Sangre de Cristo; Sangre Fría; Solo y Sin Apoyo
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Follow me on my public inReach page, tracking me in real-time. I will be starting on Monday, July 15th.
Route Description
The Sangre de Cristo Range is a long chain of mountains starting (going South to North) between La Veta Pass near Fort Garland, CO to Poncha Pass, near Salida, CO. It’s around 75 miles long as the crow flies. This range rises straight from the valleys that flank it without any foothills, making a very dramatic spine of mountains.
Simply put, the route I will be taking will follow the very crest of this range starting with ascending the Southwest Ridge route to Little Bear Peak from Highway 150/Lake Como Road and staying on the very ridge of the range until descending off of Methodist Mountain towards Salida, CO.
Dozens of peaks comprise the very spine of the range (70 – 80 peaks, depending how you count), including five fourteeners, and two Colorado centennial peaks. This spine also includes two of the Four Great Fourteener Traverses: Little Bear/Blanca, and Crestone Needle/Crestone Peak (both rated easy 5th Class). The route will thus link these two traverses together. Nick Clark breaks down the peaks as follows:
- 14ers: 5
- 13ers: 33
- 12ers: 18
- 11ers: 17
- 10ers: 4
- Total peaks: 77
Many other semi-technical traverses can be found on this ridge of similar quality. Most of the route is off-trail – perhaps a few miles of trail in the total line. Talus, tundra, and forested areas will all be passed through.
The total elevation gain/loss of the route is between 50,000′ to 60,000′; the equivalent elevation gain/loss of two summits of Mt. Everest from sea level, back to back.
Caltopo Map
This map holds my intended route, Nick Clark and Cam Cross’s route, labels to major peaks, and all my beta notes.
Attempts/Completions
Brendan Leonard and Jim Harris
The first time I ever heard of anyone trying to link the Full Sangre de Cristo Range was when reading about Brendan Leonard‘s and Jim Harris‘s trip going North to South, starting in Salida in 2013. Read their story in Backpacker. Brendan writes about trying to be the first to attempt doing the full range. After ten days, they bailed off of California Peak due to torrential downpours – the same weather system that caused massive flooding here in Boulder, CO.
Cam Honan
In 2016, Cam Honan did a variation of this route (his trip report is here) – I don’t know his exact route, but I believe he dropped off the ridgeline near Milwaukee Peak, then traveled to the base of the range on the west side and into/across the Grand Sand Dunes National Park, before re-ascending to the ridge. I’d love to see a GPX. ~8 days. Not quite sure of the style, but he notes that Paul Mags joined him for the last push to Ellingwood/Blanca Peak. I don’t believe the Blanca/Little Bear Traverse was done.
Nick Clark and Cam Cross
In 2018 Nick Clark and Cam Cross completed the first (known/documented) traverse from Lake Como, to the TH for Methodist Mountain (starting with Little Bear Peak, and doing the Little Bear/Blanca traverse) staying pretty much on the ridgeline the entire time (except to source water), in about four days, 11 hours. Their trip report is worth a read.
They noted having a few food/water caches along the way. Researching their track, it does seem they missed a few minor peaks, but stayed generally on the very crest of the spine of the mountains, including the two 14er traverses. Nick describes their line as such:
hike, climb and maybe jog a little from Lake Como to Methodist Mountain in as expeditious a manner as possible, while staying on the range’s central ridge for as much of the route as feasible and/or practical.
Among other things, Nick writes about terrible blowdown in some areas below treeline, highlighting that the cruxes aren’t just what’s found on the high peaks and knife edge ridgelines.
My Style
I’ll be going solo and unsupported. I’ll be packing all the food I’ll need for the entire trip with me from the start and only sourcing water either from lingering snowfields I find along the way, or from creeks/lakes if I need to drop off the ridgeline itself. The north side of the range will be more difficult to source water from, than the (higher elevation on average) south side.
I’ll bring enough food for about five days – about 4750 calories/day. I’ll need to do 20+ miles and 12,000′ of elevation gain/day or go hungry in the process.
I am attracted to the purity of going unsupported, as well as its simplicity. I also am enamored by how committed you are required to be, knowing that there is no relief to be had in the form of an awaiting bag of food/supplies, as well as the planning that needs to be done to put together a kit that will get you through this type of route.
I certainly believe I can do this all without food caches, and in this time frame – but only barely. Five days of food – around 4,000 – 5,000 calories a day weighs quite a bit (around 13lbs), and my pace will suffer greatly from that – especially at the start, no matter what else I bring with me when it comes to gear.
