| With road closures far away from trailheads for Summit and Conejos Peaks, I had hiked up North Mountain the previous day. With no hope of bagging counties, I opted to attack the prominence list with a drive most of the way up Devil Mountain, where a fallen tree impeded further progress. I set out up the road on foot for about a mile before arriving at the Devil Mountain summit area. The topo shows a trail heading to Horse from here, but by all means, this is now a bushwhack for the descent to the low point of the ridge. The descent was steep, and I was restrospectively pleased I did not bring Leah and our 9-month old daughter for her first crack at the prominence list. Navigating numerous fallen trees, a faint trail began to reveal itself, gradually growing stronger. After a half mile on the ridge, the vegetation thinned out, and in a meadow below I spotted a small herd of elk scampering away. On the right, the last mile to the highest ground of Horse Mountain is relatively clear with an intervening fence line. The summit area consisted of aspen stands (photo below) and stacked pieces of limbs at the base of the tree near the highest ground. The next day, I bagged Klutter Mountain, another of Archuleta County's 1,000'+ prominence peaks. A look at nearby Chimney Rock was enough to convince me that I will not be completing Archuleta County's complete 1,000'+ prominence list, nevertheless. |
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