| Peaks: | Humboldt Peak - 14,064 feet |
We pretty much knew the route because we took these pictures on the day before from Crestone Needle and Peak-
Notice on both pictures the red line goes around to the right side of the ridge near the top. We and several other hikers missed this turn and kept going to the left under the cliffs. You will have to do some class 3 manuvers if you go that way and may get stuck. The red lines are not exact but rather approximate routes. 
After a crazy sunburn on my neck from the day before (I did put on sunscreen twice), I decided to tie a handkerchief around my neck like a boy scout to protect it from more sun. Since Humboldt was going to be much easier, I put on my cotton tee-shirt. This Bevis and Butthead shirt is an old shirt. I guess I just grabbed any 'ol shirt out of the drawer. Anyhow, Ben thought that I looked like a goof so I smiled like a crazy goon and he snapped a photo-
We were about out of water so we left our almost tree line camp at about 8 AM up to the Upper S. Colony lake and headed towards the outlet river from the lake. On the way we stopped and spoke with 3 women that were 14ers.com members. I can't remember their names but I'm sure they will comment on my report. I remember one of their husbands is also mountainmicah. That's pretty cool. They had done Culebra and Red Mtn the day prior and were asking for "beta" on the Crestone traverse. It was already almost 8:30 am and they didn't have ice axes so we recommended that they didn't attempt either mountain but that they could probably make the needle. They took our advice and set off for Humboldt ahead of us. We could see several people lining the ridge on the way up. I filtered some water from the faster flowing area and we set off for the top of # 20 for me.
Looking back, you could see the Needle (Left) and Peak (Right)
The weather was absolutely gorgeous so I carried Ben's coat and my usual pack with water, emergency kit, first aid kit, head lamp, rain gear, GPS, Camera, etc… I never go unprepared. Since the hike was class 2 we used our trekking poles-
We ended up passing a middle aged couple and a younger couple and 2 of the 3 women we had seen earlier. One had stopped because she had already done Humboldt and only has 14 peaks left to be done (good luck) and then changed her mind because "Winners don't quit." We tried so hard to catch the third but our jello legs could just not push hard enough to catch her. We followed her around the north face of the peak and somehow missed some cairns for the turn. Some idiots have placed more cairns where the trail isn't. Anyhow, we turned back for the right side of the ridge and came around the corner.
From here, somehow this woman already made it to the summit when we were just behind her. She must have either ran this part or teleported herself over there. Awesome Job, I was impressed. There were a group of 4 guys from Kansas up at the summit as well as a couple of other guys and then these 3 women and Ben and myself. After doing the Crestones the day prior, this did not feel like a summit but rather a knoll. Nonetheless, Humboldt makes #20 for me and 4 for Ben. Finally, something easy for him! A look below Colony lakes towards Westcliffe. This ascent from Lower S. Colony took us only almost 2 hours and that was with sore feet and jello legs from the day prior.
A 180 deg turn and the crestones
Our summit tradition after having our shot of Whiskey-
I swear I am embarrassed about taking my shirt off, but it is fun. I would feel better with a tan and some bigger muscles. I guess I better lay off the beer. It will get interesting on cold fall summits I suppose, but at least my blubber will keep me warm.
Coming back down Humboldt, I was able to catch a photo of upper S. colony lake and the beauteous Crestones once again.
One last look back towards the summit of Humboldt. Notice where the red curves right near the top. It may not be that durastic, but you get the idea. I hope it helps…
After a bit of contemplation, I decided to jump off these rocks into the freezing Upper S. Colony Lake…
The water was just so blue and I wanted to jump in. These rocks were only like 6 – 8 feet off the water. I actually jumped twice. Once for a vid which I may add later and then one for a photo. I went in my Scooby Doo redneck boxers. I ended up just laying back on the warm rocks until I was dry after that.
Being that it was still early in the day, Ben wanted to hang out at the lake for a while. I have some fish hooks and some fishing line wrapped around a match book that I carry for survival emergencies. We some rather large trout and decided to try our luck at fishing with blueberry crisp cliff bar's as bait. The fish didn't even raise their noses to the bait. Anxious to catch a fish (I wish I had pics of this so people would actually believe me) Ben and I decided to go Bear Grylls style from Man Vs. Wild. The fish were hanging back at the edge of the lake where it drains down towards the next lake. We built a small dam of rocks to make a channel in a small area to somewhat trap the fish in. I had a Gallon size zip lick bag in my emergency kit that we cut a couple of holes in and made a make-shift net and we were ready to fish. I walked along the rocks towards ben and scared the fish towards him. Then wham, one swam right into the bag and we had our first fish (we do have Colorado fishing licenses and are happy to pay the fees). We did this one more time for a couple of nice 8" trout. What rednecks we were! I threw them in my empty nalgene and packed them in with snow to bring them home for a snack later.
Since I am not a real backpacker, I only have this 40L Vaude pack that is not meant to carry all of this gear. After breaking down camp and packing up, we had only about 2 miles to go for the car. On the outside of the pack you see my tent, sleeping bag, rope, helmet, ice axe, nalgene, and my friend Robin's Thermarest. Thanks Robin for letting me borrow this a couple of months ago. I swear I am going to give it back to you
Here is Ben and his even smaller 35L Vaude pack. (Also purchased on Steepandcheap.com) He has the other climbing gear, sleeping bag, axe and mat. Also notice he is sporting his Gateway Canyon Half Marathon shirt from earlier this year. They had Avery beer there which was awesome!
One last look at the needle
And one last look at Humboldt
And we were off…
Half way down…
We hopped in the 2WD Jeep ('Ol Red) and were back down the road.
There were these beautiful columbines all along the way…
Driving on Hwy 69 back towards Westcliffe, we pulled over and snapped this last shot of the Crestones waving goodbye to us…
What a weekend and another adventure as usual. The Colorado mountains are never boring! That makes 10 summits this year for me and 20 Total. I am on a mission this summer to grab as many peaks as possible between work, honey-do's (I do love my wife. Thanks Anna for letting me do all of these climbs and accompanying me on some) weddings, and family visiting. This summer is the first semester that I have had off of school in 2 and a half years and I am taking advantage of it. I hope to graduate next may and then I hope I can finish up the list next summer if I am lucky. If not, they aren't going anywhere.
See you at the top!
MountainMicah83
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