Unnamed 13557 Trip Report 08/25/2022

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Unnamed 13557 - 13,557 feet Unnamed 13577 - 13,577 feet Unnamed 13654 - 13,654 feet Unnamed 13656 - 13,656 feet
Date Posted	08/25/2022
Modified	02/18/2024
Date Climbed	08/14/2022
Author	Mtnman200
Additional Members	RandyMack

Another Mountain, Another Planet
I thought I'd finished the 13ers in the Huerfano River area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with a climb of Huerfanito on 6/17/2021. Then John Kirk's LIDAR project identified Unnamed (UN) 13557 (formerly 13555) as a separate peak. The LIDAR project also demoted UN 13660A to a false summit of UN 13656, located about 0.4 mile SE of UN 13660A on the ridge to Ellingwood Point. This meant that I needed to climb UN 13656 to (re)complete Colorado's bicentennial (200 highest) mountains. Friday, August 12, 2022. Randy and I left Colorado Springs in the late afternoon and drove past Gardner and Redwing to the Zapata/Huerfano trailhead, where we had no trouble finding a campsite. After setting up our tent, we scoped out the start of the Huerfano Trail for tomorrow's climb of UN 13557. (Note: Caltopo calls this trail the Raspberry Trail.) Saturday, August 13, 2022. The Huerfano Trail was easy to follow, but the first few hundred feet of elevation gain included a lot of deadfall as the trail climbed east above the Huerfano River. The trail leveled out as it climbed onto a broad ridge, and at about 11,150' we left the trail and bushwhacked south through the trees toward UN 13557. The bushwhacking was not difficult. Looking up the trail as it began to top out on the broad ridge north of UN 13557 (All photos by Randy Mack) Looking east as we climbed south toward UN 13557 Looking west toward California Peak from the same location as the previous photo We're about to exit the trees The trees abruptly gave way to tundra and rocks. Looking down UN 13557's broad north ridge toward the Huerfano Trail The tundra was gentle, and UN 13557 would make a good snow climb. Just don't forget your gaiters! UN 13557's summit block is getting closer It was a steady, gentle climb to the summit of UN 13557. Looking west from the summit of UN 13557 toward California Peak Looking south at Mt. Lindsey and Huerfano Peak from the summit of UN 13557; with Blanca and Ellingwood visible at far right A closer look at the rugged ridge from UN 13557 to Huerfano Peak The UN 13557 summit register had 18 signatures from June - August 2022, and about the same number for 2012 - 2021. UN 13557 has become quite popular in 2022 after LIDAR data showed it was a separate peak We saw this herd as we descended... ...and they just watched as we passed by We continued down UN 13557's north ridge, intersected the Huerfano Trail, and returned to our campsite. Our route today was essentially the same as Jay's, so I took the liberty of "borrowing" his map Sunday, August 14, 2022. Randy and I climbed UN 13577 and UN 13660A on 9/15/2016 from the Lily Lake trailhead. Today, we would follow the same route to those summits, except we'd continue south and southeast along the ridge from UN 13660A to the summit of UN 13656. The sometimes-rocky trail to Lily Lake Looking west from the outlet of Lily Lake; with UN 13577 to the right and UN 13660A/13656 to the left From Lily Lake, we headed west to a rib before scrambling south to the east ridge of UN 13577 on surprisingly stable rock. Once on the ridge, we headed WNW to the summit of UN 13577. The summit register was too wet to sign. We scrambled over rocks of all sizes toward the east ridge of UN 13577 Looking back at Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point above Lily Lake The slope eased as we neared the east ridge of UN 13577 Once on the ridge, it was not far to UN 13577's summit. Two climbers we met today (Brian and Megan) are almost there Looking WSW toward UN 13660A (right) from the summit of UN13577. The new LIDAR-based summit is 0.4 mile SE (left) of UN 13660A Looking north toward California Peak from UN 13577's summit Brian and Megan continued toward California Peak, and a group of about nine that we'd seen at Lily Lake arrived on UN 13577 just as we began the traverse to UN 13660A. Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Point, and Lily Lake from UN 13577 The traverse from UN 13577 to UN 13660A went quickly and without incident. We were a bit surprised to find a summit register on UN 13660A, given that it is now just a false summit of UN 13656. View north from the summit of UN 13660A The view SE toward UN 13656, Ellingwood Point, and Blanca Peak from UN 13660A's summit After signing the summit register, we continued on toward today's primary objective: UN 13656. In our opinion, the ridge never exceeded Class 2+ or Class 3, depending on your choice of route. In some places, an obvious path is developing. There were a few places where we dropped a little bit below the ridge to the west Some of the rock along the ridge was a bit loose but didn't feel particularly exposed Some of the ridge was an easy walk Almost to the summit of UN 13656 It didn't take long for the usual suspects to show up on UN 13656, which someone informally named "North Ellingwood" Looking toward Ellingwood Point from the summit of UN 13656 After a short break on UN 13656's summit, we headed back toward UN 13660A.(center) Our descent route toward Lily Lake began near the light orangish rock at the far left of the photo above. Looking east at an unnamed lake at 12,620' (left) and Lily Lake (right) from the UN 13660A - UN 13656 ridge Panorama We descended directly toward the basin. This would have been a terrible ascent route due to the loose rock/scree Lily Lake Once we reached the trail at Lily Lake, we put on the cruise control back to the trailhead. A collapsed cabin we saw as we returned to the Lily Lake trailhead This is a scenic area, but it felt good to (once again) finish climbs of the ranked 13ers here. On to the next adventure! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Another Mountain, Another Planet

