Challenger Point & Kit Carson Peak

An opportunity presented itself that I just could not pass up. The semi-annual board meeting of the Philmont Staff Association was scheduled for October 23-25, so I had requested the 23rd off from work in order to attend. The meeting was then cancelled due to quarantine restrictions, giving me a free long weekend. This gave me the opportunity to climb a mountain that has a long access hike in as a multiday camping trip instead of a very long day trip. I could plan on hiking in on Friday, climbing Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak on Saturday, and hiking out on Sunday.

The weather cooperated with no storms prior to my planned hike, although a big storm was forecasted for later that weekend—a 20% chance of snow Saturday night, and then 80% on Sunday. This would probably be the last chance to climb under summer conditions this year. The forecast around the mountain during the day was for mild and sunny conditions with temperatures of about 40°–45° for both Friday and Saturday with the snow not starting until after midnight. I figured that any snow accumulation would be slight – if any – under the trees at the campsites near the lake, Besides, as I hiked out I would be descending toward warmer temperatures. Of course, I also packed on the heavy side, with extra cold- weather gear and my micro-spikes just in case. There is always the chance that the weatherman may have gotten it wrong—it's been known to happen before.

Kit Carson Mountain is the formal name for the massif that contains three separate summits: Kit Carson Peak (14,165'), Challenger Point (14,081'), and Columbia Point (13,980'). Their access is typically from Willow Lake on the north side, which is a four and a half mile hike from the Willow Creek trailhead. While some hikers can add another nine miles to their climb and do it one day, I'm not one of them. Splitting the distance over three days is much more realistic for my attempt.

The hike up to the lake at about 11,600' was very nice along an excellent trail. I saw eleven people returning down from the lake, and was passed by two guys heading up, who then passed me heading down again about an hour later. Up at the lake I saw just one other tent with a couple that were just there to explore the lake the next day. I set up my campsite just as the sun set and set an alarm for an early start.

At 5:00 a.m. I peak out of my sleeping bag, but it's too dark and too cold to get up. At 6:00 a.m. it's still too dark and too cold. Now at 7:00 a.m. it's finally starting to get light, and it's never really going to warm up, so I might as well get moving to stay warm. While putting together my daypack I notice that I've picked a pretty good campsite. I can hear how loud and strong the wind is all around me, but there's not even a breeze in my campsite. Hearing the wind, however, probably led to my smartest decision of the day—I put on my wool cap and gloves.

The trail went around the lake to above the waterfall and timberline, leaving me fully exposed to the wind. A very cold wind. At least the sun provided some warmth. The excellent trail continued to the base of the main gully where route-finding becomes a matter of choosing the best route through loose rocks while avoiding the snow and ice. The gully seemed to focus the wind, but once I reached the ridge, the wind was still just as bad. Hiking just below the ridge blocked most of the wind.

When I reached the summit of Challenger Point, I got a good view of the first half of the trail to Kit Carson Peak. Alarmingly, the "Avenue" that ascends up to the prow looks to be wet (and at this temperature, icy). That ice makes the trail too dangerous to even attempt. I resign myself to having to try again next year.

I took off my gloves to take some pictures and within minutes my hands were numb—the wind chill had to be negative! I hunkered down in a windbreak to try and get feeling back into my hands. Instead, I started getting the full body shivers. Thinking about trying again in the summer when its nice and warm didn't help either. I rose to start heading back when I saw another couple crest the ridge. I decided to wait a little longer, figuring that they could take my picture when they arrived.

Dan and Molly joined me on the summit of Challenger Point after they missed the trail up the main gully and had to traverse much further along the ridge. They were also interested in trying to climb Kit Carson Peak, but due to their route-finding mishap they asked me to team up with them so that I could lead them to the correct trail back down. They also agreed that from our viewpoint on Challenger Point, the beginning of the "Avenue" appeared to be wet and very likely icy. We decided to hike down to the saddle to investigate the condition of the trail. If it was as bad as it looked, we would abandon the attempt and just return down.

The route to Kit Carson Peak traverses a ledge known as "Kit Carson Avenue." It starts from the saddle between Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak, ascending almost 200 feet to the south, then turns a corner and descends over 300 feet to the east. Only a few feet wide, it's steep and bounded by near vertical cliffs on both sides. From the bottom of the "Avenue" it's then another 450 feet up another gully before the final ridge to the summit.

From the base of the "Avenue" we can now see that what looked to be wet and icy was actually just a different color of rock, and that the trail is actually in great shape. We traverse the "Avenue," climb the gully to the ridge, and traverse over to Kit Carson Peak for the second summit of the day. The traverse from Challenger Point to Kit Carson Peak seemed to go really quickly, but actually took an hour.

After a late lunch on the summit, we returned across the "Avenue," back over the summit of Challenger Point, then down the ridge back to the top of the gully. Dan and Molly missed this on their way up, so I led them down the proper trail. We safely made it back to the lake and my campsite where Dan and Molly then still have four and a half miles to go back to the trailhead. To my amazement, they start jogging to get as far as they could before dark.

I sat on a log in my campsite quite content to do absolutely nothing. Eventually I realized that it was going to get dark soon, but I didn't feel like cooking dinner. Instead I ate tomorrow's lunch, figuring that if I was still out tomorrow at that time I'd probably want something hot anyway. I packed up as much as I could and put everything close at hand in case the forecasted snow had much accumulation.

The morning came cold and overcast but also dry. The clouds were still well above me but I realized that the weather could turn at any time. I packed up my camp, ran back up to the lake for a few final pictures, and started hiking out. A few miles down the trail I was seeing sunshine in the San Luis valley below. I texted my emergency contact with my status and asked him where the storm was. He said they were holding the snow for me, as already over a foot of snow had accumulated back home.

When I made it back to the trailhead, a local walked through and warned me about heading into the mountains because of the weather forecast. I informed her I was just coming out, not heading in. Looking back up, the clouds were starting to descend. Within half an hour as I was driving out, the mountain was totally obscured. Over the next day, several feet of snow fell where I had been.

Pictures

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