3/7/04 – Estes Cone – Estes Cone Trail

6.0 miles, 1865 feet


We needed to get out! Desperately!

Erin suffered from an ear infection throughout February, and she simply couldn't tolerate high altitude for nearly a month. After failing on Rosalie Peak last weekend, we needed a successful day in the high country. Unfortunately, I fell ill this week, so I was very uncertain of my abilities. I started feeling better as the weekend approached, though, so Erin and I decided to hike up Estes Cone. Kurt, also under the weather, asked to join us.

Erin drove us to the Longs Peak Trailhead, where we stepped out under a brilliant, blue sky and into high winds. The view of the Cone from the parking lot is splendid, but I doubt I even noticed it when I was last here in 2001 to climb Longs Peak. That year, Erin and I used the typical 3:00 a.m. start on Longs, so we wouldn't have seen it in the dark, and when we returned, I was exhausted from my first 5000' day on my 3rd 14er ever. But I have seen Estes Cone many times since then. In fact, I see it practically every day, because along my drive home, I stare directly at it from I-270 in Commerce City. From that perspective, it appears like Sawtooth Mountain's shorter twin, dwarfed by Longs on its left and Twin Sisters to its right.

I was upset that Erin didn't bring our boots along, but after some encouragement from Kurt and considering that the trails would be well-packed, I slapped snowshoes on my running shoes, and we set out for the Cone. In the trees, the winds were completely absent, a nice surprise. We snowshoed a quick half-mile on the Longs Peak Trail and reached the turnoff to Estes Cone. To our surprise, no one had been that way since the small storms that week, so we actually had a few inches of fresh powder to break. To me, this was a real treat, given the traffic that Rocky Mountain National Park sees. The few inches of powder was a blast, especially since there was two feet of well-packed snow beneath it, meaning zero postholing.

We shoed past Eugenia Mine, while Kurt and I filled the air with the sounds of our hacking, coughing, and farmers' blows. We descended into Moore Park, catching the fine views of the Cone, quickly reaching the junction with the trail to Storm Pass. While the junction is signed, we couldn't see the trail. We spread out and bushwhacked up a hundred feet of slope or so, before finding it. We made the gentle ascent to Storm Pass, and turned for the 750' push to Estes Cone's summit. The trail for this segment was difficult to find here, as well. We postholed and bushwhacked up the steep slopes, with Erin graciously leading the way. We were still just under the winds. We could hear it whipping through the trees, maybe 20' above us, but there was none at the ground level. We stumbled upon the trail about half the way up and followed it the rest of the way to the splendid summit area.

We ditched our snowshoes, and made the brief scramble up a crack to the false summit. We dropped down and climbed back up to the true summit, where we were in wind for really the first time all day. The views from Estes Cone are good enough that you want to just stay all day. The chasmal cirque formed by Meeker and Longs was breathtaking, our view centering on the Ships Prow. The views continued as we circled around – rounded Meadow and Saint Vrain Mountains to the south, Twin Sisters Peaks to the east, the Needles of Lumpy Ridge above Estes Park, and the Mummy Range lined up in full procession. The best view, however, was the glacial artistry of the 12ers that form the core of Rocky Mountain National Park. We watched clouds pouring over the Continental Divide, spilling into Tyndall Gorge and Chaos Canyon, obscuring but highlighting Otis and Hallett Peaks. It was breathtaking. We endured the wind before descending off the southwest side of the summit to soak up the sun and eat some food. We stayed on the summit for around 45 minutes before we started the hike down.

Back at Storm Pass, we bumped into a lady hiking solo. I thought she looked familiar, and I talked to her for a moment. She seemed intent on continuing her hike, though, so I let her go after a few words. Later we discovered that we had bumped into Jennifer Roach, since we heard on the Forum that she left a summit register that day. Too bad I wasn't feeling better, I might have found this out!

The hike back was uneventful, but we made such good time on this quickie hike, that we made it to Kathmandu's lunch buffet with hours to spare. We need to spend more time in RMNP and the Indian Peaks if only to eat at Kathmandu more often!