New Years Day Hike of Curley Peak

The past few weeks have been snowy and cold.  As a result, it has been a while since I have had a big mountain adventure. I had New Years Day to myself so I wanted to get in some sort of physical activity in the mountains. 

My original plan was to attempt a climb of 14er La Plata Peak.  I had my gear ready to go and an early alarm.  When I woke up, I checked the weather readings at the stations close to my destination.  The closest stations ranged from -13F to -26F and there was still a couple more hours of darkness for the temperature to drop.  It was already below 0F at my house and I'm not exactly in the coldest location in the area.  The idea of spending hours in an exposed environment at those temperatures didn't sound too sane so I went back to bed with a new plan.

I decided to head east to the lower and warmer Wet Mountains.  In my last blog post I wrote about a hike to Tanner Peak in the northern end of the Wet Mountains.  I wanted to explore more peaks in the range and this seemed like a good opportunity. 

This time my destination was Curley Peak.  Curley Peak is the next summit south of Tanner Peak and the highest summit in the northern part of the range at 9600'.  I was told that the views were better than Tanner Peak and trails were in better shape.  Most of the hike to Curley Peak is on the warmer, eastern side of the range so I expected a pleasant hike.

There are a few ways to reach Curley Peak.  I started my hike from the East Bear Trailhead on the Tanner Trail, the southern end of the trail that ultimately reaches Tanner Peak.  I've also seen this called the Bear Gulch Trail.  After a drive up an interesting, hairpinned dirt road with nearly sheer drops and no guardrails, I reached the trailhead a little after 10AM.  This was much later than my usual start times but this wasn't a terribly long hike.  It was also a balmy 18F at the trailhead, much better than the 0F at my house when I left.

The trailhead is just over 10 miles outside of Canon City.  Since Canon City is usually considerably warmer than most place in Colorado, I was expecting much of the hike to be snow free.  The trailhead sits around 7400', about 2000' feet above Canon City, also the same elevation of my house.  While there was less snow than at my house, the shady areas along the road near the trailhead had patches of snow.

The trail started out with some interesting scenery.  Right from the trailhead, the road and trail passed under large sections of cliffs.  Part of the year, the cliffs are closed to climbing due to a nesting population of peregrine falcons.  The trail travels through Bear Gulch for the start of the hike.  Traveling through the gulch is interesting enough as it passes under the large cliffs that were visible at the trailhead the majority of its route.

Cliffs visible from the trailhead

The trail started with minimal snow cover near the trailhead.  As I climbed, the snow steadily increased.  Bear Gulch is extremely sheltered and from the looks of it never sees the sun.  It quickly became noticeably colder as I traveled further up the gulch.  While the snow was never more than a few inches in the first part of the gulch, a fresh dusting on the existing snow made every rock and root extremely slippery and much worse to travel over.  Finally the trail climbed out of the gulch and I had a short stretch of dry ground.  The trail turned again into the shadows and took me through the deepest snow of the day, maybe 8 inches or so.  It was deep enough that I finally put on my gaiters.

Traveling beneath cliffs

More trailside cliffs

Snowy trail in the gulch

The deeper snow last only a few tenths of a mile and I was soon on the crest.  As soon as I reached the crest, I began to get partial views of the Sangre de Cristos.  The snow was also more intermittent since sections of thin forest allowed the sun to do its work.

First look at Sangres over snow covered trees

I traveled through a mix of forest and open meadow.   The narrow trail ended and became a doubletrack where ATVs use was permitted.  Majority of the route had at least shallow snow that seemed to settle in the trail. 

A rare mostly snowfree section of trail

Typical snow cover on the crest

Travel wasn't too tough in the snow but an inconvenience.  The line that one would normally walk, had loose, ankle deep snow.  The tuft of grass between the doubletrack was not as deep.  I tried walking on this but this was slippery and seemed like an ankle rolling risk.  I think if there were more seasonable temperatures the last week, most of this snow would have been gone.

