For those of you that appreciate long, wordy trip reports read away. Otherwise the links are here. Overall I’m happy with my photos. These kinds of shots look way better as a big print, so I'm not sure what kind of effect they will have on this forum. Also, clouds would have been nice but shooting from 13,000-ft requires way too much "other" planning, so I just do these kinds of photo shoots on bluebird days. That way I don’t have to worry about getting blown to pieces by lightning, 1,500 above treeline. Planning a safe 5000-ft, 3 hr descent in the pitch dark,in trees, off trail, requires the bulk of the other planning.
I was granted a last second day off last weds. Since I don't get many days off this time of year, I wanted to really get aggressive and take advantage of the late season warm temps to accomplish an old Crestone Peak photo shoot idea. I knew my potential perspective of the Crestone’s had never been photographed with advanced photography equipment, let alone any camera, at sunset… ever. Years ago I climbed Pico Asilado from the Cottonwood Creek drainage and fell in love with the view of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle from that perspective. Both peaks are the most dramatic summits in all of the Sangre Mountains, let alone all of Colorado. And, Yes, they are even 14ers! I came up with the idea of climbing UN12,847 from the dirt road near the Cottonwood Creek TH. This summit welcomes one visitor a year, if that, due to the logistical nightmare of climbing the mountain.
12,847 resides on the ridge of peaks that separates the Cottonwood drainage from the Deadman drainage. It's the same ridge that Pico Asilado resides but much further west. The Photographers Ephemeris (site that reveals the suns alignment to you landscape subject) showed the southern sun beaming perfectly up the Cottonwood drainage, thus the Crestone’s would be completely lit up all the way until the sun actually descends past the horizon. That’s rare, so I got the last little push of motivation I needed.
Earlier this year I tried to hike up the Deadman drainage to get to 12,847 for The Shot, and got turned back within 15 minutes of hiking into the mouth of the drainage. Easily the most disgusting bushwhack I have ever encountered. It was literally impossible to get through that mess, let alone with a 50 pound pack. I remember the mosquito’s alone were enough to make a grown man cry, let alone the marshy, downfall ridden, willow infested surrounding. That drainage has been closed for at least 25-30 years due to the private property encompassing the area.
This time I said “what the hell” I’ll climb it from 8,300-ft from the Cottonwood Creek TH. I’ll just jump on a ridge line from the road and follow it 3.5 miles and 4,600-ft to the summit of 12,847. A lot can go wrong with this kind of route in the Sangres; however Google Earth revealed a nice looking, gradual ascent all the way to treeline and to the summit with very little ups and downs. Didn’t appear to be any cliff-out sections as well, so all I needed to worry about were sections of hideous bushwhacking, which I’m used to. Sounds like “a go.”
I brought my pack (gear to survive the night out/emergency bivy) GPS, SPOT satellite transceiver, additional batteries, two headlamps (in case one goes out on me), 3 liters of water, tripod, pano head, camera, 24-70, and 70-300. No wide angle. Never bring a wide to a summit.
When I arrived, I knew I wouldn’t need the snow boots. This side of the Sangres always gets baked by the sun, especially south facing slopes, which most of my route would use. Even treeline at 12,000-ft looked fairly dry.
The ascent went remarkably well. I was actually shocked with how easy the route went. Other than the occasional game trail, there were zero signs of human presence but not too many obstacles to impede consistent progress. I got my cadence going and never looked back. Other than your obligatory “western Sangre stunted aspen tree grove” to negotiate, nothing got in the way. BTW, stunted aspen tree groves are a bitch to negotiate. At 10-11,000-ft they are fully mature at 12-15ft because they are held in-check by weather elements like constant wind and limited year round warmth. Imagine a quarter mile of hiking/climbing through hundreds/thousands of 3-15-ft aspens growing about 1 to 2 ft apart. Add in the usual downfall and you get a nice warm and fuzzy class 3 bushwhack.
