WEST BUFFALO PEAK
13,326 ft.
August 30, 1998
By Tim Briese
The Buffalo Peaks stand proudly above the Arkansas River Valley a few miles north of Buena Vista. Although they may be overshadowed to some extent by their taller 14er neighbors in the Sawatch Range across the valley to the west, their isolated prominence is singularly striking. It was this very prominence that called me forth to come and climb them.
On a sunny morning in late August I drove to the Fourmile Trailhead with my eleven year old daughter Emily. Our plan was to backpack partway up the Tumble Creek Trail and climb West Buffalo the following morning. We began hiking on the gentle trail up the Fourmile Creek Valley with our two labs and presently entered the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Area. We hiked through fluttering groves of green aspens and past numerous beaver ponds for about a mile and a half before selecting a spot to camp along the eastern edge of a broad meadow in the flat valley.
Early in the evening we settled in and started a fire to cook our dinner. Soon we had a cheery and crackling blaze going, but we observed with alarm that it began to spread rapidly into nearby tinder, for conditions were very dry. We frantically hauled water from a small stream nearby with plastic sacks to douse the hungry flames and a few minutes later brought it under control. That is the closest I have ever come to starting a forest fire!
The next morning we rose at dawn and were greeted to a frosty scene in the meadow outside out tent. After warming ourselves with a more carefully built fire and fortifying ourselves with breakfast we headed north up the valley on the still gentle trail. Soon the terrain steepened and we switchbacked up to Buffalo Pass, at about 11,500 feet. There was a broad, flat area here and we saw another backpacker’s tent set back in the trees. We left the trail and struck off uphill to the east through the last of the sparse woods and presently broke out into open tundra above timberline. A fine view of the Sawatch off to the west served well to reinvigorate us.
We bushwhacked upward on an ascending traverse of West Buffalo’s broad west slopes toward the summit, which was about a mile and a half east of Buffalo Pass. We enjoyed numerous stands of colorful wildflowers adorning the grassy slopes, still vibrant even though the end of their growing season was very near. We skirted around the south side of Point 12,917 and crossed a small drainage as our lofty goal loomed nearer. The dogs stopped for a cool drink of water out of a tiny pool that lay in a lush grassy depression. The terrain was steeper and rocky on the final 500 feet of the ascent, and we tediously worked our way up across the dark volcanic rocks.
A little after 11:00 we stepped on the summit. It was a spectacular vantage point from which to observe the entire Sawatch Range that lay in a magnificent sweeping array to the west. The sky was clear and blue, with a scant few puffy white clouds drifting above. We carefully counted twenty-seven 14ers that were visible.
There was a small cross planted atop the mountain, perhaps commemorating someone’s loved one. Indeed, this was quite an inspirational place, surrounded by the grandeur of Creation. We did not see another soul on the climb all day.
Around noon we left the summit and began our descent. It was an easy hike back down across the gentle tundra. In short order we were back down at the pass and soon thereafter reached our camp. We packed up and hiked back out to the trailhead, where we arrived about 3 p.m. We hiked a total of about ten miles and climbed about 3400 feet of elevation gain on this memorable outing to climb a fine peak.
