TR - SE San Juans - Summit Peak (13,300 ft) 6/3/05

[GeoMatt]

The year has been so good, that only now in June have I had to venture out of state.

I had always looked south of Wolf Creek Pass, and wondered how easy it would be to access the goods in that area. This trip was to find that out.

Left Los Alamos, NM around 1100 on thurs and headed up Hwy 285 to Antonito, CO. Hung a right towards La Mange Pass, then a left to follow the Conejos River via FR250. Great sights (and good fishing) led me up to the town of Platoro, and a good view of Conejos Peak (13,172). Looked like it held good skiing, but fairly mellow. I headed up towards Stunner Pass, and encountered my first obstacle of many for this trip. A rather large snow drift covered the road. Against my better judgement I tried to gun it over/through the snow, and was promptly stuck 2/3 of the way across. To make a long story short, one hour later I had dug out the truck and extracted it from the snow, turned around, and headed back out towards Antonito.

I had originally planned on heading toward Silverton if I couldn't find good access into the SE San Juans, but it was already getting late (1600), and I was determined to get in there. I headed north to LaJara on 285, and went back into RioGrande NF via the other end of FR 250, following the Alamosa River. Which by the way was running very high, and looked like it might be a good paddle.

About 25 miles in I made it to the town of Jasper and old mining town, now filled with summer cabins. Here the road was blocked with a makeshift sign stating that the road was closed to the public. Didn't look to official to me, so I dropped the rope and drove on through. About 5 miles further I found out why the road was blocked. The Alamosa was over it's banks. It looked as it had receded from its peak, so I decided to ease the truck in. Drove with the door open so that I could monitor the water depth as I went through approximately 150 meters of water covered road. Max depth ended up being ~1 foot.

As I gained elevation, small snow drifts became more prevalent on the road. Eventually causing me to dig through one near the privately owned Lakes DeNolda and Anella. However I didn't make it much further before I was stopped by large snow drifts in Horsethief Park. By now it was after 8pm, I would camp here. However, I did get a glimpse of the objective before light faded.......

Summit Peak


Map of Summit Peak - http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=...lon=-106.69611

Woke around 0700 the next morning mostly cloudy skies. Debated with myself whether it would be wise to head in with the weather moving in. Decided to go for it. Packed up, and started down the road to the trailhead. I had stopped for the night ~2mi. from the TH. Left the car at 0815.

The basin between Summit Peak and Montezuma Peak is somewhat of a hanging valley, requiring a short, but steep climb up next to the waterfalls of Treasure Creek. After moving up through the basin, I began the climb up the center line of the N-NE face, and was greeted with this view of Wolf Creek and points north.



About half way up, the skies finally let loose with several graupel squalls and high winds. Unforturnately the summit of Summit did not provide the views of the range I was hoping for, but I did get this one of Point 12,681, E-SE of Summit Peak. Couldn't tell if that gully went from the summit or not.



Was blessed with a brief break in the clouds, and skied down this line.



and even had some nice corn turns further down in the basin.....



and one more view of Summit Peak on the way out. The line I skied was between to two prominent rock outcrops.




Made it back to the car by 2pm. About 10 min after I began to hear thunder. What good timing!

It was a very interesting tour, and gave me favorable impressions of the terrain and the late season snow coverage in this part of the San Juans. Although the best access/conditions would be in April with sleds......

[Trackhead]

Beautiful area. I need to get back there soon.

[powstash]

The San Juans have got to be the most beautiful mountains in the lower 48. The fact taht few people live and explore there (relative to Wasangeles) is key.

Nice report.

[iskibc]

Nice San Juan stoke. Was just wondering the other day how things looked down there. Seems like you had yourself quite the adventure getting into the TH. Keep 'em coming.