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| South Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 37.94150°N / 105.5158°W Route Type: Hike Time Required: Half a day Difficulty: Class 1
| Route Quality: | | | | Loading...
| Page By: Aaron Johnson Created/Edited: Jul 8, 2004 / Jul 9, 2004 Object ID: 161464 Hits: 855 Loading... Page Score: 86.02% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
From Westcliffe, drive 4.4 miles south on Highway 69. Turn right on Colfax Lane (R-119) and travel south 5.5 miles. As you drive south through the heart of the valley, you'll intercept Horn Road (Rd 130). From this point, it is 12 miles to the Music Pass trailhead. At 5.5 miles, the road tees.
Going right takes you to everybody's favorite 4WD road and access to the South Colony Lakes and the Crestones. Go left instead a quarter mile and then turn south. The road eventually becomes the Music Pass jeep trail (route 119) and seems to wander as it climbs through the forest. Bypassing a horse camp, the road becomes rougher. High clearance 4WD is required from this point for the last 2 miles. From where the road is ends, your hike and climb begins.
Route Description
From Music Pass, the south ridge route is obvious. Strike out due north directly across open tundra dotted with trees, aiming for an obvious clearing in the trees on the ridge buttress. Aim for the shorter clearing on the right. As you begin to gain altitude, wind your way up through the sparse vegetation. As you enter the grassy clearing, much fallen timber, bleached white by decades in the Sangre sun, can be easily bypassed on the left.
Beyond the deadwood, stroll up the clearing, an obvious avalanche chute that has been cleared repeatedly by the whims of mother nature. At the top of this clearing, bear left and stay on the rounded ridge crest. As you climb higher, some pleasant rock hopping on solid Sangre conglomerate rock can be had.
As you break timberline altogether, stay on or near the ridge crest. A sub summit with a rugged south facing wall of rock presents a number of scrambling possibilities. Staying on the ridge keeps the difficulty at a Class 1 stroll. Once on this sub summit, the next high point due north is the summit you seek. Stroll along the ridgeline to this perch and be sure to sit down. The view will make your knees weak with awe and wonder.
Return the same route, remembering to stay on the right side of the deadfall near the bottom of the clearing for easiest passage.
ROUND TRIP MILEAGE: 5 miles
GAIN: 2155' (with a loss of 50' near the pass that must be regained, but no big deal).
Continuing due north on the ridge from the summit would eventually top out on Marble Mountain. This is a viable route to Marble’s summit if you have great weather, as it is all above timberline. You’ll need plenty of time to execute this climb, though. Be sure you have it, along with plenty of energy, as you’ll need to retrace the entire route back to your vehicle.
Essential Gear
Standard day hiking gear will do.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
Images
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Sangre de Cristo Mountains