I thought I'd finished the 13ers in the Huerfano River area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with a climb of Huerfanito on 6/17/2021. Then John Kirk's LIDAR project identified Unnamed (UN) 13557 (formerly 13555) as a separate peak. The LIDAR project also demoted UN 13660A to a false summit of UN 13656, located about 0.4 mile SE of UN 13660A on the ridge to Ellingwood Point. This meant that I needed to climb UN 13656 to (re)complete Colorado's bicentennial (200 highest) mountains.

Friday, August 12, 2022. Randy and I left Colorado Springs in the late afternoon and drove past Gardner and Redwing to the Zapata/Huerfano trailhead, where we had no trouble finding a campsite. After setting up our tent, we scoped out the start of the Huerfano Trail for tomorrow's climb of UN 13557. (Note: Caltopo calls this trail the Raspberry Trail.)

Saturday, August 13, 2022. The Huerfano Trail was easy to follow, but the first few hundred feet of elevation gain included a lot of deadfall as the trail climbed east above the Huerfano River. The trail leveled out as it climbed onto a broad ridge, and at about 11,150' we left the trail and bushwhacked south through the trees toward UN 13557. The bushwhacking was not difficult.

21854_03 — Looking up the trail as it began to top out on the broad ridge north of UN 13557 (All photos by Randy Mack)

21854_01 — Looking east as we climbed south toward UN 13557

21854_02 — Looking west toward California Peak from the same location as the previous photo

21854_06 — We're about to exit the trees

21854_07 — The trees abruptly gave way to tundra and rocks.

21854_08 — Looking down UN 13557's broad north ridge toward the Huerfano Trail

21854_09 — The tundra was gentle, and UN 13557 would make a good snow climb. Just don't forget your gaiters!

21854_10 — UN 13557's summit block is getting closer

It was a steady, gentle climb to the summit of UN 13557.

21854_11 — Looking west from the summit of UN 13557 toward California Peak

21854_12 — Looking south at Mt. Lindsey and Huerfano Peak from the summit of UN 13557; with Blanca and Ellingwood visible at far right

21854_13 — A closer look at the rugged ridge from UN 13557 to Huerfano Peak

The UN 13557 summit register had 18 signatures from June - August 2022, and about the same number for 2012 - 2021.

21854_15 — UN 13557 has become quite popular in 2022 after LIDAR data showed it was a separate peak

21854_16 — We saw this herd as we descended...

21854_17 — ...and they just watched as we passed by

We continued down UN 13557's north ridge, intersected the Huerfano Trail, and returned to our campsite.

21854_19 — Our route today was essentially the same as Jay's, so I took the liberty of "borrowing" his map

Sunday, August 14, 2022. Randy and I climbed UN 13577 and UN 13660A on 9/15/2016 from the Lily Lake trailhead. Today, we would follow the same route to those summits, except we'd continue south and southeast along the ridge from UN 13660A to the summit of UN 13656.

