Crestones
| Crestones | |
|---|---|
 Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle seen from the south | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Crestone Peak |
| Elevation | 14,300 feet (4,359 m)[1] |
| Listing | Mountain ranges of Colorado |
| Coordinates | 37°58′00″N105°35′07″W/ 37.9666665°N 105.5852865°W[2] |
| Geography | |
  Crestones | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| Range coordinates | 37°58′01″N105°35′07″W/ 37.9668400°N 105.5853471°W[3] |
| Parent range | Sangre de Cristo Range |
TheCrestonesare a group of four 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks (fourteeners) in theSangre de Cristo RangeaboveCrestone,central southernColorado,comprising:
- Crestone Peak(14,294 ft; 4,357 m )
- Crestone Needle(14,197 ft; 4,327 m )
- Kit Carson Mountain(14,165 ft; 4,317 m )
- Humboldt Peak(14,064 ft; 4,287 m )
Snow is usually mostly melted by early July. Climbers can expect afternoon rain, hail, and lightning from the seasonalmonsoonin late July and August.
Climbing
[edit]- Crestone PeakandCrestone Needleare rockscrambles(Class 3) with some exposure.
- Kit Carson Mountainis a walk-up (Class 2), but only if the correct route is carefully followed; it has claimed more lives than Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle.Challenger Point(14,081 ft; 4,292 m ) andColumbia Point(13,980-foot (4,261 m)) are sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain.
- Humboldt Peakis the easiest of the four, with a straightforward walk-up route. Sometimes Humboldt is not included in the term "The Crestones."
Broken Hand Peak,13,573 ft (4,137 m), southeast of Crestone Needle, is included within the official name "Crestone Peaks".[3]Mount Adams(13,931 ft; 4,246 m ) is a notable peak just to the north of the Crestones, and is quite rugged.
Note that Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are somewhat more technical climbs than many Colorado fourteeners; caution is advised. About one person per year is killed on the Crestones; occasionally they are skilled mountaineers.[4]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^"Topographic map of Crestone Peak".opentopomap.org.Retrieved2023-01-02.
- ^"Crestone Peak".Geographic Names Information System.United States Geological Survey,United States Department of the Interior.RetrievedNovember 14,2014.
- ^ab"Crestone Peaks".Geographic Names Information System.United States Geological Survey,United States Department of the Interior.RetrievedJanuary 2,2023.
- ^Haag, Matthew (August 3, 2010)."Plano mountaineers fall to their deaths in Colorado".The Dallas Morning News.RetrievedJanuary 16,2018.
External links
[edit]- The Crestones on TopoQuest
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Crestone Peaks or Crestone Group
- Well illustrated trip report of climbs of Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak via Broken Hand Pass
