Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: August 7, 2005
Climbed with Amanda, Bill, Tiffany, and Bailey. This is a fun route, with some really cool views. I saw a bighorn sheep up on the ridge, but nobody else saw her and they think I'm crazy.
Route Climbed: Cordova Pass Route Date Climbed: 9.4.05
Great mountain with magnificent views of East Peak, Greenhorn, Blanca, Lindsey , Bear.....and more.... Peaceful car camping at TH in a starry night sky!
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: July 16, 2005
Arrived at the Cordova Pass TH during a massive thunderstorm on Friday night and set up camp. It was very cold that first night, even at that elevation, for July. I'm estimating that is was in the mid-30's.
We were on the trail by 0645 the next morning and at treeline by 0800. We followed the somewhat marked trail until around 12,500. For some unknown reason, we decided to head off the trail and attempt a more direct climb to the summit. An extremely bad idea that turned out to be. We ended up climbing nearly 1,000 vertical feet, on what appeared to be one of the steepest faces of the mountain, while crawling on all four's. This portion of the mountain was all talus and extremely hard to maneuver in and probably quite dangerous. We probably cost ourselves 30 to 45 minutes on our ascent. Learn from our mistake: stay on the trail. We made it to the summit at 1000. From up there, you've got great views of the Wet Mountains, southern Sangre's including the Blanca Massif, and East Spanish Peak.
The descent, while relatively easy, is hard on the knees. Be careful because there are some loose areas where footing is suspect.
You can find more pictures than what I've posted here .
Route Climbed: West Peak trail Date Climbed: June 20th 2005
Perfect weather. Hit the trail at 0815 and made the summit at 1221. More snow than I expected for mid June (all above treeline) Met two more climbers at the tree-line who went as far as the first false summit with me. Tough scramble going back down. New to the mountains so I thought I'd bag a less technical mountain as my first of what hopefully will be many summits.
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: May 21, 2005
Arrived at Cordova Pass at 2am Friday, slept in the car through gusty winds. Hit the trail at 7:30am, still windy but not too cold. Way more snow than last winter (this was my second attempt); could barely see the tops of the trailhead signs. Postholed for a quarter mile and called it quits. Snowshoes would have worked. Oh well, the third time's the charm...
Route Climbed: SW ridge Date Climbed: Early 1970's
Drove in from Aguilar with my Dad, brothers and a host of uncles and cousins for a mass assult on the mountain. My first major mountain climb. I don't remember too much except none of the adults made it to the top. It was a lot of fun for a tyke such as myself.
Route Climbed: Southwest ridge Date Climbed: May, 2002
This was a great hike with over 1,500 feet of bouldering up the southwest ridge. Once on top the views were simply amazing. At the time I was living in Illinois and was not used to looking down on clouds. Sweet views of the Blanca massif, Pikes Peak, and the southern Sangre De Cristos.
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail, descent via Apishapa Trail Date Climbed: September 12, 2004
I've been wanting West Spanish for a long time. Cilmbing it the day after Culebra seemed sensible. Spent the night at Cordova Pass and hit the trail late Sunday morning. The summit views are astounding! We used a car drop so we could descend the Apishapa Trail. Unfortunately, the dykes that were advertised on the sign at Cordova Pass were very few. In fact, the only dramatic dykes are within a quarter-mile of the base of the trail. Better to drive down to the Apishapa Trailhead and hike the quarter-mile in than to use this as a descent route. On the other hand, it is a pleasant enough forest hike. I highly recommend West Spanish! A trip report is available here
Route Climbed: Cordova Pass route Date Climbed: Early May of 2001
This was my first hike of the year in 2001. I attempted to get my dad up this mountain but it didn't work out. He bailed once the route turned to steep talus, too tough on the knees and feet. I enjoyed this hike because it was interesting. The volcanic dykes were really cool to look at. Also, the summit of West Spanish Peak is 6000 ft above its surroundings!
Route Climbed: From Cordova Pass (standard) Date Climbed: July, early '90's
My memories of this hike...we camped at Cordova Pass and climbed on a clear blue-sky day. At the top it was so windy we had a hard time moving forward and not being blown down!! But the views were endless. Great condioning climb.
This was the first peak I ever did - climbed it with my dad when I was 12. Obviously the memories are a little fuzzy, but I do know this was the mountain that got me hooked on mountaineering. Take that for what its worth.
mmoerk - Sep 6, 2005 9:59 am
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: August 7, 2005Climbed with Amanda, Bill, Tiffany, and Bailey. This is a fun route, with some really cool views. I saw a bighorn sheep up on the ridge, but nobody else saw her and they think I'm crazy.
Helga - Sep 5, 2005 9:16 pm
Route Climbed: Cordova Pass Route Date Climbed: 9.4.05Great mountain with magnificent views of East Peak, Greenhorn, Blanca, Lindsey , Bear.....and more.... Peaceful car camping at TH in a starry night sky!
Scott Wisher - Jul 17, 2005 11:23 pm
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: July 16, 2005Arrived at the Cordova Pass TH during a massive thunderstorm on Friday night and set up camp. It was very cold that first night, even at that elevation, for July. I'm estimating that is was in the mid-30's.
