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Peak(s)  "Northeast Crestone" - 14,251 feet
Crestone Peak  -  14,299 feet
"East Crestone" - 14,298 feet
Date Posted  09/07/2023
Date Climbed   09/02/2023
Author  daway8
Additional Members   greenonion, MaryinColorado, HikesInGeologicTime, _coloradical
 Northeast Crestone revisited and explored   

I returned to the delightfully fun Northeast Crestone for a second time with an eye to explore it a little more than last time including checking out the top of the far side which makes up the climax of the North Buttress Route up Crestone Peak.

Also I wanted to explore reportedly easier ways to get over to NE Crestone (NEC), which I did in fact confirm, as well as test if I'm ready for the North Buttress route (more on that later...)

Peaks in order climbed: East Crestone, Crestone Peak, Northeast Crestone (saved the best for last!)

Route: Crestone Peak standard South Face route (with the above add-ons)

Trailhead: South Colony Lakes 4WD

Mileage/gain: ~14.25, 6,250ft

Difficulty: Crestone Peak & East Crestone = class 3 (and pretty mild at that). NE Crestone = class 4 minimum; optional fun class 5 (but looks non-optional from the North Buttress side).

Included in this report will be:

  • A little bit of backstory
  • A ton of extra photos of NE Crestone from all sort of vantage points and compiled from a few different trips.
  • Some abundantly (excessively?) detailed beta on how to keep the cut over to NEC class 3.
  • Some details on how to avoid the relatively safe class 4 going up NEC in favor of some class 5 where you can fall to your death (cause let's face it, that's just so much more fun - the class 5 climbing that is, not the falling part).
  • Some sneak previews of the top portion of the North Buttress route.
22308_48
Me a the base of NE Crestone (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime).


Backstory

Quick little background here - if you're only interested in the beta, skip to the other large, bolded section headers as appropriate.

There are peaks out there that are pretty much a "one and done" kind of experience - not that I would never do them again, but some just have absolutely nothing to draw me back for a repeat.

Then there are those peaks that you look at and say: NOPE.

But it's funny how perceptions can change over the years. I remember once being at the Maroon Bells with family and my mother concernedly saying "you're not planning to climb those peaks are you?!?" My honest answer at the time was: "no, those are way more involved and dangerous than anything I'm interested in - those are peaks where people climb using ropes and helmets and lots of people have died - I have no interest in getting into that type of thing."

But fast-forward a few years and not only did I do them both but then I came back and did the Traverse - unroped, by myself and sticking primarily ridge proper - and loving every minute of it!

When I looked back at the first Crestones trip report that I did back in 2018 (one of my first TR's) I had to chuckle when I stumbled across a very cool photo of NE Crestone which I incorrectly captioned as what I thought at the time was part of the Crestone Traverse.

The original caption for the photo below was: "Parts of the traverse as seen from Crestone Peak. Climbers drool with anticipation, hikers say nope."

At the time I considered myself to only be a "hiker" - now I'm becoming much more of a drooler... and Northeast Crestone has further cemented its place as my all-time favorite peak (I'm pumped to note it's finally selectable as "Favorite Peak" on the checklists page!).

22308_36
NE Crestone is more dramatic with the right mix of shadows and sun - I drool just looking at it!


The other part of the backstory is the specific motivation for me coming back to this peak on this occasion - since, even though it's an awesome little peak, it is a bit of a chore to get to. But my friend HikesInGeologicTime finally reached the point of having only Crestone Peak left to finish the 58 14ers and I couldn't turn down the invite to be there for Geo's finisher peak!

Plus it was a really easy pitch to say: "hey, if I help you get your Finisher peak done and get photos of you on the summit, will you hang out for a bit while I go tag NE Crestone again and see if you can get some cool shots of me climbing?" Geo's response more or less boiled down to something along the lines of: 'you want me to sit and rest while you do all the crazy climbing after we complete my final 14er: sure why not?'

There will no doubt be an epic TR coming from Geo about the Crestone finisher expedition (perhaps even before I finish this one) so I won't steal Geo's thunder - I'm just concentrating on NE Crestone for this trip report and will leave it to Geo to talk about how we started that day with a party of 4 and ended with only 2 (don't worry, we practiced LNT principles - no bodies were left on the mountains...).

