Taking advantage of beautiful September Colorado weather, a couple weeks back, we took a long weekend, stocked up the camper for a couple of overnights in the backcountry and headed out to a couple of hikes that Jennifer had on her list for a while.
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| Colorado Rocky Mountain Ranges |
First stop was in the Sangre de Cristo range and a loop passed just to the south of the always impressive Crestones that included Music Pass, Marble Mountain (13,266'), what seems to be called Cottonwood Pass, down into the Sand Creek drainage and back up to Music Pass.
The highlight are the views of 14,197' Crestone Needle, which we climbed in 2010. It's a unique looking spiky and craggy massif and an exciting climb.
Click on any photo to enlarge
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| Our campsite with Tijeras Peak behind |
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| Music Pass with Sunrise Over the Wet Mountains |
After getting started just before 6am, it wasn't long before we were on the wide open ridge, headed towward Marble Mountain (right of center) and the great 360 degree views.
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| Jenn on the Long Ridge Heading to Mable Mountain |
In the photo below, Broken Hand Peak is the broad peak prominent just left of center, to the right is Broken Hand Pass and then Crestone Needle. When we climbed The Needle in 2010, the route is accessed by going up and over Broken Hand Pass. Behind Jennifer is Milwaukee Peak. We'll come back for Milwaukee and Broken Hand Peaks another day.
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| Jenn Can't Get Enough of the View of the Crestones |
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| Great Weather and Views! |
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| Heading Down from Cottonwood Pass |
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| Descending into Sand Creek Drainage - Music Pass Low Point on Left |
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The View from the Road - Marble Mtn on Left - Crestones Pointy Features
in the Distance in Center |
Saturday in the Sawatch - Emma Burr Loop
After getting back to the truck on Friday around 2pm, we cooked up some food and did the hour drive down the 4 wheel drive road to the main road and then settled in for our 2 hour drive over to the southern Sawatch Range.
Once again, we drove about an hour up a moderately rough dirt road to the spot where we'd begin our hike the next morning. The aspens were in full autumn color and there were plenty of leaf peepers out enjoying the mild weather and beautiful fall colors.
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| Aspens Lit up in Gold |
On this ridge loop, we would get atop four 13ers - Jones Mtn B (13,218'), Chalk Rock Mtn (13,055'), Mt Kreutzer (13,095') and Emma Burr Mtn (13,588').
Just another gorgeous September day in the mountains. A bit windy and cold to start, but no threat of severe weather.
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| The Steep climb up to Jones B |
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| Jenn AbovePtarmigan Lake Just After Sunrise |
It was cold and windy at the summit of Jones B and we were looking forward to being in full sun on the scrambly ridge over to Chalk Rock Mountain!
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| Pointing the Ridge Over to and Chalk Rock Mountain |
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| The Orange Linchen was Beautiful in the Sunlight |
The ridge gave us some fun scrambling opportunities. Sometimes thing got a little rough with cold hands, but with thoughtful route consideration, it was low Class 3 at most.
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| Fun Scrambling on the Ridge |
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| Careful on the Ledges... |
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...due to some Exposure
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| Huge Quartz and Blue Sky |
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The Ridge to Emma Burr from Mt Kreutzer
The section between Kreutzer and Emma Burr was pretty easy Class 2, with some talus-hopping thrown in, but nothing too rough as long as we stayed on the west side of the ridge.
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| Climbing up to Emma Burr |
The Emma Burr Ridge
Emma Burr Summit
Once we got to the summit, we realized the route down and to the Jeep road back to the truck was going to be a bit tricky.
Jenn Contemplating the Route Down
After some careful navigation down a loose and tricky ridge off Emma Burr, we made it down to lower terrain.
Finally off the Sketchy Terrain...Smooth Sailing From Here
Well, not exactly smooth sailing, unless you consider bashing your way through shoulder-high willows smooth sailing :\ - Who's idea was this anyway?!
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Lots of Adult Language Was Heard About This Time
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I'm Telling You, The Road's Right There!
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All ended well and once we made it to the road, it was just a few mile run back to the truck, where a feast was had before heading home. Awesome weekend in the mountains!!
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| Chalk rock Mountain in the Distance on the Left |
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