail hiking. The dogs were tired, too, and lay down to rest at every opportunity. I briskly hiked down the easy trail back to the trailhead under the deep blue autumn sky. The crisp air, which remained crystal clear, enhanced the beauty of all I saw today. At 3:15 I returned to the trailhead, completing the rugged ten and a half mile hike. I was tired and sore. The many grueling hikes that I have done in the Sangre de Cristos always seem to take their toll on my body. I don’t mind a bit, though, for the Sangres are one of my favorite places to hike. I certainly wanted to return to this special place again.