22308_06
Geo's Finisher atop Crestone Peak: #58 on Saturday Sept 2, 2023. East Crestone looks like a big hump just left of Geo with NEC spiking up further left.


Viewed from East Crestone

The view of NE Crestone from East Crestone is one of the least favorable ways to view it since East Crestone is the taller of the two and NEC's profile is not as dramatic from there.

But I did luck out and catch another climber (_coloradical I believe...) going up NEC while Geo and I were over on East Crestone (Geo wanted to make sure and tag East Crestone for fear that it's <1ft difference from Crestone Peak would one day be over-ruled by some new LIDAR survey or something like that and it would be declared the official summit...)

22308_01
Climber going up NE Crestone (the summit rocks of East Crestone are blocking out part of the view).
22308_02
_coloradical on the summit of Northeast Crestone with Kit Carson avenue visible behind to the left. For future reference, note the bunny ears.
22308_03
Panned over to show the edge of Crestone Peak at the left with our same scale model on the summit - thanks for providing scale for the photo!


Viewed from Crestone Peak

Unlike the view from East Crestone, when NEC is viewed from Crestone Peak (especially with just the right amount of shadows to highlight its ruggedness) it looks positively badass!!!

Both times I've been on it, and about any time I've heard someone else describe being on it, it almost inevitably draws an audience from the Crestone Peak crowd as people often do a double take at seeing someone solo up what seems from there like a wickedly steep spire of certain death (it's actually much easier than it looks, and lots of fun!).

22308_35
Me on top of NE Crestone (photo credit: some random dude on Crestone Peak on 7/9/22).

I love the way this peak changes character with different lighting and from different angles.

22308_38
Same view, different lighting from my Crestone Peak summit on 8/4/2018


22308_05
NEC as seen from partway to Crestone Peak on 9/2/23.


Viewed from the Crestone Peak Saddle

This is the view people first get as they come up the standard route on Crestone Peak, and it's always fun to catch people's reactions if they happen to spot you going up it from there (see about 1/3 of the way through my previous NE Crestone report for a fun one).

22308_37
I love the lighting in this shot from my first Crestone Peak summit taken at the saddle.


22308_31
Under different lighting on this trip it still looks dramatic but with an entirely different feel to it.


Composite Views

So even having climbed this peak before and put together photos in a couple other trip reports, it wasn't until I started piecing together a lot of photos to make this TR that I finally grasped the interesting 3-D nature of what appears at first from the saddle to just be a spire.

But you'll notice in the composite image below that there's a small notch in the summit when viewed from East Crestone and a different and much larger notch when viewed from Crestone Peak.

Not sure why, but something about how much this peak transforms from every angle just fascinates me - and we're not done yet!

22308_30
There's an interesting 3-dimensionality to the peak that isn't obvious until viewed from multiple angles...


Viewed from the Base

From the base of the climb this peak takes on yet a whole different character...

22308_32
Early on you can see what appears to be a set of fangs or claws jutting up off the peak.
22308_33
But later I can't help but think they turn into a far less intimidating set of bunny ears! (see the 5th pic from the top for their location)


Views from NE Crestone

Finally, the list of views wouldn't be complete without seeing what the other peaks look like from NEC: East Crestone in particular takes on a much more imposing stature - this is definitely East Crestone's "better side."

22308_34
East Crestone looks WAY more dramatic from this angle (photo from my previous TR).


22308_21
Taken just past NEC looking back to East Crestone (left) and Crestone Peak (right with tiny people on top).

But I'll leave a few views for you to check out yourself...


Getting to NE Crestone: Class 3 or Class 4 Chute (or Class 5 Wall)

In my previous report I stated that the gully dropping down to get to NEC was class 4 or maybe even pushing class 5. Others came back and declared it was only class 3 but there was some variation in the description of where exactly people went down.

Based on that feedback I decided to investigate further whenever I had a chance to go back to this really fun peak, since I knew the difficulty in getting over there would likely deter some who might otherwise enjoy some really solid class 4.

Sure enough, when I dropped down what I'll call the West Chute (left side when facing NE Crestone) it did indeed feel like class 3, as opposed to the East Chute (right side when facing NEC) which felt harder (though part of it may have just been the mood I was in that day).

