Video

highlighting the major obstacles of the Traverse:

Climb date: Sunday, July 12, 2026

Party: Solo

Time: 19 hours car to car

Strava post

Instagram: shorter, alternate version of video

This entire week

I've been contemplating this trip. You fellow mountain climbers know what I'm talking about.

"Can I get all my ducks in a row to make the time?"

"Is this route too much?"

"What if I die?"

Fortunately, I'd done this route three times prior, so I wasn't setting myself up for too much all at once. I just wanted to see if I could do it barefoot.

Last week I climbed Kit Carson and Challenger, and you can't help but stare at the Crestones RIGHT THERE the entire time you're on the ridge. They have a way of calling to you.

After PM'ing with legend Paul Glover about his barefoot ascent of the Bells Traverse, I was inspired. Hearing this blew my mind.

I had to try something similar, something much more committing than I had ever done barefoot. At any time during the excursion, I told myself, I could simply put on my shoes if it got to be too much.

I made it up to the 4WD trailhead and found a nice flat spot to sleep in my vehicle. A couple dudes pulled up next to me and parked with the same intention, only they planned a very early rise at 1:45am due to one of them catching a flight later that night. Animals!

So naturally, I woke up to their quiet ruckus and told myself I could sleep in, which was nice... for a moment. Then, the brain turned on. It's go time.

At 2:24am I was on the trail. The rain from the evening prior made the dirt softer, which my feet appreciated.

Last week on KC & Challenger I had tried out my new Insta360 camera. This trip I was prepared to capture the best moments, and it came out pretty good if you ask me. As the sun presented some light, I was stoked to nab some sunrise shots approaching the Needle. Just a priceless moment - you've got to experience it!

I had a brilliant idea leading up to this climb. I was going to cache some gear below Broken Hand Pass and retrieve it after the Crestones proper on the way out. That would save me the weight (taking less toll on my feet), and give me something to look forward to.

So I cached my poles with a zip-loc bag tied around the handles in hopes of preventing marmots from being curious about the taste of the handles. I also cached a zip-loc with a couple bars, my MP3 player and earbuds. (Using my iPhone for music drains the battery, and I wanted to keep that operable in case of emergency.) Lastly, I dropped off a Gatorade bottle.

I marked the cache waypoint on my GPS and moved forward, lighter and happy...

I crested BHP, said hi to a couple hikers taking a break, and started down the shady side. Some of this trail is steep and loose, which is annoying WITH shoes. Barefoot requires more cat-like steps, keeping you on your toes.

Once the trail leveled out, it was smooth sailing past Cottonwood Lake to the base of the Red Gully on Crestone Peak.

The Red Gully is interesting and pure fun because it's grippy (except for a glossy spot here and there - see video) and allows you to pick your line. Staying to the right side of the gully most times granted solid class 3 scrambling - a great way to warm up for the Traverse.

Normally I'm a relatively fast hiker but taking care to preserve the feet with every step brought down my average. Not so much on the uphills, but definitely on the downhills.

Fortunately Crestone Peak's Red Gully is up, up, up!

Crested Crestone Peak at 8:30am, had the Peak to myself for a few minutes. Then dropped to the saddle and bagged East Crestone. You know, just in case... ;)

The scrambling on both summits is easy and feels great with soles to the rock in the sun. Oh man, you gotta try it.

Time for the Traverse. For those of you who have done it, you know the first objective is to identify the exit point around 11,700' from the Red Gully to start veering toward Crestone Needle. Careful not to kick rocks down on other folks who are ascending the Red Gully.

If you study the route on this site, the route finding to the Needle is easy. I love having 14ers.com as a resource. Imagine living in a time where you can't simply print pics or save them on your phone, and check 'em out mid-climb. Props to whoever originally figured out this route!

Up and down gullies.

Now The Bulge. This is an awkward obstacle that has given me pause each of the times I've done it. This time I liked kicking up a right foot on a nice platform, then lifting the left across (careful not to get a butt cramp!) and elevating up and over.

Up the short scramble wall and the Knife Edge appears out of nowhere. It always seems to be breezy on The Knife Edge, reminding you to take your time with each movement. I LOVE that my new 360 camera captured this very well. Stuff like this makes you feel so alive.

Up to the final obstacle, the Headwall.

Being solo today, I was certainly in my head about this portion. This was the section that would make or break my entire effort. My feet were sore, and I would have felt more secure with shoes on. But I already know what that feels like. It's time to break into the unknown.

And right at the moment where I was getting serious, three fun-loving climbers caught up to me and started chatting with me. Instantly I felt any worry of the Headwall disappear.

Carefully placing each hand and foot, and watching for footholds as you ascend, The Headwall is not hard. Plenty of solid options, Crestone conglomerate heaven! There's a small ledge about halfway up that divides the bottom easier half from the top harder half. Seems like it gets a little steeper for the final few feet, so take your time and look for the best holds.

I let out a loud "YES!" when the Headwall angle relented and became an easy ridge walk to the Needle's summit. With others celebrating on the summit, I contained my excitement as I approached but I hope I never forget the feeling of pure bliss that enveloped me as I reached the top. Indescribable!

Descending Crestone Needle's East Gully was fun yet tedious, gently stepping down on the knobby rocks. But, you sure lose elevation in no time!

Watching for the exit around 13,200' I left the gully and followed a very short section of trail to what looked like another very steep, short gully that ended in a drop-off. What?! I walked all over trying to figure out where the route was supposed to be, and ultimately concluded that this was it, even though there were no cairns in sight. After a descending a few feet, a cairn at the base of the gully came into view. Ah!

At the base of that short gully, you climb up a small 20-foot hump, where the trail becomes more obvious. Then it's pretty smooth sailing (with a few short scrambles here and there) back down to Broken Hand Pass.

I carried 5 liters total, leaving one cached below BHP. At this point I have about 1/4 liter left, and can't wait to replenish my fluids and put in the headphones to help distract me from the rocky hike out.

My GPS had been acting strange all day (as proven on my Strava recording), little did I know. As I approached my cache waypoint near the base of the talus field under BHP, I realized my cache wasn't there. In fact the waypoint was too close to the lake. Trying to keep my cool, I hiked back up the trail a few hundred feet, head on a swivel, with no luck. Apparently my cache vanished. I wonder if I was slightly off trail on the talus (in my defense, it was dark when I dropped it off). Fingers crossed someone finds it and is able to return it. Lesson learned on my part!

I rationed my remaining fluids stringently for the return hike out, which ended up taking 6 hours. At one point I looked back and saw this:

Caught some zzz's in my car and drove out the next morning. Who else looks back to see the peaks they just climbed as they drive home?