July 17-18, 2016

By Tim Briese

July 17, Backpack to Willow Lake: 5.2 miles, 2800’ elevation gain, 3:15 time

July 17, Unnamed 13546: 2.7 miles, 1900’ elevation gain from camp, 5:10 roundtrip time

July 18, Unnamed 13541: 3.9 miles, 1900’ elevation gain from camp, 6:40 roundtrip time

July 18, Pack out: 5.2 miles, 0 elevation gain, 3:10 time

Total: 17.0 miles, 6600’ elevation gain

I drove to the Willow Creek Trailhead near Crestone the evening before the climb for a truck camp that night. Brian pulled in a few minutes after I arrived. When I stepped out of my truck I was immediately greeted by a swarm of voracious mosquitoes, which would remain our constant companions over the next two days. The next morning we headed up the trail at 6 am. We made good time packing up the excellent trail, finding that we could ill afford to stop because the mosquitoes were so annoying! We looked for a campsite in the wooded meadows just before reaching Willow Lake but saw crowds of other campers there, and the mosquitoes were especially bad there too. We continued further and found a nice site on a small wooded bench a few hundred feet above the north side of the lake.

taking a break at camp.  brian is wearing a coat and hat for mosquito protection.

We took an hour or so to set up camp and take a break before embarking to climb UN 13546 at about 1020.

looking down at willow lake as we climbed up away from it

We climbed north up a steep grassy slope above camp to a basin below our peak and Mt. Adams. We hiked about half a mile across the basin skirting around patches of willows then went up a steep slope to a 12,850’ foot saddle between Unnamed 13546 and Adams.

hiking up across the basin.  challenger point is beyond at the left.

we hiked up to the saddle at the upper right

After a nice break at the saddle we headed west up the relatively easy ridge and climbed 700’ to the summit of 13546. 

on the ridge to the summit

approaching the summit

We arrived on top about 1 pm. I thought we would probably climb up and away from the mosquitoes, but no, a few of the hungriest ones followed us all the way to the summit! I don’t think I’ve ever climbed a high peak before where mosquitoes were a bother all the way from the trailhead to the summit. There’s a first time for everything I guess! It was a beautiful day, though, and we sat on top for an hour enjoying the wonderful views.

brian enjoying the nice view of the crestones and kit carson.  willow lake is below at the left.

mt. adams

view to the north of south crestone lake

the san luis valley

On our way down we stopped to filter water at a small seepage in the basin before returning to camp at 330.

view of willow lake on our descent.  tomorrow's peak, unnamed 13541, is at the upper left.

The mosquitoes were so bad at camp that we were forced to retreat to our tents to get away from them, which was kind of hot for a while with the sun beating down on the tents. When we briefly stepped out of the tents in the evening we had to wear our wind coats, hoods, and gloves for mosquito protection.

the view of peaks across the valley at sunset from camp

The next morning we left camp about 6 am to climb Unnamed 13541. We expected a fairly simple and trouble-free climb but it turned out to be a little more challenging. We followed the main trail around the lake that goes to Kit Carson and Challenger Peaks. We left the trail at the upper end of Willow Lake above the waterfall, and bushwhacked up the valley above the lake, skirting around extensive stands of willows as best we could. Our peak loomed high above to the left, but a direct ascent was not possible because of extensive cliff bands. We continued about a mile up the valley to about 12,300 feet, and finally began climbing up the slopes to the left when the terrain permitted.

un 13541 is at the upper left.  we went up the valley to the far right, they angled left up toward the summit.

We observed a herd of 8-10 bighorn sheep ambling across the slopes nearby.

these guys were not particularly alarmed by our presence

the slopes above that we climbed

We climbed up the steep slope on some grass and a lot of talus and angled back to the left toward our summit, in search of a moderate gully that we had read would lead us up to the ridge near the summit. The gully was difficult to find because we had not been able to properly preview the complicated terrain from below. We headed up toward the ridge too soon and found ourselves in steep slabby terrain.

the terrain became more challenging

The summit ridge was not more than a few hundred feet above us now. We left our trekking poles behind and climbed up a class 4 crack and angled left into a class 3 gully, then angled left some more and entered the upper end of the class 2+ gully that we were looking for. We should have stayed lower longer until we found the correct gully. The entire climb need not have been any more difficult than class 2+. At any rate we quickly scrambled on up to the crest of the narrow ridge and went a few feet to the small rocky summit, where we arrived at 1040. I think I remarked to Brian, only half in jest, that I’m getting a little old for this kind of steep, rough climbing. The views from the summit were dramatic.

brian on the summit ridge

brian checking out a nearby point

kit carson peak across the valley

willow lake, and un 13546 that we climbed yesterday

view to the northeast of macey lakes

humboldt peak

We rested on top for half an hour before leaving. We went down the class 2+ gully a couple of hundred feet until the terrain permitted an exit to the left. Fortunately Brian had set a GPS waypoint where we had left our poles so we could find them and we were able to scramble back over to get them. We returned down the steep slope to the valley and tramped back to camp.

view of willow lake on the way back to camp.  this area is one of the most scenic places in the sangre de cristos.

After packing up we hiked back down the trail, once again wearing coats and head protection because of the mosquitoes, which I found to be rather uncomfortable in the afternoon heat. It rained a little shortly before we got back to the trailhead, where we arrived a few minutes before 5 pm.