Spread Eagle Peak

RT Length: 11.05 miles

Elevation Gain: 5461’

This was my 4^th attempt at Peak of the Clouds. Not because it’s a difficult peak, but because every time I was in the area I was thwarted by the elements; snow conditions, or a fast-moving storm coming in. Today had a great weather forecast, so I figured today was my day.

Unlike my previous stays at the Gibson Creek trailhead, this time it was packed. Probably because it was a Saturday over 4^th of July weekend. There were RVs set up everywhere, and every parking space in the lot was taken. Knowing I was going to spend the night in my truck I just waited for someone to leave and then backed into their spot.

I was sitting at the trailhead, just appreciating the sounds of the birds chirping and insects humming, and then the sun comes out and lights up each individual blade of grass and all I can think is how lucky I am this is my life. It was a perfect night, and the last one I’d be spending in this particular vehicle, as my new truck was waiting for me at the lot and I was picking it up Monday. I wanted to enjoy tonight.

I’d been gone for a few days, and I also wanted to get back home to see my kids, so I made it an early morning. I was on the trail at 3:45am. The trail starts at the north end of the parking area, and follows trail 1456 west.

The trail starts out nicely defined. Stay straight at the Rainbow Trail Crossing. This sign has been broken for years. I wonder if they’ll ever replace/fix it?

Here’s where it gets tricky. After hiking for .4 miles, and at 9400’, leave the trail and cross Gibson Creek. It looks like there used to be a good trail here at one time, but it’s no longer well defined. In fact, someone placed a tree trunk over the way you’re supposed to go.

After crossing Gibson Creek, the trail picks up again.

The trail goes through various conditions, from being well-defined, to being covered with downed trees, to barely being a trail at all. It also crosses Gibson Creek several times.

The main thing is to just keep following Gibson Creek west/southwest

I followed the trail for about 2 miles, to when the trail abruptly ended where a tree had fallen over the trail. Here I crossed the creek one last time, and bushwhacked southwest, up the mountain. It’s important to note here something the topo map doesn’t show: Apparently, somewhere Gibson Creek was to my right, but a much larger creek was to my left (this creek is not shown on the topo map, and could just be an error in CalTopo, as the creek was always to the south of me, but on the map it’s shown as being north). Gibson Creek pretty much fizzled out here, so keep the creek you can see to your left as you ascend the hillside.

This is a steep hillside with some bushwhacking involved. It seemed to go on forever. I took a different way down than I did up, and I’d recommend taking the way I went up, directly aiming southwest towards the ridge, as it avoids the large section of willows to the northwest.

I made it to the ridge as the sun was coming up

Once on the ridge, it’s a straightforward, class 2 ridge hike to the summit.

Here are some step-by-step pictures of the ridge

As I was nearing the summit, I looked towards the summit and thought I saw a bighorn sheep. When I looked again I realized it was a coyote: the biggest coyote I’ve ever seen! He was chillin’ on the summit.

I summited Spread Eagle Peak at 7:15am. The coyote was nowhere to be seen.

Spread Eagle Peak:

It was an absolutely beautiful day! I headed south, down the ridge to the Spread Eagle/Peak of the Clouds saddle.

This was a straightforward trek, with just one short class 3 move. I stayed right and downclimbed this section.

Then followed the ridge to the saddle

It was a simple, class 2 ridge hike to the summit of Peak of the Clouds

Here are some step-by-step pictures

Here I saw some elk (they didn’t stay long)

Looking up at the ridge to Peak of the Clouds

As I was hiking up, a marmot rushed down past me. I wonder where he was going?

The last part of the ridge was rocky. I stayed to the left.

I summited Peak of the Cloud at 8:20am

Peak of the Clouds:

Here’s a look at the ridge to Rito Alto Peak (in case anyone is looking to do that one as well)

I sat for a minute and enjoyed my time on the summit. It was a beautiful 4^th of July in the Sangres!

I was making this an out and back trip today, so I turned and looked back at Spread Eagle Peak

Here are some step-by-step pictures back to the saddle

This is how I accessed the ridge

And then followed the ridge north

The short class 3 section was easier to upclimb than downclimb.

