July 30th, 2021
Culebra Peak is in one of the remotest parks of Southern Colorado near the town of San Luis on the border of Colorado and New Mexico. It is at a height of 14058 feet in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range. It is also completely on private land and the only 14 thousand peak where one needs a permit and pay a fee of $150 to climb. It has been passed down over generations and has changed hands between wealthy families. It is now owned by a family in Texas and is part of the Ceilo Visa Ranch operations.
Bookings for the hike open every year on December 1st. We requested for a booking on the morning of December 1st, 2020 and were lucky to secure two spots. Thus began our long wait for the actual day of the hike.
I left home at 9.30 a.m. on July 30th Friday I reached my friends house at 10.00 a.m. and then we headed down south at 10.15 a.m. We were surprised to see heavy traffic on I-25 on a Friday morning. We reached Colorado Springs around noon and decided to take a lunch break. Lunch was pasta from Noodles and Company for me. We sat and ate at Which Wich sandwich shop next door as I also picked up a sandwich for the next day's hike. After lunch we were back on I-25 south. After reaching Walsenburg we headed west on US160 towards Fort Garland. The drive throughout the southern Rockies was magnificent. Lush green valleys, blue skies and towering peaks made it seem like a picture book.
From Fort Garland we took the state highway 159 to further south and then finally reached the small town of San Luis at 3.30 p.m. After checking in to our rooms we decided to head to the trailhead of Culebra peak to get a feel of what to expect the next morning. It was a short ride of 20 minutes outside town through the village of Chama. There were rain clouds covering the peaks. The forecast for the next day also called for light showers in the morning and heavy rain in the afternoon. We reached the gate of Ceilo Vista ranch at 4.15 p.m. after driving on a small dirt road. The ranch gate was closed at that time. There was one other camper that had just arrived. We got a good idea of what to expect the next morning. We turned back and headed to the hotel to relax. We reached there at 4.30 p.m. The rest of the evening was spent on yoga and drinking tea. At 6.45 p.m. we headed to the only pizza place which was inside a gas station.
San Luis town itself is very small and there were only two places to eat. The other one being a Mexican, American eatery. There were two elderly ladies at the counter who took our orders. The lunch I had earlier in the day at Noodles and company did not sit well in my stomach. So I decided to stick to a very small pizza. The pizza was good. After a decent dinner we went back to the room. I repacked my backpack for the hike next day and then at 8.20 p.m. went to bed.
July 31st, 2021
We woke up at 4.10 a.m, 5 minutes before the alarm was set. After taking a nice shower I got ready for the hike. We packed our car and then checked out of the hotel at 5.30 a.m. We reached the ranch gate at 5.45 a.m. There were six other cars already parked. They had camped at the gate overnight. At 5.56 a.m., a man in a pickup truck arrived and opened the gate. We were the first one's in. The manager checked our ID and reservation. He asked us to proceed to the ranch headquarters. It was a short drive on a dirt road to the HQ building. Another person was waiting outside. He asked us to park the car and walk towards him. He gave us instructions on where to park on the upper trailhead for the hike and how to sign off on the way down. There were couple of people who had also joined for the briefing. They appeared in a big rush and they sped ahead of us.
We drove up through a very rocky road with Aspen trees all around. It was lush and wonderful. Later it turned into a grove of coniferous trees. We reached a small four way junction which was the lower trailhead. Since we had read the prediction for early morning showers followed by heavy rain in the afternoon, we decided to park at the upper trailhead. The upper trailhead was quite bumpy. We parked our car and got ready for the big hike with our backpacks. It was 6.40 a.m. It was a really beautiful morning and place. There was blue skies, fresh crisp air and a stream flowing down. We had to immediately cross the stream. It was 6.50 a.m. After a few minutes of hiking, the trail disappeared. We were almost at tree line. We knew we had to head straight up and had to keep to the right. Even though it was just 2.5 miles to the top we had to climb up almost 3000 feet. The mountainside tundra was lush green and wet. We saw plenty of mushrooms big one's and small growing on the ground. There were about 10 other hikers who had already made their way high up as they had a 10 minute early start. They all appeared to be in a hurry. We took our time enjoying the views and taking pictures. We were well above tree line now. There were rocks all around the tundra. The slope was getting steeper. We continued to march ahead steadily as we took frequent breaks.
