8/7/04 – Culebra Peak & Red Mountain – Northwest Ridges

9.7 miles, 4795'


Culebra Peak. A nasty talus wound to many a would-be 14er bagger. The sole fourteener in the state that's completely encompassed by private land, Culebra and the pristine backcountry surrounding it have inspired controversy across centuries. Relatively speaking, we climbers have only recently entered the long list of people who have had to fight for access to Culebra. A well-researched timeline of the peak's wild history can be found on SummitPost. It's required reading for anyone who wants to know more about the Culebra Range's tangled history of ownership and entitlement on both sides of its crest or to learn about the four decades of legal wrangling over the San Luis Valley residents' right to graze cattle and harvest lumber and firewood on what they call "La Sierra."

Culebra has been on my mind for a couple of years. Back in 2002 I hadn't figured out that I could get information about Colorado's peaks on the Internet. One day, I called the Colorado Mountain Club about Culebra Peak – the number I had dialed for Taylor Ranch was no longer in service. I was surprised to learn that Culebra was now off-limits to hikers except during a special CMC weekend in late August, with its participants selected in a lottery. All that summer, Erin and I worked toward our goal of 25 summitted 14ers so that we'd meet the CMC's requirements. We reached that goal on August 7th, a little late to enter the lottery that year. In 2003, the requirement was upped to 50 14ers, with little hope given for people who weren't ABC, All But Culebra. The bar raised, Erin and I worked toward this new goal, again falling short. It wasn't until August 30 that we had climbed 50 of Colorado's 14ers. This year we climbed our last two remaining 14ers aside from Culebra early in the summer and have spent the rest of our weekends climbing mostly 13ers. But Culebra nagged. It was so tiresome telling people who asked, "Well, I've climbed all the 14ers but one. It's on private land, blah, blah, blah..." This year, the CMC announced that the backlog in the lottery had grown too long and that no new entrants would be accepted. Dejected, we resigned ourselves to not completing the 14ers until 2005.

But then came the news in August that Lou Pai, an ex-Enron executive who cashed out over $300 million worth of Enron stock, had sold the Taylor Ranch to a Texas couple, Bobby and Dottie Hill. The hopeful among us could only take this development as good news. The first reason for optimism came in newspaper articles describing the new owners' attitudes toward the San Luis Valley residents. A desire for discussion, not hostility, was their initial inclination. A Pueblo Chieftain article dropped a tantalizing bit of information: during a meeting with Costilla County residents the Hills hinted at their plan for the beneficial use of their lands, which would include climbers. We also learned that, even though the arrangement had been struck between Lou Pai and the CMC, the Hills would honor the lottery weekend on Culebra later that month, another encouraging sign. Next was a post on SummitPost that said the owners had decided to charge $100 a head for access to the renamed Cielo Vista Ranch.

Though I knew at this point the post was only rumor, I spent some time trying to dig up phone numbers. My efforts were largely fruitless, but last week, I caught a break. By Wednesday night, I was speaking personally with Mr. Hill, and I found out that I had an opportunity to climb Culebra Peak not just sometime in the future, but this very weekend! The congenial Bobby, as he asked to be called, talked about how excited they were to have climbers on the lands. He said that he doesn't know much about climbing 14ers, but he's glad to let climbers experience their special preserve and he expressed a desire to make our time on the ranch well worth our money. I couldn't believe my ears!

My task was now to round up a few friends to meet Bobby's group size requirements, which was no problem. By that evening, we were a group of six, and four of us were vying to finish the 14ers! We weren't the first group to climb Culebra since the CMC's trip a few weeks ago, but I found out that we'd be the only group climbing on Saturday. The time to meet the ranch hand was set, and we were given permission to car-camp at the gate to the ranch.

On Friday Erin saw a snake while out for a walk at lunch, surely a good sign! Erin and I drove down that night and arrived at the gate after midnight. Kurt Traskos, Jean Haas, and Dwight Sunwall were already there, asleep. Erin and I climbed into the back of her 4Runner, and we were serenaded to sleep by bugling elk. John Kirk arrived Saturday morning a little after 5:00, and the rest of us slowly woke to get ready for our 6:30 appointment with the ranch hand. With binoculars, we got an close look at a herd of elk around 20 strong, walking through the meadows north of us with a magnificent bull elk trailing behind. Hal, a nice guy who had just flown in from Texas to work at the ranch, arrived right on time and he led our caravan to the ranch's north headquarters. We left two of our vehicles here before starting the drive up the 4WD road. We stopped about a mile short of Fourway so we could gain 3000' on the peak. Our parking spot was in a beautiful meadow that revealed views of the Sierra Blanca to the north. The first couple of miles on the road went quickly, and soon we met up with Jean who drove to 11,700' where the road heads south and away from Culebra.

