Two weeks before, I got turned around on a solo of the North West Couloir (this route should be done as a steep snow climb in late Spring). If anyone ventures into the NW Couloir as a late summer route... bring a helmet, short rope, crampons, self-belay equip./belayer and a hammer/ax as it had hard ice even on Sept. 7th. I had golf ball sized rocks fly by consistently- every 5 or 10 minutes. On the 18th, I summitted via the beautifully dry, relatively solid Red Couloir. SEE MY PHOTO OF THE NEARLY INVISIBLE CUTOFF FROM THE MAIN VALLEY TO THE COTTONWOOD CREEK FORK- this is truly the crux of the entire southern route. This very important saddle is just north of the top of the boiler plates, AND IT IS REALLY EASY TO MISS IN THE MIDST OF BUSHWHACKING. Awesome solid scrambling up the Red Couloir!!!
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Sangre de Cristo Mountains