As we were approaching to the top of the first ridge, the sun peaked at us. It was indeed a wonderful sight. In the distance we could see the flat lands of New Mexico to the south and the other high mountain peaks of Colorado to the North. Finally at 8.30 a.m. we were at the top of the first ridge. There was a huge cairn indicating that we were on the right track. Being on private land, this is the only 14er that does not have a trail to the top. You have to find your way to the top. Due to the steep climb up we thought we had made it almost the way up. However after reaching to the top of the first ridge we realized we were just halfway through. We saw the majestic peak of Culebra along with the valley and plains below. It was a magnificent sight. However now we were wondering how to make our way through up the steep slopes. We could see the hikers ahead of us in the far distance almost reaching to the top.
After a small breakfast break we marched ahead. Immediately we were greeted by large rocks and we had to really find a way around it to reach the saddle of the summit. The saddle was grassy but immediately thereafter the rocky portion started again. From the saddle the true summit is not visible. Instead you se four false summits. the incline up was a as steep as it can get. At many places we were on all our fours. The white clouds were moving into the valley below slowly. To the east of the peak there was just as sea of clouds. It appeared to be a weather front. we were mindful of the rain forecast all along. There were a lot of marmots on this mountain more than what I have experienced on other mountains. They were up close between the rock outcropping there was some tundra. We tried to go around some of the large rocks. However the slope was getting steeper. We finally reached the false summit.
From here we could the final summit. We soldiered along and climbed up the final set of steeps rocks to reach the summit at 10.15 a.m. It was a wonderful feeling. There was only one more person at the top. The rest had already made there way down and had passed us on the way up. The 360 degree views from here was beyond spectacular. To the east were the clouds above the plains below us. to the south we could se the mountains and plains of New Mexico. To the west was the valley from where we had hiked as well as the town of San Luis. To the North were the cluster of high mountain peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. And to top it all off were the clouds encircling us around the peak with blue skies above us. This was a view to die for.
It has been our tradition every year to have lunch at the top of the mountain. But this time due to the threat of rain we headed down at 10.35 a.m. after soaking in the view, taking pictures and a few bites of our sandwich. It was a steep climb down. We were watching the clouds all along. However we were not in any immediate threat. On our way down to the saddle we saw a father and daughter who were just climbing up! As we reached the saddle at 11.40 a.m. we heard the first thunder. The dark clouds were at a distance to the South of us. We climbed up again to reach the cairn at 12.05 p.m.
Now we saw dark clouds to the west of us above the valley from where we had come from. Surprisingly there were just blue clouds above us. From here it was a steep climb down the tundra. We avoided some of the rocks by staying to the right. We realized soon that we weren't too far to the right as the mountain stream had made the soil below us unstable with big holes in the ground. Luckily our feet stayed above ground and didn't get stuck in any of the holes. We tripped at a few places but avoided falling down. We then made our way to the tree line. From here we could see the parked cars at the trailhead. At this point we could hear a lot of thunder. However there were still no clouds above us. Finally we reached the stream crossing and after crossing it we reached our car at 1.00 p.m. We experienced the first rain drop! After loading our backpacks and shoes we sat in the car to have our sandwich lunch and drinks.
There was a big sense of joyous accomplishment. We headed down the rocky dirt road to the ranch headquarters building. We went in to sign off and get the code fro the gate lock. The attendant was very friendly. He mentioned that today was the last day of hiking season at the park and the next day was the start of tours for hunting around the mountains. They had CCTV across all the vantage points in the ranch including the parking lot up above at the trailhead. He could see who had made it down and who hadn't. We bid our goodbyes and thanked him for the wonderful experience. Most people hate the ranch and Culebra peak for the exorbitant charges. However I am of the opinion that the charge is well worth it as it keeps the mountain pristine and only serious well prepared hikers sign up.
We reached the ranch gate at 1.55 p.m. funnily enough it started pouring heavily at this point. We drove to San Luis, filled up our gas tank and then headed back to the town of Walsenburg to the east. It was 3.30 p.m. and we were super hungry. We were delighted to find a wonderful brewery and pizza pub. There was live music. We ordered a whole pie for each of us and chowed it down in no time.
We left Walsenburg at 4.30 p.m. and headed up I-25. We then hit an enormous amount of rain between Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver. The rain was really nasty in Colorado Springs with the road flooded at many places. There were times when we were contemplating to exit and stop. However the exit also looked flooded. This weather front had moved above the entire front range that weekend and had caused a lot of flash flooding. We soldiered along slowly. The traffic between Colorado Springs and Denver was very heavy and slow going. We reached home at 8.00 p.m. It was end to a spectacular journey up one of the most lonely and remote fourteen thousand peak in Colorado.
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