We headed southeast on easy grass and talus up the slopes of Culebra's snaking northwest ridge. As we neared the top, we aimed for the giant, well-constructed cairn on the crest. Views to the north opened, and I revelled in the calm, rolling foothills of the Culebra Range, such a stark difference from the Sangre de Cristos I've come to know, but not unlike the New Mexico Sangres, as John explained. Here's a look at the peaks south of Red Mountain, including Vermejo Peak. After a small drop in the ridge, I could feel the anticipation building. We started climbing the summit ridge.

For John, Dwight, Erin, and I, it was the final push on our final 14er. Well, almost! After a going up and over a small false summit, we were staring at the final quarter-mile of our 14er career. We four couldn't help but leave Kurt and Jean behind so we could crank out the rest of the climb. Hoots and hollers marked our triumphant moment, and we took lots of photos of the group. Dwight shared some cheesecake, and we talked happily and soaked up the views. I left a new register atop Culebra, the first in hopefully a new and long line.

Our summit stay was long and satisfying, but eventually it was time to head over to Red Mountain, the 70th tallest in the state. Bagging this centennial 13er was a key to convincing Kurt to cancel plans for Grizzly Peak and join us. I was glad to have Kurt along. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have climbed the Maroon Bells traverse, I might not have climbed Sunlight's summit boulder, and I certainly wouldn't have had the gumption to tackle Mount Daly, Capitol Peak, and the Pierre Lakes Basin in a day. We followed the range crest, which drops about 600' to Culebra's saddle with Red. From there we saw a group of four elk at the saddle between Red and Vermejo. We used a good climbers trail, which aided in the 450' climb up loose, pink and red rock, to reach the top. We spent an even longer time on Red's bug-infested summit. The views back at Culebra and of the Spanish Peaks were great, and John pointed out Little Costilla, a New Mexico county high point that has me interested.

We begrudgingly left the comforts of Red's summit for the climb up and over Culebra. Back at the giant cairn, the afternoon sun was lighting Culebra beautifully, and we took a small break. We had 2300' to descend on our way back to the meadows, but vistas of changing aspen led us on. We picked a good line on the grassy slopes, and we were back to Jean's Yukon quickly. All that was left was the short hike on the dirt road. At ranch HQ, John, Dwight, Erin, and I celebrated with a tequila shot before we drove out to San Luis and Emma's Hacienda for lunch. The food was fabulous, and we even had a view of the Culebras from our table! After lunch John had to get back to Denver and his three-week-old baby girl, and Jean needed to be back in town to make her flight on Sunday. Kurt, Dwight, Erin, and I drove to Cordova Pass, where we spent the night before climbing West Spanish Peak on Sunday. Dwight prepared a warm fire for us to huddle around, and we talked under a brilliant night sky. It was a good day.

It's still sinking in that I've finished the 14ers. After all the worry about Culebra, it finally happened! I feel privileged that I got to climb it in intimate fashion with the mountain to ourselves. And for four of us to finish that day? To finally hike in this exclusive preserve, to see it with my own eyes, to climb my last 14er, I just couldn't be more pleased. I appreciate and want to thank everyone who's helped us along the way. Without encouragement and motivation from some people or a key piece of information from others, I know I wouldn't be writing this report today. Lastly, Culebra Peak was special for Erin and I because we've shared the summit of all the 14ers except Mount Bross. It's been a long, often obsessive, but very rewarding journey that she and I have made together. The 14ers helped grow our love for the mountains. We share a passion, and the best part about completing this list is that it's really just the beginning. We've cut our teeth on Colorado's highest, and we're ready to experience and to learn more. We've spent much of this summer discovering just how fabulous the lower peaks are, and there's so many other states to explore, too! Many curse the 14ers for their popularity. I, on the other hand, thank them for showing me the freedom, the sanity, and the glory of the hills.