OTHER Trip Report 12/12/2008

Peak(s):	Cabezon Peak - 7785
Date Posted:	12/12/2008
Date Climbed:	12/05/2008
Author:	desert_diver

Cabezon Peak, New Mexico
Todd and I decided to see how far our climbing skills and physical fitness had deteriorated after an unwanted pause in our climbing careers by climbing Cabezon Peak in New Mexico. Our goal! The drive to Cabezon was uneventful. There is no sign for Cabezon Peak on northbound US 550, however there is a sign for 3 small towns, Cabezon, Torreon, and San Luis. The turn off is between mile markers 41 and 42. The road turns to dirt south of San Luis. Take the left hand fork south of San Luis then turn left a sign describing Cabezon Peak. The dirt road was in pretty good shape. We put our gear together and signed the register at 9 am. It was chilly, but the sky was clear and the wind was gentle. We generally followed Roach's description, which Todd found at http://www.climb.mountains.com/Classic_Peaks_files/New_Mexico_Classics_files/Cabezon.htm. Roach's description of the hike is basically sound. We left the hiking trail and climbed a trail up a scree slope and a few sections of solid rock, to just below the narrow, southeast facing gully. Roach describes this a white gully, but we didn't find that a helpful description, as we didn't see much white rock. Look for cairns on the hiking trail to mark the place to turn up the scree slope. The outer edge of the narrow gully is a fairly obvious ridge which stands out from the main mass of the peak. The gully is the only place I saw with large colonies of moss and lichen, which makes it visually stand out from the rest of the peak. The narrow gully is about 1/3 of the way from the right edge of this image. Jon at the entrance to the narrow gully. We made the climb past the crux of the route easier by using a length of webbing to hoist our packs over the crux. Immediately above the crux there is a good spot to rest before tackling the rest of the climb. There are two choices to exit the top of narrow gully. To the climber's left, the moves are slightly harder, but the route isn't exposed. To the climber's right, the moves are easier, but more exposed. Top of the narrow gully, from above. Above the gully, there is a short, mostly horizontal section of trail. Before the juniper tree, there are two sections of class 2+ climbing which Roach doesn't describe. Cairns mark the approximate route. We found it easiest to stay close to the peak. There are several possible routes up the final wall to the summit. We chose a route in the middle of the wall. Even though there is a path from the top of the wall to the summit, we took care to memorize landmarks so we would be sure of finding the correct location to climb down. The wind shelter at the top was welcome, as the wind had picked up. Our ascent took 2 hrs. Obligatory hero photos! We didn't have many options to vary our route on the descent. Above the crux at the bottom of the narrow gully, we chose to rope up. This is one of the few spots on the route where one could place protection. Descending the scree slope wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Summary: Cabezon is a fun climb in it's own right and a great practice for 14ers. About half the total elevation gain of this climb, or 600', is achieved through class 2+ or 3 climbing. I appreciated the opportunity to re-calibrate my own personal difficulty scale against Roach's descriptions, which will give me insight into the descriptions in his book about climbing Colorado's 14ers. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Cabezon Peak, New Mexico

Todd and I decided to see how far our climbing skills and physical fitness had deteriorated after an unwanted pause in our climbing careers by climbing Cabezon Peak in New Mexico.

Our goal!

The drive to Cabezon was uneventful. There is no sign for Cabezon Peak on northbound US 550, however there is a sign for 3 small towns, Cabezon, Torreon, and San Luis. The turn off is between mile markers 41 and 42. The road turns to dirt south of San Luis. Take the left hand fork south of San Luis then turn left a sign describing Cabezon Peak. The dirt road was in pretty good shape.

We put our gear together and signed the register at 9 am. It was chilly, but the sky was clear and the wind was gentle. We generally followed Roach's description, which Todd found at http://www.climb.mountains.com/Classic_Peaks_files/New_Mexico_Classics_files/Cabezon.htm. Roach's description of the hike is basically sound.

We left the hiking trail and climbed a trail up a scree slope and a few sections of solid rock, to just below the narrow, southeast facing gully. Roach describes this a white gully, but we didn't find that a helpful description, as we didn't see much white rock. Look for cairns on the hiking trail to mark the place to turn up the scree slope.

The outer edge of the narrow gully is a fairly obvious ridge which stands out from the main mass of the peak. The gully is the only place I saw with large colonies of moss and lichen, which makes it visually stand out from the rest of the peak.

The narrow gully is about 1/3 of the way from the right edge of this image.

Jon at the entrance to the narrow gully.

We made the climb past the crux of the route easier by using a length of webbing to hoist our packs over the crux. Immediately above the crux there is a good spot to rest before tackling the rest of the climb. There are two choices to exit the top of narrow gully. To the climber's left, the moves are slightly harder, but the route isn't exposed. To the climber's right, the moves are easier, but more exposed.

Top of the narrow gully, from above.

Above the gully, there is a short, mostly horizontal section of trail. Before the juniper tree, there are two sections of class 2+ climbing which Roach doesn't describe. Cairns mark the approximate route. We found it easiest to stay close to the peak.

There are several possible routes up the final wall to the summit. We chose a route in the middle of the wall. Even though there is a path from the top of the wall to the summit, we took care to memorize landmarks so we would be sure of finding the correct location to climb down. The wind shelter at the top was welcome, as the wind had picked up. Our ascent took 2 hrs.

Obligatory hero photos!

We didn't have many options to vary our route on the descent. Above the crux at the bottom of the narrow gully, we chose to rope up. This is one of the few spots on the route where one could place protection. Descending the scree slope wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Summary: Cabezon is a fun climb in it's own right and a great practice for 14ers. About half the total elevation gain of this climb, or 600', is achieved through class 2+ or 3 climbing. I appreciated the opportunity to re-calibrate my own personal difficulty scale against Roach's descriptions, which will give me insight into the descriptions in his book about climbing Colorado's 14ers.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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