Humboldt Peak Trip Report 03/13/2016

Peak(s):	Humboldt Peak - 14,068 feet
Date Posted:	03/13/2016
Date Climbed:	03/12/2016
Author:	Psemin42

Humbol(dt) Beginnings to 2016 - East Ridge
Humboldt Peak - East Ridge 3/12/2016 Mileage - Approx. 13.5 RT Time - 9.5 hours This is my first trip report so hang in there with me, I decided to start writing these so I can remember my trips later in life and to hopefully provide some insight on these mountains. My goal after I graduated from college last May was to complete the remaining 14ers before starting the "real world", sadly I was unable to complete the list and now I am behind my climbing friend who bagged all 58, ranked and unranked, peaks in a calendar year...impressive! So I have now become a weekend warrior and decided to start off 2016 with a safe winter ascent of Humboldt Peak's East Ridge. After work on Friday I hit the road on my way to the beautiful Sangre de Cristo range, sadly I drove in the dark but if you have the opportunity to make this drive during the day I would recommend it because this range rises out of no where and is majestic! I got to the trail head and immediately climbed into my mobile home that is the back of my jeep. As most recent weeks have been, there was not much threat of poor weather so I slept in and was on the trail about 5:15am. The first .75 miles of the road is dry and the remaining portion from the winter closure to the Rainbow TH is packed well enough for boots. With the lack of snowfall in the range the turnoff to cross the creek is very clear and the remaining route finding is pretty straight forward. If you start early enough, you can make it about a third of the way up the ridge before any type of flotation is required. As mentioned before, there is a distinct snowshoe path that winds through the trees and eventually plops you out right on the ridge. Snowshoe/Boot packed trail up the ridge below treeline I reached treeline about 7:30, I forgot how exhausting snowshoes can be, I stashed these right at treeline since it was obvious I would not need them again. Once you are out of the trees the route is pretty straight forward and the term "winter ascent" needs to be used in the lightest of terms when it comes to the current conditions. The dry route from treeline to the false summit If you really wanted to, you could probably avoid having to take a single step on snow all the way up, it is actually pretty sad! I am currently an accountant and I think sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day has really killed my mountain stamina because this ridge was a lot more exhausting than it needed to be! If you are in good shape this ridge poses little physical challenge with the slope never getting overly steep. Once you reach the false summit, the real summit comes into view and you start to get the amazing views of the Sangre de Cristos. The remaining ridge to the summit, hug the ridgeline on the right for the best route and for the most fun If you are feeling a little more adventurous, hugging the ridgeline the rest of the way up gives you some pretty good exposure to the cliff edge on your right. With the minimal snow coverage the final few hundred feet up to the summit are probably mild class 2 scrambling, that again you can make more fun by hugging the ridgeline. I reached the summit at 9:30 and it was an absolutely perfect day up there! I was able to boil up some water for the tasty treat of a warm hot chocolate and enjoy the thing that keeps me coming back...the breath taking views Colorado has to offer. Nothing better than the Beauty of Colorado The Crestones were looking daunting yet inviting as always. The Crestones are looking amazing per usual The weather couldn't have been more inviting for a nap so after snapping the mandatory picture with my Colorado flag list, 33 down!, I laid down for a quick snooze. 33 down! I left the summit about 10:30 for the descent that I was not looking forward to. Due to the very minimal snow coverage this winter 14er offered no reprieve from the knee stressing descent in the form of good glissading options. I was able to parkour from one 20ft glissade to another but for the most part it is your average hike down. Once I got back to the snowshoes the sun had worked its magic on the snow below treeline and it was a very slow slog back down the ridge, I was post holing left and right even with the snowshoes. I just bought new Redfeather snow shoes, and they were worthless and one completely bent out of shape on this first trip. Has anyone else had problems with this brand of snowshoe? Even with the death trap that was these snowshoes I made it back to the road, which was still packed nicely even after a day of sun. I got back to my car at 1:45 for a round trip time of 9.5 hours. Overall with the current conditions and lack of snow this route is pretty straight forward and simple when it comes to winter 14ers. But it always feels good getting out there and taking down some mountain mileage!! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Humbol(dt) Beginnings to 2016 - East Ridge

Humboldt Peak - East Ridge
3/12/2016
Mileage - Approx. 13.5 RT
Time - 9.5 hours

This is my first trip report so hang in there with me, I decided to start writing these so I can remember my trips later in life and to hopefully provide some insight on these mountains.

My goal after I graduated from college last May was to complete the remaining 14ers before starting the "real world", sadly I was unable to complete the list and now I am behind my climbing friend who bagged all 58, ranked and unranked, peaks in a calendar year...impressive! So I have now become a weekend warrior and decided to start off 2016 with a safe winter ascent of Humboldt Peak's East Ridge.