21854_20 — The sometimes-rocky trail to Lily Lake

21854_21 — Looking west from the outlet of Lily Lake; with UN 13577 to the right and UN 13660A/13656 to the left

From Lily Lake, we headed west to a rib before scrambling south to the east ridge of UN 13577 on surprisingly stable rock. Once on the ridge, we headed WNW to the summit of UN 13577. The summit register was too wet to sign.

21854_22 — We scrambled over rocks of all sizes toward the east ridge of UN 13577

21854_23 — Looking back at Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point above Lily Lake

21854_24 — The slope eased as we neared the east ridge of UN 13577

21854_25 — Once on the ridge, it was not far to UN 13577's summit. Two climbers we met today (Brian and Megan) are almost there

21854_26 — Looking WSW toward UN 13660A (right) from the summit of UN13577. The new LIDAR-based summit is 0.4 mile SE (left) of UN 13660A

21854_27 — Looking north toward California Peak from UN 13577's summit

Brian and Megan continued toward California Peak, and a group of about nine that we'd seen at Lily Lake arrived on UN 13577 just as we began the traverse to UN 13660A.

21854_28 — Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Point, and Lily Lake from UN 13577

The traverse from UN 13577 to UN 13660A went quickly and without incident. We were a bit surprised to find a summit register on UN 13660A, given that it is now just a false summit of UN 13656.

21854_29 — View north from the summit of UN 13660A

21854_30 — The view SE toward UN 13656, Ellingwood Point, and Blanca Peak from UN 13660A's summit

After signing the summit register, we continued on toward today's primary objective: UN 13656. In our opinion, the ridge never exceeded Class 2+ or Class 3, depending on your choice of route. In some places, an obvious path is developing.

21854_31 — There were a few places where we dropped a little bit below the ridge to the west

21854_32 — Some of the rock along the ridge was a bit loose but didn't feel particularly exposed

21854_33 — Some of the ridge was an easy walk

21854_34 — Almost to the summit of UN 13656

21854_36 — It didn't take long for the usual suspects to show up on UN 13656, which someone informally named "North Ellingwood"

21854_37 — Looking toward Ellingwood Point from the summit of UN 13656

21854_38 — After a short break on UN 13656's summit, we headed back toward UN 13660A.(center)

Our descent route toward Lily Lake began near the light orangish rock at the far left of the photo above.

21854_39 — Looking east at an unnamed lake at 12,620' (left) and Lily Lake (right) from the UN 13660A - UN 13656 ridge

21854_47 — We descended directly toward the basin. This would have been a terrible ascent route due to the loose rock/scree

Once we reached the trail at Lily Lake, we put on the cruise control back to the trailhead.

21854_49 — A collapsed cabin we saw as we returned to the Lily Lake trailhead

This is a scenic area, but it felt good to (once again) finish climbs of the ranked 13ers here. On to the next adventure!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

5ClimbingCooneys	Looking for Beta... 8/25/2022 6:28pm Did the small band of cliffs about 1/2 way down the face of 13,660 give you any trouble on the way down? I'm looking to ascend up California and come down that way next weekend.
Mtnman200	Descent Beta 8/25/2022 7:17pm Descent Beta
Boggy B	Noooooooo 8/25/2022 8:50pm not another "Ellingwood"!?
5ClimbingCooneys	Course set! 8/25/2022 11:02pm Thanks for the info, @Mtnman200! Looks like a pleasant slog through a couple of miles of step, loose rock from the ridge to the lake, but I'm betting it beats reclimbing all the way back to 13,577. I'll definitely be looking to come down that, not up :)
Bombay2Boulder	Good beta 8/26/2022 8:38am Nice trip report Eddie. This should be named Casa Bonita Peak.
IHikeLikeAGirl	Map of 13656 route 4/23/2023 3:54pm Thank you for the TR and useful pics! I too need to revisit this area due to LiDAR.... Was not a fan of the line I took up to the ridge for 13577 (last time). Sounds like your line was probably better. Do you have a track or image of your route that I could peruse?

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