We were on the trail by 0645 the next morning and at treeline by 0800. We followed the somewhat marked trail until around 12,500. For some unknown reason, we decided to head off the trail and attempt a more direct climb to the summit. An extremely bad idea that turned out to be. We ended up climbing nearly 1,000 vertical feet, on what appeared to be one of the steepest faces of the mountain, while crawling on all four's. This portion of the mountain was all talus and extremely hard to maneuver in and probably quite dangerous. We probably cost ourselves 30 to 45 minutes on our ascent. Learn from our mistake: stay on the trail. We made it to the summit at 1000. From up there, you've got great views of the Wet Mountains, southern Sangre's including the Blanca Massif, and East Spanish Peak.
The descent, while relatively easy, is hard on the knees. Be careful because there are some loose areas where footing is suspect.
You can find more pictures than what I've posted here .
Jay Moon - Jun 27, 2005 12:14 pm
Route Climbed: West Peak trail Date Climbed: June 20th 2005Perfect weather. Hit the trail at 0815 and made the summit at 1221. More snow than I expected for mid June (all above treeline) Met two more climbers at the tree-line who went as far as the first false summit with me. Tough scramble going back down. New to the mountains so I thought I'd bag a less technical mountain as my first of what hopefully will be many summits.
orangehat - May 30, 2005 1:29 pm
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: May 21, 2005Arrived at Cordova Pass at 2am Friday, slept in the car through gusty winds. Hit the trail at 7:30am, still windy but not too cold. Way more snow than last winter (this was my second attempt); could barely see the tops of the trailhead signs. Postholed for a quarter mile and called it quits. Snowshoes would have worked. Oh well, the third time's the charm...
easleygone - Apr 13, 2005 12:21 am
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail Date Climbed: June 1989Tough little climb. And very enjoyable. Saw quite
a few mountain sheep.
jtree - Jan 8, 2005 5:50 pm
Route Climbed: SW ridge Date Climbed: Early 1970'sDrove in from Aguilar with my Dad, brothers and a host of uncles and cousins for a mass assult on the mountain. My first major mountain climb. I don't remember too much except none of the adults made it to the top. It was a lot of fun for a tyke such as myself.
DJR
csmcgranahan - Oct 31, 2004 9:53 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest ridge Date Climbed: May, 2002This was a great hike with over 1,500 feet of bouldering up the southwest ridge. Once on top the views were simply amazing. At the time I was living in Illinois and was not used to looking down on clouds. Sweet views of the Blanca massif, Pikes Peak, and the southern Sangre De Cristos.
RyanS - Sep 14, 2004 1:15 am
Route Climbed: West Peak Trail, descent via Apishapa Trail Date Climbed: September 12, 2004I've been wanting West Spanish for a long time. Cilmbing it the day after Culebra seemed sensible. Spent the night at Cordova Pass and hit the trail late Sunday morning. The summit views are astounding! We used a car drop so we could descend the Apishapa Trail. Unfortunately, the dykes that were advertised on the sign at Cordova Pass were very few. In fact, the only dramatic dykes are within a quarter-mile of the base of the trail. Better to drive down to the Apishapa Trailhead and hike the quarter-mile in than to use this as a descent route. On the other hand, it is a pleasant enough forest hike. I highly recommend West Spanish! A trip report is available here
DaveC - May 21, 2004 9:45 pm
Route Climbed: from the middle Date Climbed: june 03finally done with 14ers, i'd been wanting to hit spanish peaks for years. loose ascending, but a great ridge walk once up.
big_g - Sep 2, 2003 10:12 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2003
Route Climbed: West Peak TrailClimbed the standard route from Cordova Pass. Saw a few people on the trail but not too many. The parking lot was full.
I had been itching to climb this for a while since seeing it from the hwy. Glad that I finally did.
screehopper - Jul 9, 2003 8:32 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest ridge. Date Climbed: July, 6, 2003A good mountain for a novice mountaineer like myself. This was my second mountian over 4,000 meters. Scree and talus make for terrible footing.
Kane - Jun 8, 2003 9:05 am
Route Climbed: Cordova Pass route Date Climbed: Early May of 2001This was my first hike of the year in 2001. I attempted to get my dad up this mountain but it didn't work out. He bailed once the route turned to steep talus, too tough on the knees and feet. I enjoyed this hike because it was interesting. The volcanic dykes were really cool to look at. Also, the summit of West Spanish Peak is 6000 ft above its surroundings!
theplugger - May 5, 2003 8:14 am
Route Climbed: From Cordova Pass (standard) Date Climbed: July, early '90'sMy memories of this hike...we camped at Cordova Pass and climbed on a clear blue-sky day. At the top it was so windy we had a hard time moving forward and not being blown down!! But the views were endless. Great condioning climb.
DaFreshman - Mar 19, 2002 8:52 am
Route Climbed: SW Ridge Date Climbed: July 1991This was the first peak I ever did - climbed it with my dad when I was 12. Obviously the memories are a little fuzzy, but I do know this was the mountain that got me hooked on mountaineering. Take that for what its worth.