Then it was an easy ridge hike to the summit

I turned and headed east down the ridge, back to treeline. I saw elk here as well.

Once near treeline I headed back toward Gibson Creek, but as I said before, I encountered a lot of willows and it was slow going. I’d recommend following the ridge as it slopes up a bit and becomes treed, and then heading northeast.

Yes, there’s bushwhacking and route finding involved.

I made it back to the creek, and followed the trail back as it curved northeast towards the trailhead

I crossed Gibson Creek one last time, and was back on the well-marked trail.

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am, making this an 11.05 mile hike with 5461’ of elevation gain in 8 hours. Now, time to drive home, wake up my daughters, and grill some steak!

Woohoo! The mountains got their first dusting of snow of the season, and I wanted to be a part of it. The only problem? Since the snowfall had just stopped last night all over Colorado there wasn’t any beta on snowfall amounts or the conditions of any of the trails. So I picked an ‘easy’ 13er and headed out at 2am. All was going well until I made it to the dirt road at the base of the Hermit Pass trailhead. It quickly turned into a 4WD road, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, but soon it became icy and my truck started slipping! This is the first time I’ve ever experienced my truck slip in any conditions. I’m guessing there was mud under the ice. I was a bit worried but also knew the road was supposed to level out pretty soon. In addition to the snow it had been windy this week, and I drove over a few downed trees. I was 4 miles from the trailhead when I was forced to turn around due to a downed tree too big for my truck to drive over. I was a bit bummed, but I’d also been prepared for this eventuality. I didn’t have time today to park where the downed tree was and hike 4 extra miles each way. Luckily there was another 13er 5 miles away with a 2WD trailhead. I hadn’t done much research on this peak, and it was my second choice because it was more difficult than the first, but it was accessible, so I drove towards the Gibson Creek Trailhead and made it there at 5am. The parking lot can easily hold about 20 vehicles.

From the trailhead I followed the fence to a trail junction and continued straight towards Gibson Creek.

It was obvious I was the first person to use this trail since the snow fell, and route finding was a bit challenging in the dark with all the snow (about 8-12 inches). I crossed the creek a couple of times and the trail ended completely. I was met with dense forest, but knew all I had to do was climb south and gain the ridge.

Sounds simple, right? Normally yes, but today this was a much more difficult feat than I’d anticipated. The snow kept getting deeper and deeper and the mountainside keeps getting steeper and steeper, and since I’m stubborn I refused to put on my snowshoes. That meant I was slipping quite a bit. The angle of the slope was intense. My quads and calves were screaming. I had to stop every few steps to rest my legs, which isn’t normal for me. Finally, after what seemed like forever I put on my snowshoes and reached the bristlecone pine trees at the base of treeline, around 12,000’. The wind was powerful (I’m guessing 40mph), which made the sugary snow feel like glass on my face when the wind blew. The wind also dropped the temperature quite a bit (read: I was frozen). The snow kept piling up as I reached the ridge. This is where I ran into trouble. I was supposed to cross the ridge, but there was quite a bit of snow, all piled up into a cornice, just waiting for me to trigger an early season soft snow avalanche.

I looked around for a safer route, but the only route was straight across the ridge (it dropped to either side). So I made the decision to turn around and hike this peak another time, when the snow was either more consolidated or gone altogether. I didn’t want to turn back, but I also didn’t want to risk causing an avalanche. Summiting is optional, making it back down is mandatory.

Since the sun was now up I could enjoy the beauty of the snow on the trees as I trekked back down.

Route finding was also much easier on my return trip, since all I had to do was follow my snowshoe tracks. Also, downhill in snowshoes is much easier than uphill without.

VIDEO:

I crossed the stream again several times.

And followed the snow and leaf covered trail back to the trailhead

At about 9500’ the snow was pretty much gone altogether

I made it back to the trailhead much earlier than anticipated, since I’d only hiked about 6 miles this morning. However, in the daylight I was greeted with fall colors I hadn’t seen this morning in the dark and about 10 forest service workers clearing downed trees.

I’d thought fall was over for Colorado, especially with the recent snow, but I guess not! All through Westcliffe I saw the leaves change.

Tag: Spread Eagle Peak

Spread Eagle Peak – 13,423 and Peak of the Clouds – 13,524