Background
On Tuesday, July 19th, 2022, I climbed both Crestone Needle (14,203 feet) and Crestone Peak (14,300 feet) as separate climbs. Both of the these mountains are class 3, requiring use of hands and route finding. Starting just after sunrise, I first went up Crestone Needle. After descending to the ridge, I made the decision to continue up to Crestone Peak gambling that I would return below the treeline before an incoming lightning storm. It was a risky decision that did not leave much time for delay but I did make it back just at the treeline as it started to rain and lightning nearby.
The previous day, I hiked in, set up camp and summitted Humboldt Peak, an easier mountain. This enabled me to have some time to adjust to the altitude and positioned me for the long day up to both Crestones, back to my rental car and then the drive all the way back to Denver. I took a break at my campsite before returning to my car into the night, the day involved over 12 hours of hiking and climbing.
It is very important to have GPS when on the routes. Additionally, I consumed about 5 liters of water on the hikes. This much water was too much to carry. Luckily there were streams along the way to Crestone Peak and I had iodine tablets with me. This enabled me to have adequate water for continuous hiking and climbing.
There is a traverse from one Crestone to the other but this is an extremely technical route with class 5 climbing. Many climbers, even just this year have died on it. For this reason, I did not attempt the traverse, instead taking the standard class 3 routes.
Along the way I saw many marmots and mountain goat. It was an intense day of hiking and climbing but it was also rewarding to have summitted three 14,000 peaks in about 36 hours.
No Comments