The trail passed by several meadows

Snowier section under heavy tree cover

I soon came to a meadow that had a rocky peak sticking out above the trees just ahead.  I assumed this was the first of Curley's summits.  Curley's peaks require a scramble up rocks.  I read that the summits were easier to obtain by climbing from the saddle between the peaks so I traveled past the first peak.  When I reached the Stultz Trail, I headed off trail toward the peaks.

Sangre views are common in the meadows

The first summit of Curley barely visible ahead

The first summit just barely poking above the trees

I reached the first summit of Curley Peak, the one visible from the meadow.  I had a fairly straightforward bushwack followed by a short scramble to the top.  A couple spots were a little tricky since snow made the climbing slippery.

Looking down the rocky summit toward
the trail I hiked

As promised, the views from the summit were excellent.  The long line of the Sangre de Cristos stands out across the Wet Mountain Valley.  Much of the Wet Mountains are visible to the south.  Pikes Peak towers to the north.  To the east are the plains with parts of Pueblo visible.
Just a short distance away were other summits of Curley Peak.

Looking down the Wet Mountain Range

The Sangres with Humboldt, Colony Baldy, Crestones,
and Kit Carson to name a few

The Crestones framed by Humboldt
and Colony Baldy

Pikes Peak in the distance

Pikes Peak

View into the plains

Cliffs of one of Curley's other summits

Long stretch of the Sangres over the cliffs

I left the first peak and returned to the trail.  I followed it north a short distance and turned onto a trail marked Trail 1333.1.  I followed this trail briefly before veering off into the woods.  I reached a small rock outcropping and climbed it.  From the top, I got a better lay of the land and could see another peak of Curley was just a short bushwack away. 

I downclimbed the small pinnacle and headed to the other summit.  Reaching the top required a little bit of class 3 climbing from the side I approached.  The views were similar to the first peak.  The first summit had better views to the south, this peak had better views to the north.  Below I could see the cliffs that were visible from the other peak.  I'm not sure which of these is the the true summit.  I didn't linger too long before returning to the trail.

Sangres north of Hayden Pass including
13ers Bushnell, Twin Sister North, and Hunts

Southern Sawatch including Shavano naer the right

Low mountains below Curley

For those not wanting to bushwack and scramble to the summits, there is an option to avoid this.  Continuing just a couple tenths of a mile on Trail 1333.1 will give you great scenery with a little less effort.  The trail ends in a large meadow.  The mountain drops off and offers a fine overlook with unobstructed views toward the northern Sangres and southern Sawatch Range.

My return hike followed the same route.  I did manage to fall trying to walk on the strip of grass between the doubletrack.  For traveling over flat terrain at the time, it was a relatively hard tumble, but nothing serious.

One last look of the Sangres from a small outcropping
before dropping back into the gulch

The last bit of the route brought me back into Bear Gulch.  As I descended into the gulch I noticed how much cooler the air was in the sheltered gulch.  I think the temperature was in the single digits in the coldest part of the gulch.  The gulch was incredibly dark.  I was traveling through it around 1PM on a bright sunny day.  I had to take off my sunglasses.  It felt like I was traveling just before sunset.
Just to the left however, the sun brightly illuminated the cliffs above. As I left the most sheltered area of the gulch I could feel the temperature warm.  I didn't really get back into the sun until I reached the trailhead.

View into Bear Gulch.  This picture is early afternoon and a clear day
and you can see how dark the gulch is.

The signage on this trip was in disagreement.  The total distance on this hike was somewhere around 8 miles. To reach the peaks of Curley Peak however, there is well over 2000 feet of elevation gain.  Curley Peak is the highest in the northen Wet Mountains with an impressive 1800' of prominence.  If I didn't have to face the unfavorable snow conditions, this seemed like it would be a fairly pleasant hike.  I think with more average temperatures returning since my outing, this trip would make a nice retreat from the higher elevations of Colorado which are much snowier right now.  Besides Bear Gulch, which will probably hold snow for a while, much of the upper reaches will probably melt quite a bit.

Another look at the Sangres over the cliffs of Curley

Close up view over the cliffs

Hiking Tanner Peak in Memory of Tanner Brown

I usually don't digress too much from my outdoor pursuits on my blog.  The decision to take this specific hike however came from a personal experience not related to the outdoors.  Before I get to the details of the hike, I will share a little background on why I chose to hike this specific peak.

