| Sangre de Christo Monsoonal Madness Trip Report |
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| Sangre de Christo Monsoonal Madness   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 37.58380°N / 105.4443°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 11, 2005 | Page By: Cortez Created/Edited: Aug 17, 2005 / Object ID: 170347 Hits: 478 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
We met our friend Don Nalley from Colorado Springs at the Huerfano River Trailhead at around 8:30 am. Jennifer and I ate our Colorado produce (Mesa County plums & peaches & Rocky Ford cantaloupes that we picked up outside of Walsenburg) and packed our packs > Don took care of some HIGH country activity. We leisurely hit the trail late around 9:30 am. This would prove to be an extremely obtuse decision later in the day. We ran into trail register shortly up the trail. There was an ominous sign posted on the trail register hand written by a widow that pleaded to climbers attempting Blanca via Gash Ridge to look for her husband’s pack which was not found with his corpse. He apparently died from a fatal fall a few weeks earlier.
Don, Jennifer, & I started south on the Lily Lake trailhead and walked 1.2 miles where the Lily Lake trail went steeply to the west. The weather was relatively warm but extremely cloudy. We continued south on the trail in the valley for an additional 0.3 miles where we crossed the Huerfano River and headed south into the trees out of the valley. At this point the trail becomes dramatically steeper as it follows along the right-hand side of a talus field. We eventually emerged into a beautiful steep unnamed valley that contained a pristine mountain stream which cascaded down into the Huerfano River Valley below. Just below 12,000 ft. we came across what appeared to be a mine shaft on the opposite side of the stream from where we were hiking. The shaft had a perfectly square entrance which was undoubtedly human in origin. Oddly enough, I did not observe any other traces of mining activity. Because of the danger involved with exploring abandoned mines we opted to head toward Lindsey rather than crossing the creek to get a better view of the shaft. The hike up this valley to the basin was extremely steep until we reached a basin at about 12,000 ft. We rested and snacked in this high mountain basin surrounded by the jagged and menacing Sangre de Christo Mountains. The views of Blanca, Ellingwood and the Iron Nipple were expansive and overwhelming. This is one of the countless vistas in the American Southwest that defies adequate description in words an art. Places like this lose their meaning unless you are there.
Don spotted Lindsey’s reclusive summit pyramid shrouded in monsoonal clouds emerging from behind an extremely steep west facing slope. The weather prompted us to cut our break shorter than we would have liked. Fierce monsoonal clouds were beginning to roll in from the south. Following our short sabbatical in the basin we walked southeast across the unnamed basin to an extremely steep ridge. On the way up this steep west facing ridge our every move was observed by a herd of curious mountain goats. We eventually reached Lindsey’s northwest ridge at 13,164 where Don was patiently waiting for us lowlanders. Jennifer & I were feeling the altitude at this point. Coming from Knoxville, Lindsey gave our respiratory systems all they could handle. This despite the fact that we had climbed extensively at this elevation in the past.
The temperature at 13,164 dropped considerably and the monsoonal winds fromt he south and rain began to pick up at this point.
There was a student from Boulder at the ridge who had stayed behind while the rest her party summited. She told us that from Lindsey’s ridge they had been up on the summit for over 3 ˝ hours. This seemed odd to us since the summit was almost in sight. And made us second guess our attempt. Jennifer and I had had an awful vacation up to this point due to car trouble at the beginning and were bound & determined to salvage the end of the vacation from hell by reaching the summit of Mt. Lindsey come hell or high water (or lightning).
From the saddle between Mt. Lindsey and the Iron Nipple we charged up the to northwest to Lindsey’s north face. Here the climb got a bit hairy. If you are over 6 ft. tall the steep chute filled with loose rock is a bit more manageable but still dangerous, especially when wet. People are regularly injured & killed on Mt. Lindsey so proceed with caution. Jennifer and I continued up the Class 3 rock climb to the north of the chute to avoid the wet, loose rock. I have to say, with the wet rock, this route was extremely frightening. I stayed behind my wife Jennifer to spot her. Jennifer and I reached a small col then headed up a steep broken face with lots of loose rock & exposure. From here were proceeded to Mt. Lindsey’s northwest ridge. Jennifer & I could see Don and the dogs (Shiloh & Blinken) on the summit about 150 meters away at this point. When we arrived on the summit, it was almost totally engulfed in monsoonal clouds. We could hear thunder in the distance on the way up the collier but were determined to make it to the top. Once we arrived on the summit the rain began to fall much harder and the monsoonal flow had spawned a thunderstorm that was quickly closing in on us. After only five minuets on the summit we advanced as quickly and safely as possible down the deteriorating mountain slope. In the col on the way down the treacherous, wet north face, the storm was right on top of us. An ear shattering crack of thunder which sounded like a M.O.A.B. bomb exploding on top of us made us all hit the dirt (like it would have helped). We never saw lightning, but we knew it was there.
The 3 of us and the 2 dogs made it safely down to the ridge at 13,160 feet as the thunderhead turned into a monsoonal downpour. The low hanging clouds wrapped themselves around the jagged Sangre de Christos. Down in the basin at 13,000 ft. we saw 3 huge ravens hopping and pecking at the rainsoaked earth. The rain had not stoped the peeps from the marmots as they stood guard and watched our haggard bodies scurry down the trail from their Rocky Mountain scree condos.
The descent was easy and peaceful. We arrived at the truck at the trailhead around 4:00 pm in the afternoon. The monsoonal moisture was socked in for the rest of the evening. Back at the trailhead we spoke to a guy who was going up Lindsey and the iron Nipple the following day. Sipping on his Bud Light, he told us that he would be attempting some of the more difficult routes up these mountains. I popped a much deserved Mountain Dew once Don arrived to the truck and changed into my clean Iron Maiden tour t-shirt that bought at their concert at Fiddler's Green in Denver couple of nights prior.
The road on the way down had turned into a muddy bog with several challenging water hazards. Once we were about halfway down the mountain it was 4:20. We decided to eat at the bar/honky tonk in Gardner, Colorado. All of us had a cheeseburger and a Breckenridge Avalanche Ale to round out this insane adventure. The bartender told us of her days as a search & rescue worker in these parts. There were many tales of people meeting their demise on Lindsey and Blanca.
Mt Lindsey is a dangerous mountain in August because of the monsoons. We felt fortunate that we made it off of this mountain on this day unscathed.
Hiking Party:
Michael Booker
Jennifer Booker
Don Nalley
Shiloh
Blinken
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Sangre de Cristo Mountains
