Horn Peak Trip Report by Mike Downey

Route: Horn Peak Trail (Followed Rainbow Trail from Horn Creek Trailhead to Horn Peak Trail (forest trail 1362))

Total Time: We started at 7:15 a.m. and got back to the parking lot at 2:30 p.m. A total of 7 hours and 15 minutes

Pre-climb: This was trip I had been planning for several weeks. I had planned to go up to Horn Peak with Trent Gillespie and Brian Hall but there were some complications.

I woke up at around 5 a.m. and and left the house at around 5:45 or so and made the 45 minute trip through Westcliffe and to the Horn Creek Trailhead.

I had planned to meet my friends at the trailhead at around 6:30 but arrived about 10 minutes late, which was fine since one of the members had not arrived. So Brian and I prepared our stuff and patiently waited for Trent. At around 7 or so we called Trent's house to find out that he was still asleep and wouldn't be able to make it. We decided to go without Trent.

The Climb: We left the parking lot at around 7:15 a.m. and took the Horn Creek Spur Trail to the Rainbow Trail. The sign says the distance here is about 1/4 mile but using my pedometer it was closer to four tenths.

Once we got to the Rainbow Trail we followed the signs for Dry Creek north, which was about 1/2 mile or so. At Dry Creek we saw another sign for the Horn Peak Trail another 3/4 mile away. Dry Creek, appropriatly, was completely dry.

The junction for the Horn Peak Trail is very clearly marked and easy to follow. There is a sign that says "<-Horn Peak 3." We signed in to the wilderness register, which is always a good idea so that the forest rangers will be able to know who is up on top in case of an emergency.

I noticed right away that the trail becomes steep and rocky. There are few places with soft dirt to walk on.

After climbing about a mile and a half or so, the trail begins to descend into the Hennequin Creek drainage. Hennequin Creek was also dry when I crossed it.

After crossing Hennequin, you officially enter the wilderness boundary. From here the trail heads gradually towards the northeast ridge of Horn Peak. There are a few switchbacks in this area. The ridge is just a short climb and about 10,700 or just a few hundred feet above Hennequin Creek.

At the ridge, the trail turns left (west) and heads straight up. The tree coverage is still very thick and you can't see either Cottonwood Creek to the north or Hennequin to the south until you get above the trees. Right as you approach treeline, you get your first good view of Horn Peak. Although from there, the lesser point to the east looks like it's about the same height, however it's actually about 800 feet lower.

At treeline, we ran into a group of about 15 people from the Horn Creek Bible camp. The Horn Creek people are frequent visitors to Horn Peak and you will probably run into them if you go. They let us pass them as we were moving pretty quickly.

From treeline, the trail is sketchy at best. You just have to follow the wear and tear of the tundra up to that eastern point on the Horn Peak ridge. This part is pretty steep and I found myself stopping often to catch my breath.

Along the way a trail comes up from the Hennequin drainage to the south. This was the old Horn Peak Trail and it is closed. Besides that, it is covered in fallen timber and loose rock.

The main trail has some loose rock along this eastern slope. I slipped like once or twice, which is unavoidable. I can guarantee that you will too.

After what seemed like a long time of climbing, we finally reached that eastern point, which is supposed to be about 12,600 feet. The views from here are great and the view of Horn Peak is just as good.

From this point, the climb gets steeper and you enter into the "class 2 zone" with a little climbing over rocks and without much of a trail to follow. We just continued following the ridge to the peak.

At this point, Brian was feeling sick. Later we found out he had mono. I kept telling him it was probably the altitude, as it was his first time above timberline. Boy, I was sure wrong.

The last 800 feet of climbing or so are tough but go by quickly. After a little climbing over rocks, we arrived on the summit at 10:45 a.m. The climb took us 3 and 1/2 hours, which is excellent time.

I called my grandparents from the top getting a prefect signal with a cell phone. Then a big fat marmot showed up. He stayed pretty close to us and we fed him a granola bar to get him to come closer.

The people from Horn Creek summited shortly after us. They were pretty friendly people, staying at the camp, coming from all over the country. I gave them "the tour of the Sangres" telling them every peak , its elevation, and the drainages that separate them. They were pretty impressed.

After having lunch and a Sprite on top and taking a grip of photos of the surrounding mountains, we left at around 12 p.m.

The hike down was very quick, we hurried as Brian had a doctor's appointment to go to. I reset my pedometer from the top and found that the mileage from the summit to the Rainbow Trail is more than 3 miles. Its more like 3.5-3.75.

After hurrying down and signing out on the wilderness register we reached the Horn Creek parking lot at around 2:30 p.m.

Horn Thumbnails:

The summit to left from near treeline, false summit on right

The summit visible from the trail

The route follows this ridgeline and starts far below at the lower treeline on the Wet Mountain Valley Floor

Same shot with with better view of Wet Mountain Valley

Cottonwood Creek drainage to North as it empties into Wet Mountain Valley

Dry Lakes in the Dry Creek drainage to South

Our marmot friend on the summit with Flutted Peak (13,554) to West

View of Southern Wet Mountain Valley with Greenhorn Mountain (12,347) in distance

Higher peaks to the south: Colony Baldy (13,705) and Humboldt Peak (14,064)

Flagstone Peaks of the Sangres: Crestone Needle (14197), Crestone Peak (14,294) and Kit Carson Mountain (14,165), also centennial peak Mount Adams (13,941) to right

Adams and Flutted Peak (13,554) to Southwest

Comanche Peak (13,277) and Venable Peak (13,352) to Northwest

Another shot of Cottonwood Creek drainage with Comanche Peak on left

Northern Half of Sangre de Cristos with highest northern point Rito Alto Peak (13,794) in middle under cloud shadow

Brian & I on top with flagstone peaks to our back

About the Author

I am currently a student at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), where I intend to get a degree in Political Science and Geography/Environmental Studies. When I'm not studying, you will find me in the mountains. I have been climbing since I was pretty little and have done climbs throughout California, Colorado and Arizona, including the highpoints of those states. I have done Mount Whitney and Mount Elbert, but I plan on doing some even higher mountains, maybe Aconcagua, Mount Mckinley or Kilimanjaro, Check back with me in about 10 years. Meanwhile you can check out some of the other trips reports:

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