The Mosquito/Tenmile Range Traverse that I did in 2018 would be the most similar trip in Colorado to the Sangres Range Traverse, although the former was shorter at 81 miles, had less elevation gain at 29,000’+ and took me less time: 3 days, 19 hours. Mosquito/Tenmile though, stays at a higher average elevation (maybe 1,000 feet higher on-average, roughly).
The Sangres Range Traverse differs greatly in the Nolans 14 linkup, as dropping down into the valley with its relative safety and copious water sources just won’t happen in any part of the line.
I anticipate my pace to be around 20 miles/day, and gradually get faster as the weight of my pack gets lighter. I don’t anticipate that I can beat Nick/Cam’s time, but I can get close.
Itinerary
I’m expecting this plan below to be wishful thinking, as projects like this seem to delve into a seemingly uncontrollable chaos after the first minute. But in the chaos, one will find a strange type of order. Each day is approximately 20 miles. Day 1 and Day 3 are absolutely the crux days.
Day 0
I’ll be taking public transportation from Boulder, CO to Alamosa, CO, as I do not own a car. This will take approx. 10 hours of bus time. Once in Alamosa, I’ll be probably hitchin’ it to the road, or taking a 20 mile prologue of a walk. I’m actually excited of this sort-of side-quest to explore how a peak-bagger enthusiast (like myself) can use public transportation (most notably the Bustang and Bustang Outrider CDOT services) instead of a car.
I think I’ve proven this already in my Tour 14er and Tour of the Highest Hundred projects, that one does not need a car to enjoy summertime mountain activities in Colorado – the access is really incredible for self-powered travel.
Once in Salida, I’ll be taking the same network of buses back home.
Day 1
I’m planning to start early – very early at the beginning of the Lake Como Road and Highway 150. Nick Clark/Cam Cross started higher up at Lake Como – I’m not sure why that was, but starting at the base of the range itself will add 7.25 miles and 4,000′ of elevation to the route. I’m also planning to take the Southwest Ridge route, rather than the standard route (Hourglass). I find the Hourglass dangerous, and well: if the whole grand idea is to stay on the ridgeline, it makes sense to start on a ridgeline, too. Both routes are of similar technical difficulty (Class 4).
Little Bear Peak, the first official peak in the line, is at around 8.25 miles in. At 14,035′, you’ll gain around 7,000′ just to summit this one mountain! That’s a stiff start, with a heavy pack.
Ahead of you is one of the main cruxes of the entire line: the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse (low 5th Class). I’ve done this traverse twice – and once with a pack with two days of food and overnight gear, so I feel I’ve got a handle on it. Still, it’ll take upwards of three hours to do this one mile.
Some relief will be found after summiting Blanca, and then crossing over to Ellingwood. I plan to easily source water from near Blanca’s northwest face, melting snow with a stove I’ll be bringing. The line gets gnarlier again once at the summit of Ellingwood. A Class 4 knife-edge route across several high 13er points awaits, finishing with California Peak (a centennial).
Once at California, the ridgeline relents, and I’ll drop some massive elevation towards Mosca Pass. At around 23 miles in, this will be my target for finishing Day 1.
Day 2
A bit of a reprieve, Day 2 will see me on more friendly terrain, with a summit of first Mount Zwischen, then after a few miles of undulating terrain: Blizzadine Peak/Blueberry Peak/Snowslide Mountain will be found and summited in quick succession, then I’ll be finishing up near Music Pass. Around 40 miles into the route, this day will be less mileage than the day before, but should give me a little insulation against coming up short the previous day. I haven’t done any of this part of the route before.
Day 3
Out of the frying pan, into the fire. The Crestones begin after Music Pass, with Marble Mountain and Broken Hand Peak. Then it’s up and over the Crestone Peak to Needle Traverse.
If the weather is holding, it’s time to get summit Obstruction Peak and attempt to link up Obstruction with Mt. Adams (a Centennial). The ridgeline between the two should be loose, challenging, and quite committing.
Marble Mountain marks the point at which the route will be above 12,000 feet and thus above treeline for almost the next thirty miles. This leads to a lot of challenges. Water may start to be hard to source unless one drops off the ridge, and weather/lightning storms become a very critical issue that cannot be ignored.
I’m not quite sure where exactly to bivy in this area. My gut feeling is to run the hike out as far as weather permits, but the 60 mile-ish mark to get the needed mileage for the day is at around Peak of the Clouds/Hermit Pass.
Day 4
If Hermit Pass can be made on Day 3, the next pass, Hayden Pass, is less than 20 miles away and makes a good target. Hayden Pass tops at ~10,700′, and marks the first evidence thatthe ridgeline will be coming down in elevation.
Day 5
Nothing left to do, but finish up the line! As Nick Clark writes, “by this point, you can smell the barn” A mad rush to Salida for burritos, last call for a local brew, and a frigid swim in the Arkansas!
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