A couple weeks ago, one of our dogs, Tanner, passed away.  He suffered from seizures, which were somewhat controlled by medication and diet.  However, we never determined the underlying cause of the seizures.  Three years of periodic seizures, medication, and possibly other health issues took a toll on him.  In the month prior to his passing, Tanner's body shutdown and we thought we were going to lose him then.  He made a recovery for a short period of time but his body wasn't strong enough to recover completely.  On Sunday night, November 15th, he became mopey.  Monday, he wouldn't eat and barely drink.  He wasn't keeping any food or water down and barely had enough strength to stand.  His body shut down on Tuesday and by late afternoon he seemed to lose awareness.  Not long after we ate dinner, he passed away by our side as we comforted him.  He was 9 years old and gone way to soon.

Tanner as a puppy

Puppy Tanner with Foxy

Tanner as a young adult

Tanner was one of four dogs in our house.  We love all of our dogs, but Tanner had something a little extra special about him.  Tanner wanted nothing more than to make us happy.  He was eager to please and was the best behaved of the pack.  He definitely had some character.    We had a couple of scares over the years where we thought we were going to lose him due prolonged seizure spells.  Knowing that we had some close calls and nearly losing him, Puma and I seemed to have an different kind of bond with him.

Enjoying the rare sunny day in Maine

Waiting for his tennis ball to be thrown

Tanner with his brother Domino.
These two were very close.

Lounging with Puma

We got Tanner as a puppy.  His full name was Tanner Brown and he would respond to Tanner or Brown as we called him both.  His mom was a pure pit bull and he appeared to have some yellow lab in him as well.  He was a very gentle natured dog.  He had a silly look about him, sort of short and squat.  He would play fetch with his tennis ball for hours until he was exhausted and ready to pass out.  Unlike the other dogs that are occasionally defiant, Tanner was well behaved and at his happiest when he made us happy.  While Tanner wasn't a great hiking dog, he would go on daily walks about a mile long but he would cover three times that distance fetching his tennis ball nonstop on the walk.  Will miss you buddy and it won't be the same without you.

Growing up in Maine, Tanner was used to the snow and cold

Relaxing on his bed

With Tanner's death, I immediately felt compelled to hike a nearby mountain called Tanner Peak as a tribute.  Tanner Peak is a relatively small and inconspicuous mountain by Colorado standards.  But since it shared the name with our dog, it seemed appropriate to climb it.

The peak is in the relatively low Wet Mountains.  The Wet Mountains run parallel to the Sangre de Cristos a short distance and is the first mountain range rising from the plains west of Pueblo, just outside of Canon City.  The range just barely rises above treeline and tops out at 12,346' on Greenhorn Mountain.  Tanner Peak is near the northern end of the range at a lowly 9340' in elevation.

Don't let the lowly elevation of Tanner Peak be misleading.  It is still a respectable hike.  The trailhead, just south of Canon City, starts out around 5900'.  The roundtrip hike on the North Tanner Trail is more than 13 miles.  With numerous ups and downs along the way, the roundtrip hike gains nearly 4000' in elevation. 

My occasional hiking partner Drew has some familiarity hiking in the Wets and wanted to visit Tanner Peak, so we met at the trailhead and hiked together.  We started our hike around 830AM on Tuesday morning, two days before Thanksgiving.

The trailhead is just a few miles from Canon City.  Canon City is a warm spot in Colorado, calling itself "The Climate Capital of Colorado."  It's usually a good 20F warmer in Canon City compared to my house.  Canon City is also 2000' lower in eleveation. So when we started the hike it was fairly comfortable in the mid to upper 40s.  Unlike most higher mountain ranges that have snow at the trailheads by now, no winter attire was needed at the trailhead.