I made the summit in 3.5 hrs. A lot faster than I thought it would take. It was incredibly warm for this time of year, thus I only needed a t-shirt and shorts. There was zero wind at 12,800+ft. I waited two hrs for about 10 minutes of light that felt special; another memorable Sangre sunset!
The ride home in the dark was another adventure in itself. Let’s just say, I would have been staying the night 20-30 times over without my trusty GPS. A life saver indeed.
The Crestones are truly fantastic mountains, especially from here. I’ve climbed over 300+ mountains in Colorado and these guys are top 10. They are stunning from every perspective..case and point… In 2006, I spent an entire year climbing every peak around the Crestones just to view them from different perspectives.
Will I go back? I’m not sure…That was a lot of work. I have other Crestone ideas that need to be explored.
Posted by Jack Garrett on November 6, 2010 at 7:52 PM
These are some awesome shots Kane! Great light and great comps. You and Jody Grigg should get together...he does a lot of these same types of adventures.
Posted by Todd Caudle on November 6, 2010 at 8:31 PM
Those are all exceptional as usual, Kane, but I gotta say, that shot you got of Humboldt on this trip, which you didn't include a link to, is the gnarliest shot of that docile peak I've ever seen!
OK, I'll add it to the rest. I'll also add a shot of Pico Asilado. Thanks Todd.
Posted by John Mumaw on November 6, 2010 at 10:26 PM
Well, I like long, wordy trip reports!
They add a great deal of flavor to your always stellar photography of the Colorado back country.
All three 'Crestone Power' images are my favorites, esp. in the post-sunset light. As usual, your efforts were well rewarded both photographically and (hopefully) spiritually.
Awesome, Kane! That is indeed an amazing perspective. I think my favorite is #1, the post-sunset shot, but all three Crestone Power images are terrific. I've had a hankering to climb Asilado since seeing it on SummitPost years ago. Maybe some day I'll actually get around to it. Too many lists!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on November 7, 2010 at 10:04 AM
Your mountain images never cease to impress me. Great work here, Kane, and keep up the wordy narratives. I really enjoy them. This series is really impressive, but there's something about the light on the Humboldt image that puts that one at the top for me.
Posted by Jody Grigg on November 7, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Pretty sweet stuff Kane.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on November 7, 2010 at 2:34 PM
You certainly maximized a day off. Power 1&3 are my picks for their lighting and certainly no nits. Enjoyed the narrative as it says what is entailed to get your stellar images of the peaks.
Posted by Stan Rose on November 8, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Awesome!! Love the pico shot especially. Glad you can endure all the pain to get these, so now i dont have to...
Posted by Jeff Beard on November 9, 2010 at 4:46 PM
Discussion
10 repliesFor those of you that appreciate long, wordy trip reports read away. Otherwise the links are here. Overall I’m happy with my photos. These kinds of shots look way better as a big print, so I'm not sure what kind of effect they will have on this forum. Also, clouds would have been nice but shooting from 13,000-ft requires way too much "other" planning, so I just do these kinds of photo shoots on bluebird days. That way I don’t have to worry about getting blown to pieces by lightning, 1,500 above treeline. Planning a safe 5000-ft, 3 hr descent in the pitch dark,in trees, off trail, requires the bulk of the other planning.
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/the-crestone-power-1/
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/crestone-power-3/
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/crestonepower-2/
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/crestone-magic/
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/humboldt-peak/
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/pico-asilado-13641-ft/?gallery=sangre-de-cristo-mountains
I was granted a last second day off last weds. Since I don't get many days off this time of year, I wanted to really get aggressive and take advantage of the late season warm temps to accomplish an old Crestone Peak photo shoot idea. I knew my potential perspective of the Crestone’s had never been photographed with advanced photography equipment, let alone any camera, at sunset… ever. Years ago I climbed Pico Asilado from the Cottonwood Creek drainage and fell in love with the view of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle from that perspective. Both peaks are the most dramatic summits in all of the Sangre Mountains, let alone all of Colorado. And, Yes, they are even 14ers! I came up with the idea of climbing UN12,847 from the dirt road near the Cottonwood Creek TH. This summit welcomes one visitor a year, if that, due to the logistical nightmare of climbing the mountain.