This West Chute also seemed to have less loose garbage in it, though at the bottom when you turn to go to the base of NEC you have to take a couple steps across the loose junk in the East Chute.

The following pictures give a probably overkill level of detail made by an engineering nerd turned mountain climber...

22308_04
Note the pizza slice rock with the crust formed by lichen on the rock (so this might not be valid too far down the road).
22308_07
Closer to the pizza slice rock - turn to right a little ways below...
22308_08
Turn right just as the gully is about to turn to loose garbage...
22308_12
Could also go down on the loose garbage and circle around and back up - I preferred cutting right.
22308_13
Cut across the East Chute with a couple steps over loose junk before getting back on solid terrain.
22308_14
Looking back at where I cut across to the landing at the bottom of NEC.


Going Back up the Chutes

Here are some equally overkill images on getting back up to the Crestone Peak saddle on the way back after tagging NE Crestone. The arrow points to Pointer Rock (referred to in my previous TR) while the solid lines turns and terminates at Geo, patiently waiting for me at the saddle. Note the little ants on top of Crestone Peak.

22308_18
Partway back down NEC looking at the way up. Dotted line going up to the Pointer Rock (see previous TR) was less pleasant.
22308_25
You can go right up/down the broad fin at the bottom of NEC without issue.
22308_15
Skip the dotted line East Chute and go to the solid line West Chute instead (or take the class 5 wall to the left of the East Chute).
22308_26
Another view of the route up with an arrow pointing to a distinct cracked rock face.
22308_27
Arrow points to same cracked rock face with circle around a funky lichen in the shape of a guy that may or may not last.
22308_28
Same funky Lichen Guy with arrow pointing to a weird "Finger Rock" near the top.
22308_29
Left image is East Chute (avoid this) with Pointer Rock and Finger Rock visible. Right image = West Chute with Lichen Guy and Finger Rock.
22308_10
Slightly different angle of Lichen Guy and Finger Rock (this is a weird TR, isn't it?)
22308_09
One more shot of Lichen Guy and Finger Rock.

So basically, on the way to NE Crestone take the little gully to the left (West Chute) and on the way back to the Crestone saddle it will be the one on the right - crossing over the first most obvious gully (East Chute) to get to the better one.


Going up NE Crestone

This is where the actual fun begins. It's not as long as would be nice but you'll see in the photos below that it's plenty more than your typical one move wonder that you often get on 14ers.

22308_11
Orange line is approximate class 4 route; gets more class 5ish (and more exposed) the more you swing left.
22308_16
Bunny ears up to the left looking more jagged here. Stay right of the bunny ears if you want to stay in class 4.


22308_39
Me at the base of the climb up and walking up over the initial broad fin which is not distinct in this lighting (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime).
22308_40
Close-up of me going up (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime). This is a poor outfit for SAR - and this is with my MORE visible backup jacket on...
22308_41
Left image is me starting up class 4 section; right image is making the switch to funner class 5 (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime).
22308_43
Me on the summit of NE Crestone (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime).


22308_17
Right photo is one Geo took of me taking a photo - left photo is the image I was taking at that moment - yep, it's pretty exposed here.
22308_42
Zoomed out version of the image above showing I was just below the summit and over on the exposed class 5 portion (photo credit: HikesInGeologicTime).


Going Back Down NE Crestone

Here's just a quick collage of photos of the descent - I started in somewhat class 5 territory but then drifted over more to the class 4 stuff to keep things moving.

22308_44
Really not a whole lot of point in these images except that they're cool and Geo took the time to take them all - so have fun playing Where's daway8?
22308_45
Next round of Where's daway8? (photo credits: HikesInGeologicTime). Dude, I seriously better not need SAR support when dressed like this...

So maybe I need to go get a more visible wardrobe? Or just don't fall... Or wait until winter when this outfit shows up awesome!


North Buttress Sneak Preview

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to check out the far side of NE Crestone because that's one of the finishing option for the North Buttress route (at least the tricky part of it) and I understand some of the most difficult climbing is right up near the top.

So rather than get all the way up there and freeze in panic because I was over my head, I figure why not check it out from the top while I'm here and come back for North Buttress some other day?

