OK - so maybe gaiters (and snowshoes) would have been a good idea...

Trailhead: Junction of Huerfano Trail and Zapata Trail
Route: Huerfano Trail
Length: 6.25 miles
Vertical: 3300 feet
Partners: Solo

After doing Mount Lindsey for the second time a couple weeks ago, I really wanted to get back up and catch Huerfano and the Iron Nipple. But the road had me a little spooked heading up to the upper TH. It had snowed since the last time I was up and melted some and frozen making the road pretty slick but my FJ was handling it fine. What worried me though was that the forecast was for warmer weather and I was worried that the melting snow/ice would merge with the underlying mud and make it slicker than owl poop on a wet limb. A couple relatively steep spots on the way out could mean an uncontrolled slide - and that was born out on my exit later - I was slipping around more than I would have liked.

Anyway, I turned around shy of the upper TH and drove back to the trail junction, parked and considered my options. I didn't feel like slogging up the road and I seemed to remember a 13er that I had seen on a topo map that was just off the Huerfano trail so I thought I'd go for that. When I got home, I figured out that was PT13,555 and I read the two TR's on it which are both VERY good reads and the guys that did them are way more hard core than I am. User JMB did a plethora of peaks that summer day Here and Dad Mike really rocked it in winter Here. I think it's fair to say that PT13,555 doesn't see a lot of visitors - and that's too bad as the views are amazing as you will see.

The trail is fairly easy to follow. It makes several switchbacks to get to the top of the ridge and then heads east.

The views start getting pretty nice as you gain elevation.

At about a mile and a half (my estimate), it just felt like the time to turn right and head south to gain the ridge. so I left the trail and started up.

A side note here. My first mountain was Mount Audubon when I was in the Boy Scouts at probably age 12 or 13. That's almost 60 years ago so one would think that by NOW, I would be smart enough to bring my winter pack/boots/equipment in winter conditions. Wrong. I had on my summer boots and cotton pants. Needless to say, my boots filled with snow and my feet got a little cold. Fortunately, I am fairly temperature insensitive (my ex-wife would say I could leave the "temperature" out of that statement) so I really didn't mind having the wet, cold feet but my pants didn't dry out until I was half way back to Parker. Lesson learned... Maybe...

Anyway, working my way through the deep snow up the ridge in the trees was something of a workout but I was blessed with some gorgeous views on the way.

And then I finally got to see my objective

Once on the ridge, I thought the hard part was done. Not. The snow varied from a trace to a couple feet deep.

But, once I got to the summit, the views made it all worthwhile.

And a short 360 vid from the summit.

I couldn't help but take a couple pictures on my way down - what a beautiful day!

And as I don't carry a GPS, this is an approximation of my route.