12,847 resides on the ridge of peaks that separates the Cottonwood drainage from the Deadman drainage. It's the same ridge that Pico Asilado resides but much further west. The Photographers Ephemeris (site that reveals the suns alignment to you landscape subject) showed the southern sun beaming perfectly up the Cottonwood drainage, thus the Crestone’s would be completely lit up all the way until the sun actually descends past the horizon. That’s rare, so I got the last little push of motivation I needed.
Earlier this year I tried to hike up the Deadman drainage to get to 12,847 for The Shot, and got turned back within 15 minutes of hiking into the mouth of the drainage. Easily the most disgusting bushwhack I have ever encountered. It was literally impossible to get through that mess, let alone with a 50 pound pack. I remember the mosquito’s alone were enough to make a grown man cry, let alone the marshy, downfall ridden, willow infested surrounding. That drainage has been closed for at least 25-30 years due to the private property encompassing the area.
This time I said “what the hell” I’ll climb it from 8,300-ft from the Cottonwood Creek TH. I’ll just jump on a ridge line from the road and follow it 3.5 miles and 4,600-ft to the summit of 12,847. A lot can go wrong with this kind of route in the Sangres; however Google Earth revealed a nice looking, gradual ascent all the way to treeline and to the summit with very little ups and downs. Didn’t appear to be any cliff-out sections as well, so all I needed to worry about were sections of hideous bushwhacking, which I’m used to. Sounds like “a go.”
I brought my pack (gear to survive the night out/emergency bivy) GPS, SPOT satellite transceiver, additional batteries, two headlamps (in case one goes out on me), 3 liters of water, tripod, pano head, camera, 24-70, and 70-300. No wide angle. Never bring a wide to a summit.
When I arrived, I knew I wouldn’t need the snow boots. This side of the Sangres always gets baked by the sun, especially south facing slopes, which most of my route would use. Even treeline at 12,000-ft looked fairly dry.
The ascent went remarkably well. I was actually shocked with how easy the route went. Other than the occasional game trail, there were zero signs of human presence but not too many obstacles to impede consistent progress. I got my cadence going and never looked back. Other than your obligatory “western Sangre stunted aspen tree grove” to negotiate, nothing got in the way. BTW, stunted aspen tree groves are a bitch to negotiate. At 10-11,000-ft they are fully mature at 12-15ft because they are held in-check by weather elements like constant wind and limited year round warmth. Imagine a quarter mile of hiking/climbing through hundreds/thousands of 3-15-ft aspens growing about 1 to 2 ft apart. Add in the usual downfall and you get a nice warm and fuzzy class 3 bushwhack.
I made the summit in 3.5 hrs. A lot faster than I thought it would take. It was incredibly warm for this time of year, thus I only needed a t-shirt and shorts. There was zero wind at 12,800+ft. I waited two hrs for about 10 minutes of light that felt special; another memorable Sangre sunset!
The ride home in the dark was another adventure in itself. Let’s just say, I would have been staying the night 20-30 times over without my trusty GPS. A life saver indeed.
The Crestones are truly fantastic mountains, especially from here. I’ve climbed over 300+ mountains in Colorado and these guys are top 10. They are stunning from every perspective..case and point… In 2006, I spent an entire year climbing every peak around the Crestones just to view them from different perspectives.
Will I go back? I’m not sure…That was a lot of work. I have other Crestone ideas that need to be explored.
They add a great deal of flavor to your always stellar photography of the Colorado back country.
All three 'Crestone Power' images are my favorites, esp. in the post-sunset light. As usual, your efforts were well rewarded both photographically and (hopefully) spiritually.