Photo Journal & Trip Reports

Mt. Lindsey & Lily Lake

June 2014 | Sangre de Cristos, Colorado

With our San Juans still covered in quite a bit of snow up high, earlier this week we drove east for 3 nights of backpacking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the snow is mostly gone and summer backpacking season is well underway.

Sangres Sunset Pond

Sunset over the Crestone group, as seen from the south - June.

*Prints Available*

We camped the first night up near treeline below Mt. Lindsey, a fourteener I have not yet climbed. Feeling motivated, I set my alarm for 3:00am in order to hike up to the 13,400 foot summit of the “Iron Nipple” (seriously) for sunrise. This rugged peak offered a great vantage point to watch the sunrise light on Blanca Peak, the monarch of this mountain range.

Blanca Peak Dawn

The first light of dawn illuminates Blanca Peak (14,345 ft.), the fourth highest fourteener in Colorado.

*Prints Available*

Blanca Peak Sunrise

Sunrise light on Blanca Peak (14,345 ft.), the fourth highest fourteener in Colorado.

*Prints Available*

Mt Lindsey Morning

Morning light on Mt. Lindsey (14,047 ft.)

*Prints Available*

After our sunrise on the Iron Nipple, we climbed up neighboring Mt. Lindsey, which involved a somewhat spicy scramble to the summit. Nice to tick another 14er off the list (my 25th so far, out of 54 in Colorado).

Huerfano Paradise

The paradisiacal alpine valley at the foot of Blanca Peak and head of the Huerfano River.

*Prints Available*

After our climb of Mt. Lindsey (and a nap) we packed up our stuff and headed further up the Huerfano Valley. Towards the head of the valley there’s rusted evidence of a sizable mining operation from days gone by, but nature has long since taken over again and the valley is now an idyllic slice of paradise. We camped our second night up near treeline below Lily Lake, with the massive north wall of Blanca and Ellingwood towering overhead.