After work on Friday I hit the road on my way to the beautiful Sangre de Cristo range, sadly I drove in the dark but if you have the opportunity to make this drive during the day I would recommend it because this range rises out of no where and is majestic! I got to the trail head and immediately climbed into my mobile home that is the back of my jeep. As most recent weeks have been, there was not much threat of poor weather so I slept in and was on the trail about 5:15am. The first .75 miles of the road is dry and the remaining portion from the winter closure to the Rainbow TH is packed well enough for boots. With the lack of snowfall in the range the turnoff to cross the creek is very clear and the remaining route finding is pretty straight forward. If you start early enough, you can make it about a third of the way up the ridge before any type of flotation is required. As mentioned before, there is a distinct snowshoe path that winds through the trees and eventually plops you out right on the ridge.

Snowshoe/Boot packed trail up the ridge below treeline

I reached treeline about 7:30, I forgot how exhausting snowshoes can be, I stashed these right at treeline since it was obvious I would not need them again. Once you are out of the trees the route is pretty straight forward and the term "winter ascent" needs to be used in the lightest of terms when it comes to the current conditions.

The dry route from treeline to the false summit

If you really wanted to, you could probably avoid having to take a single step on snow all the way up, it is actually pretty sad! I am currently an accountant and I think sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day has really killed my mountain stamina because this ridge was a lot more exhausting than it needed to be! If you are in good shape this ridge poses little physical challenge with the slope never getting overly steep. Once you reach the false summit, the real summit comes into view and you start to get the amazing views of the Sangre de Cristos.

The remaining ridge to the summit, hug the ridgeline on the right for the best route and for the most fun

If you are feeling a little more adventurous, hugging the ridgeline the rest of the way up gives you some pretty good exposure to the cliff edge on your right. With the minimal snow coverage the final few hundred feet up to the summit are probably mild class 2 scrambling, that again you can make more fun by hugging the ridgeline. I reached the summit at 9:30 and it was an absolutely perfect day up there! I was able to boil up some water for the tasty treat of a warm hot chocolate and enjoy the thing that keeps me coming back...the breath taking views Colorado has to offer.

Nothing better than the Beauty of Colorado

The Crestones were looking daunting yet inviting as always.

The Crestones are looking amazing per usual

The weather couldn't have been more inviting for a nap so after snapping the mandatory picture with my Colorado flag list, 33 down!, I laid down for a quick snooze.

I left the summit about 10:30 for the descent that I was not looking forward to. Due to the very minimal snow coverage this winter 14er offered no reprieve from the knee stressing descent in the form of good glissading options. I was able to parkour from one 20ft glissade to another but for the most part it is your average hike down. Once I got back to the snowshoes the sun had worked its magic on the snow below treeline and it was a very slow slog back down the ridge, I was post holing left and right even with the snowshoes. I just bought new Redfeather snow shoes, and they were worthless and one completely bent out of shape on this first trip. Has anyone else had problems with this brand of snowshoe? Even with the death trap that was these snowshoes I made it back to the road, which was still packed nicely even after a day of sun. I got back to my car at 1:45 for a round trip time of 9.5 hours.

Overall with the current conditions and lack of snow this route is pretty straight forward and simple when it comes to winter 14ers. But it always feels good getting out there and taking down some mountain mileage!!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Jay521	Nice first report! 3/14/2016 9:12am Keep 'em coming.
DiamondCutter	nice running into you 3/14/2016 5:52pm "so I slept in and was on the trail about 5:15am"....I think my buddies and I slept in a little too much with a 6:45 am start time. Took us about 11 hrs total, and we really felt the post holing coming back down. The whole way up the ridge after seeing you, I was cursing our wake time and was jealous that you would get down the ridge without the horrible post-holing....4 hrs later as we're descending it didn't take long to discover that even the 5 am start time didn't do too much help as I was seeing your deep steps down the whole ridge. amazing how much softer it got in just a couple of hours, especially considering the clouds and low temps we had....even with your steps to follow down, I think the later start added at least an hour to my trip time. I have to admit that slog back down felt pretty hellish . Congrats on making summit before the clouds got too heavy, your pics came out with much more blue skies than ours did. keep up the good work!
jasayrevt	Congrats! 3/19/2016 2:59pm Cool. Very Nice First Trip Report! Easy, peasy. Excellent summit of Humboldt! Great photographs too. Absolutely love the montage of pictures. Thanks for putting this together sir. Keep up the ambition with getting out there nabbing those 14er summits. You'll be a finisher before ya know it, no doubts at all! Seriously and simply scintillating

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