PT. 13,524
SPREAD EAGLE PEAK
(13,423')October 31, 2008
By Tim Briese
9 1/2 miles, 4600' elevation gain, 8:25 roundtrip time
I couldn=t resist returning to the Sangre de Cristos to climb more thirteeners even though I had just been there four days before. Beautiful autumn weather and remarkably snow-free conditions presented an opportunity not to be missed. I drove up the North Taylor Creek road with my lab Allie and four-wheeled to a point just beyond the road=s intersection with the Rainbow Trail, where I parked at an elevation of about 9500 feet. At 7:45 I began hiking up the road and followed it three quarters of a mile to its end, where I continued up the valley on the North Taylor Creek trail. I encountered almost no snow or blown down trees on this trail, in contrast to the Horn Creek trail which I had been on earlier in the week. A few minutes past 9:30 I reached Megan Lake, which lies at an elevation of about 11,500 feet. Rito Alto Peak towered above the lake directly to the west. While sitting on a grassy spot east of the lake taking a break I observed Pt. 13,524 and Spread Eagle Peak through the trees to the north. (Pt. 13,524 is also referred to as "Cloud Peak" on my topo map, but this does not seem to be a commonly used name for this peak.)
After the break I left the trail and bushwhacked northward along the crest of a ridge through the last of the trees and presently emerged on a vast, gentle grassy slope below the 12,900 foot saddle between the two peaks. I steadily hiked up the grassy slope under the watchful gaze of Rito Alto. Rather than hike up to the saddle I angled up to the left and intersected the Point=s east ridge at about 13,100 feet. From there it was a moderate stroll on easy grass up to the summit, where I arrived at 11:25.
It was a fine day to sit atop a mountain summit, with a temperature of 35 degrees and just a slight wind blowing. Rito Alto towered grandly a mile to the south, and Megan Lake looked like a tiny frozen pond far below. About 20 climbers this year had signed a register I found, with the most recent having been here a few weeks before. After 25 minutes on the summit I left and was on my way to Spread Eagle. I rapidly hiked down to the saddle and continued eastward along the ridge, climbing over a broad hump and losing about 100 feet of elevation gain in the process. The upper ridge of Spread Eagle looked steep and rocky, with a significant notch that caught my attention. I began to wonder if I was getting into more of a climb than I had bargained for. I hoped there was a viable route on the other side of the ridge to get around the notch, because the west side of the ridge was very steep and cliffy. When I made my way along the crest of the ridge up to the notch, I found that there was indeed a rough, exposed route on a faint trail around to the right. I proceeded cautiously up the steep, loose east face of the peak and stepped on the summit at 12:45, just under an hour after I had left the Point. While the Point had turned out to be an easy climb, Spread Eagle from this approach was harder than I expected.
I spent 35 minutes on top gazing about at the splendid views. The Crestones formed an impressive jagged skyline off to the south, and the Wet Mountain Valley was spread out broadly below to the east. I carefully studied Silver Peak and Mt. Marcy off to the northwest with an eye toward a future climb. It was also interesting to look back at my route coming across from the Point today. After soaking it all in for a while I began my descent. I started back down the steep, rocky east face but presently became a little disoriented and wasn=t sure if I was on the right route. Fortunately this seldom happens to me, but this time I had failed to pay close enough attention to the route on the way up and became a little confused by an abundance of faint trails on this precariously steep terrain. I ended up dropping down too low and had to carefully climb back up to the vicinity of the notch. Once I made it back atop the crest of the ridge below the notch it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I did not return all the way to the saddle but elected instead to make a direct descent to the southeast into the Taylor Creek drainage, on a fun and interesting bushwhack on grassy slopes and then through the woods lower down. I descended about 2000 feet on this descent and eventually intercepted the trail in the valley at about 11,100 feet elevation. After a short break I hiked back down the trail and returned to my truck at 4:10 p.m.
The sun was setting as I drove through Westcliffe on my way home, and I was reminded that it was Halloween when I saw a large group of young trick-or-treaters congregating outside of a building. They appeared excited and eager to begin receiving their treats, while I had already received my Halloween treat, a wonderful day of climbing in the mountains.
