1 is a view of Colony Baldy from south of Wescliffe -
1. From the Horn Creek trailhead, start up the trail which starts near the toilets -
2. Hike up this wide, rocky trail 0.6 mile to intersect the Rainbow trail -
3. Turn left, cross a bridge and continue on Rainbow (
4). Walk another 2.5 miles to reach the trail junction for Macy Lakes -
5. Stay left, cross another bridge, and continue 0.3 mile on Rainbow. Now, 3.5 miles from the trailhead, you need to leave the Rainbow Trail and start up Colony Baldy's northwest ridge. Look for the rock in
6 and turn right into the forest in this area -
7. There's not a trail to turn onto and the rock is not crazy-obvious so it's good to look at the map ahead of time and use a gps/mobile device so you know approximately where to leave the Rainbow trail.
Bushwhack west-southwest up through the forest a short distance until it becomes more clear you are on a narrow ridge -
8. You'll want to stay near or on the crest of this ridge for the next mile until you reach treeline. Follow a faint trail, when you can find it, and slowly make your way up through the forest -
9 and
10. When the ridge gets a bit less-defined and steeper near 11,200' (
11), grind up 400 feet of elevation to reach tree line, at 11,600' -
12.
Pop out of the trees, pass through some rocks (
13), a couple of dead Bristlecone trees and continue along the northeast ridge -
14. Near 12,000', reach the edge of the ridge where there are some cliffs. Turn left and continue along the ridge -
15. Near 12,300', the ridge eases and you'll see a false summit and 14er Humboldt Peak off to the left -
16. Continue to 12,950' to see what must be the summit, in the distance -
17. Nope. It's another false summit. Still staying along the ridge, continue southwest up this point -
18. Finally, from 13,300', you can see the top. Hike the final pitch (
19,
20 and
21) to gain the summit -
22.
GPX File
