Humbolt Peak via the West Ridge

Trip Report -October 3rd, 1997

By Arthur Vyn Boennighausen

Access to Humbolt Peak's West Ridge is via the South Colony Creek 4 x 4 road. This is an extremely rough road so be prepared for a lot of jostling around! The 7 miles to the top can be hiked as an alternative, with a parking area before the 4 x 4 road starts. We opted to drive the entire road and it it took us over an hour. About half way up is the intersection to the Rainbow Trail at the three mile point. There are several parking spots here if you have had enough of driving.

On this outing we took along Louis Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners: Volume 2, The Southern Peaks. Lou has some clear black and white photographs of Humbolt Peak in this guidebook with a dotted line marking the West Ridge route. One thing we discovered that was not mentioned in Dawson's book is that there is a good trail to the shoulder of Humbolt now that a trail crew worked most of the Summer of 1997 in the area. We encourage people to stay on this new trail rather than keep using the shortcuts that are severely eroding the grassy slopes up to the saddle. The omission in is due to the fact that Dawson's guidebook was printed before the new trail was constructed. Even mountain built for eternity sometimes change.

The entire outing which started at the very end of South Colony Creek road at the 11,040' level took us six hours from trailhead to summit and back to the trailhead. Since the summit of Humbolt is at 14,064' you will have a 3024' elevation gain to the summit from the parking area.

At the end of the road there is a metal gate preventing vehicles to drive any farther. Go past the gate on foot. The road gradually narrows and becomes a trail. Hike up the clearly defined and well maintained trail until you cross South Colony Creek. At the intersection of the creek and the trail are many good camping spots for those who would like to get a little ways away from their vehicle. By carrying your backpack in for the first 45 minutes you can have a mini Wilderness experience.

The ascent is mostly walking a good trail or crossing open grassy areas. A few rock bands up to five foot high have to be crossed now and then as you approach the summit. If the trail seems vague near the summit; always keep on the crest of the ridge. A few spots on the last part of the trail may lure you to the North Face which can be covered with snow and ice in early Autumn. The North Face is only for an Alpinist who knows how to use an ice axe on easy terrain and enjoys the shadows and coolness typical of all North Faces. On a hot Summer day, the North Face would be a pleasantly cool alternative for the experienced.

The thing I like the best about climbing the West Ridge of Humbolt was the magnificent views of the two thousand foot high North Face of the Crestone Needle. Alpine vistas keep me going mentally when the route is too easy to keep my attention. We could easily see the features of the Crestone Needle as we climbed Humbolt. Snow already plastered the North Face and there was new ice in the couloirs.

I am going to pause in the course of documenting this trip report to transfer this brief description to our Webserver right away. I want to get something published immediately since this is friday and maybe a few people can use this outline of the trip to explore Humbolt this coming weekend.

I will publish a more elaborate version of this outing in the next few days that includes our meeting with a physician named Thomas Smith along with a thoughtful German professor of Astrophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder named Dieter Hils and a pilot named Richard for the US West Telecommunications Team and how my wife Marty got lost on the trail for over an hour on the way back down.