Conejos Peak 13,172' 07/16/2005

After an hour of driving from Treasure Creek after bagging Summit Peak, I finally arrived at the trailhead for Tobacco Lake at 10:50 am. Clouds were building up, so I did my best to get started ASAP. Contrary to the waypoint from Topo!, the trail actually was about a third of a mile closer to the peak than the map shows. Nevertheless, the round-trip distance is actually longer than the Mitchler-Covill guide suggests. The trail was very straight-foward, though I did feel a pull to leave it prematurely one drainage north of Tobacco Lake. I decided to be patient and was not surprised to see the trail went very directly to the Lake. This wasn't a good place to take in the views due to a prevalent mosquito population. A nice short snow climb above the lake on its south side marked the beginning of the assault to obtain the north ridge. I was feeling a little sluggish by now and took my time since the clouds were not manifesting any threat. The summit cairn's location is such that it is unmistakable from nearly a mile away.

This peak felt very isolated compared to many in recent memory, both prominent and remote. The soft granular gravel ridge was pleasant and unique with a nearly white color contrasted with interspersed maroon-and-yellow wildflowers. I reached the highest ground at 12:10 pm. Views from the summit were more proof of this peak's isolation, with the nearest significant peaks being on the Continental Divide south of Summit Peak, including Snow Benchmark and Point 12,727. The hike down was expectedly faster, and I was ready to head out for the long drive back to South Fork at 1:15. Someone's tiny dog ran up and jumped into the truck. I never did end up seeing another vehicle and found this to be rather mysterious. The following morning, I had a leisurely 1,200' hike up Del Norte Peak to rack up some more points before getting back to the hotel to round up the family and head home. This was a great way to spend an otherwise ordinary two-day weekend.