Below is a photo of NE Crestone in top left with a series of photos taken while I was actually on NEC with the arrows designating approximately what region is in view in each photo.

It appears I was sitting atop the crux move. Going straight down below my feet in the upper right photo seemed impractical from that angle (might have been better as an up-climb; maybe?).

But to my left (as shown in the bottom left photo) there was what appeared to be somewhat of a ramp coming up to my position - which is mysteriously invisible in the photo (the lighting was really horrible for showing depth at this point of the day). It was going to be enough of a downclimb that I didn't want to keep Geo waiting too long, plus it looked less sketch as an up-climb than a down-climb so I called off my recon journey at that point, feeling I could likely make something here work as a route to climb up.

22308_24
View of the crux for topping out on NEC from the North Buttress side.


22308_19
This is coming up NEC from Crestone Peak on the class 5 portion looking over to the top of the North Buttress route.
22308_20
Top of the North Buttress route before it reaches NEC.


22308_22
This is just past the summit of NEC but turned around facing East Crestone with my foot above absolutely wicked exposure to the east.
22308_23
Some spot as above but looking off the west side at the ants on top of Crestone Peak.


22308_46
Topo map with slope shading and the standard Crestone Peak route - note all the black shading surrounding NEC = 60+ degrees.


22308_47
Snapshot of a route from Conor of North Buttress from Crestone Traverse - I want to try this (minus the Kit Carson and friends add on...)


My Times

1:53am start from 4WD TH (start time chosen by Geo... painfully early starts are a Geo trademark and come with advantages and disadvantages...)

4:15am made it to the lake

6:09am top of Broken Hand Pass

7:45am about to start up Red Gully

10:04am top of the Crestone Peak saddle

10:18am summit of East Crestone

10:40am back at the saddle

11:01am Geo tops out on Crestone Peak Finisher peak #58!!!

11:46am back at the main saddle

11:55am I head over to NE Crestone

12:49pm finally made a note that I had been back at the main saddle for a while chatting with folks about the sweet NEC scramble.

4:01pm back at the top of Broken Hand Pass (yep, we were moving slow... sleep would have been nice - I did get at least a couple hours or more)

5:35pm rest break by the lake

7:20pm I made it to the 4WD TH

10pm finally settled in out vehicles at the 2WD TH after a bit of a Finisher celebration for Geo


GPX note: I verified that the 14er coordinates are wrong for the sub-summits - I made absolutely certain I was on and beyond the summit of NE Crestone (as well as East Crestone) but the tracks make it look like I was maybe a little shy of them. The photos show otherwise.


My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):




Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48


Comments or Questions
HikesInGeologicTime
User
This was a lot of fun
9/8/2023 9:58am
to watch! And I was grateful for the extra resting time - while Crestone Peak will always have a special place in my heart for being my last (well, on The List, anyway, but as far as subsummits, youve got SE Longs coming up!), it is very solidly in my one and done file.


9patrickmurphy
User
Pole whack
9/8/2023 12:05pm
Looks like you're pole-whacking on the summit. I approve. I'll be sure to do the same if I ever get up there.


daway8
User
Re: poles
9/8/2023 6:34pm
Lol, I actually climbed the whole way up with poles in my hands (though shrunk down all the way). Realized partway up that was kinda dumb but I made it work. But they were handy for balance on top since it was more breezy over there than elsewhere on the route...

Geo: yep, yep, yep!


blazintoes
User
I think you like the Crestones
9/8/2023 10:03pm
When I went up the Peaks NW couloir this spring I referenced your last TR for NE Crestone with every intention of climbing it on my way up the couloir. The weather chose otherwise so it is still unchecked. Now you've climbed it twice. Nice TR per usual.

Geo looks so cool!


Marmot72
User
N Buttress
11/2/2024 10:02pm
I enjoyed reading this. I looked at your pics of NE Crestone with special interest, as I did some sort of variation of the North Buttress route in 2007, and I've never been able to figure out exactly where I went. The reason is that I am almost certain that I didn't reach NE Crestone, because the down climb from it over to E Crestone looks completely unfamiliar. I awoke that morning with a dead camera battery, so I could take no pics to aid my memory. So I have to repeat the Buttress some time....But enough of me - great work and some helpful beta!


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