Sangres

[RWinters]

I am looking at the forecast and it looks cold with little snow or moisture for the Sangres Friday-Sunday. I need the Sangre experts (and others) to weigh in. I'm looking to try Adams, Huerfano, & California. Should I expect snow? How much? What about the road past Singing River...is it good for a stock 4wd to upper Huerfano TH?

[Phill the Thrill]

I'm no expert in the Sangres, but we were there this past weekend climbing Blanca/Ellingwood/Lindsey. First, regarding the road to Upper Huerfano/Lily Lake TH - a stock 4WD with decent clearance (8" or more) should have no problems with careful driving. We encountered some snow/ice in the couloirs and found microspikes to be very useful. I got a good look at Huerfano from Lindsey and it looked snow-free to me. In any case, I'd advise carrying microspikes at a minimum - better to have them when you need them!

As far as the forecast goes, it looks pretty mild to me for this coming weekend, but yes it's getting colder.

[RyGuy]

California and Huerfano will be pretty easy, even with a bit of snow. Just bring Microspikes in case you need some traction. You should have no issues getting up to the 4WD TH for Huerfano, and the Zapata TH for California is lower down on the same road. (I did California just this weekend and climbed Huerfano in late November a few years back with snow)

As for Adams, I have only climbed it via Willow Creek/Crestone and then headed north into the basin at Willow Lake. With a bit of snow, the upper sections of Adams could be a bit of an issue. Below about 13,000, I wouldn't see an issue. It's fairly easy terrain. Just make sure you are good with route-finding since there isn't much of a trail.

-Ryan

[bdloftin77]

Is the route on California from the Zapata Falls TH (west side, a bit south of the Sand Dunes) not too bad with a bit of snow? My girlfriend and I are thinking about staying at the Sand Dunes this weekend and possibly going for California on Saturday. She's a bit newer to hiking and such. The route from the Huerfano side up the north ridge is class 1, and the route from the Zapata Falls TH is class 2, so it hopefully shouldn't be too bad... with any snow falling on Thursday hopefully melting out a bit by Saturday.. That's my guess/hope.

[RyGuy]

Is the route on California from the Zapata Falls TH (west side, a bit south of the Sand Dunes) not too bad with a bit of snow? My girlfriend and I are thinking about staying at the Sand Dunes this weekend and possibly going for California on Saturday. She's a bit newer to hiking and such. The route from the Huerfano side up the north ridge is class 1, and the route from the Zapata Falls TH is class 2, so it hopefully shouldn't be too bad... with any snow falling on Thursday hopefully melting out a bit by Saturday.. That's my guess/hope.

Should be fine, but honestly consider doing it from the Huerfano side. The Aspens there are at peak and the scenery on that side is FAR better. I am considering making California from the Huerfano side a yearly trip just to enjoy the Aspens there and the stellar views after last weekend.

-Ryan

[highpilgrim]

Is the route on California from the Zapata Falls TH (west side, a bit south of the Sand Dunes) not too bad with a bit of snow?

No, it's not. However, it is just shy of 5000' vert (in a little more than 9 miles) and the stretch from the lower to upper portion is on a fairly rugged hogback ridge. It will be a full day but worth the effort. The view from there to the Blanca Massif is amazing. There were nice aspens along the way, but I'm guessing they'll be past their prime this weekend. We climbed it Sunday, a week ago.

I can post a pic in the morning.

[TallGrass]

I've done various routes for both California and Adams. For California I went up from Zapata and out via Lily Lake TH by going north a ways then east down the side and through the woods to intercept the trail (not recommended). I'd say the Zapata route is more scenic and go for it, bdloftin. CA from Lily has no water sources, but 2 to 3 spots for water via Zapata. PM for more beta. If you're feeling spunky you can ridge over towards Ellingwood and take a different route back to Zapata.

I've done Adams twice, and gone up via Horn Creek then over and down to Willow Lake by Challenger. Horn Creek is a better route IMHO and more scrambly fun along the ridge. Horn Creek has two THs, the first one is a spur with nicer trail to Rainbow, the latter one has the outhouse but a rockier trail to Rainbow -- the HC trail continues W between where the two hit Rainbow. Don't go down the gulley on Adams as it cliffs out, though there is a ledge you can army crawl to get to a keyhole and slither through packless to get back on the ridge.

For Huerfano Peak, bag Iron Nipple along the way and you can traverse low around it to the east on the way back. I was among the last to use the old road, and among the first to exit via the new path.

[bdloftin77]

Ryan, thanks! I did the Iron Nipple, Huerfano, Lindsey, and Huerfanito last Sunday. It was beautiful!! Especially the drive back out during the daytime, along the dirt road with all the changing aspens. Do you think the aspens might still be at their peak this Saturday? Hopefully all the leaves will still be there.. I was thinking Zapata Falls because it's only a short drive to the Sand Dunes from there, whereas from the lower Huerfano TH (to take Roach's "classic" north ridge route of CA) it's about a 2.5+ hour drive to get to the Sand Dunes. But it might be worth it...

Highpilgrim, yep, it'll be a long day. But not too bad for my gf, since it'll be just class 2. (she did my finisher, Pyramid, with me, and it was about 11.5 hours including 1.5 at the top) Hmm... so you think the aspens might be past their peak? If so, Zapata Falls might be more logical. If we don't go from the Huerfano side, I might just have to go back next fall from that side like Ryan was talking about.

Tallgrass, (just to clarify), when you say Zapata, are you meaning Zapata Falls from the west side, or the Zapata trail from the lower Huerfano TH that goes to the N ridge from the east side? I could see how a loop would work from the east side in Huerfano basin, going up the N ridge, then down to Lily Lake, then out. My debate was.. do Zapata Falls TH and be closer to the Sand Dunes, or do the lower Huerfano TH and the N ridge for better scenery, but then a 2.5+ hour drive from CR 580 to Hwy 160 to CR 150 to the Sand Dunes. If the aspens are still at their peak, it might be worth it... Thanks for the Adams advice.. I'll probably do that next year, and might go the Horn Creek route.

[TallGrass]

Z as in SZL to N Fork trail then fork left. The N ridge to CA is just a hill walk. If you've done Huerfano, go for SZL to CA for better views. I'd like to go back and do Ellingwood's N ridge proper. The "N Ridge" under routes for it is actually a WEST spur. Few take the N ridge past that fork.

[RyGuy]

Ryan, thanks! I did the Iron Nipple, Huerfano, Lindsey, and Huerfanito last Sunday. It was beautiful!! Especially the drive back out during the daytime, along the dirt road with all the changing aspens. Do you think the aspens might still be at their peak this Saturday? Hopefully all the leaves will still be there.. I was thinking Zapata Falls because it's only a short drive to the Sand Dunes from there, whereas from the lower Huerfano TH (to take Roach's "classic" north ridge route of CA) it's about a 2.5+ hour drive to get to the Sand Dunes. But it might be worth it...

I think the Aspens will be just past peak but probably still going decently. So since you were up there last weekend, you know the scenery I am referring to.

-Ryan

[highpilgrim]

This is from two Saturdays ago.

zapata 1.jpg (305.88 KiB) Viewed 990 times

[rijaca]

Blanca from Cali....(on 9/25)

Blanca group.JPG (211.53 KiB) Viewed 945 times