The start of our hike

The trail started out in scrubby terrain.  The vegetation is more high desert than mountain.  Most of
the trees were scrub oaks with plenty of cactus at the start of the hike.  The trail climbs out of the gate and has fairly loose footing.  The North Tanner Trail is also used by ATVs and dirt bikes and it shows at places.  The scenery wasn't too much different than the Arkansas Hills outside of Salida where I frequently mountain bike.  The scrub gave way to pinon and juniper and eventually stands of ponderosa.  The trail passed numerous rock formations along the way.  It didn't take long to get some commanding views of Pikes Peak, which isn't too far north.

one of the numerous gulches along the route

Pikes Peak beyond an outcropping

While the trail generally traveled uphill, there were a few sections where the trail lost modest elevation.  The warmth of the valley was lost as we climbed.  Certain sections along the way funneled the wind making it fairly chilly.

Another of the many outcroppings and cliffs

The trail was fairly gradual much of the way

Reminiscent of the scenery of Salida's Arkansas Hills

Scrub oaks are common

The scenery frequently changed from forest to scrubby growth.  Finally just below the summit we reached the crest of the Wet Mountains and then came the big views.  Just across the Wet Mountain Valley to the west  stand the mighty Sangre de Cristos in all there glory.  From the crest of the Wets you can see much of the Sangres from its northern most peaks near Salida all the way to the Blanca Group.  Once on the crest, it was an easy final climb to the summit of Tanner Peak. We made it to the summit in just over 2.5 hours.  The summit is marked with a large cairn that I joked was the Tanner Brown Memorial.

Doesn't look like much from the crest of the range but that is Tanner's
summit ahead on that rise

Wide shot taking in much of the Sangres

A closer look of the Central  Sangres

The Sangres north of Hayden Pass

Summit shot next to the Tanner Brown Memorial Cairn

The grandstand view of the Sangre de Cristos is what makes the hike to Tanner Peak worth the effort.  Between the two of us we were able to identify many of the summits in the range.  I was easily able to pick out Bushnell Peak and the Twin Sisters, my backyard summit in the northern part of the Sangres.  Beyond the Sangres, a few of the 14ers in the southern Sawatch Range are visible including Shavano, Antero, and Princeton.  Although I'm not positive, I think a rugged rocky canyon visible not too far in the distance below the summit was the Royal Gorge.  To the east the view is endless into the flat plains.  I don't know for sure but on such a clear day, it may be Kansas on the distant horizon.  Not much is identifiable to the east however apart from a few structures around Pueblo and Pueblo Reservoir. 

Another sweeping shot of the Sangres

Toward the southern end of the Sangres

The flat area between the snowy peaks is around Hayden Pass

Sangres from Hayden Pass to Hunts Peak

These are the peaks behind my house.  I live on the downslope
of the Twin Sisters and Bushnell Peak, the peaks on the center right
of the picture

Southern Sawatch Peaks

Despite the warm start to the hike in the lowlands, it was quite windy and chilly on the summit.  We lingered for 10 minutes to take in the views and snap some photos before heading back down.  With gravity helping us out, we made it back to the trailhead in about 2 hours.

Descending from the summit

I like the layers of this picture with the rocks nearby, the Wet
Mountain Valley, then the Sangres

Passing by another rock outcropping

Pikes Peak with Canon City visible in the foreground

Tanner Peak is a nice off season hike.  With its lower elevation and location in the warm Canon City region, the area gets much less snow than most Colorado mountains.  We only encountered a few tiny spots of snow in the shade.  This I'm sure has changed, since there was a decent snowfall just two days after our hike.  Canon City was been in the 50s consistently and clear since then so the lower elevations probably lost a bit of snow already.  Many of the trailheads to the higher mountain ranges are higher than Tanner's summit and much snowier.

I probably wouldn't hike Tanner Peak in the summer.  It seems like Canon City is routinely in the upper 90s and much of the hike is without shade.  It also seems like good habitat for rattlesnakes.  The trail also has plenty of wear from motorized users and there is probably more traffic from the ATVs and dirt bikes in the summer.  We, however, had the trail to ourselves the entire hike.

I will probably visit other peaks in the Wet Mountain Range this winter.  The conditions are not as harsh and there is very little avalanche risk in most of the range.  The views of the Sangres never get old and just for that reason I want to visit the Wets again.

As for Tanner Brown, you will be sadly missed.

Me with a young Tanner

A more recent picture with Tanner