LoJ: #519 (Pre-LiDAR: #523) / 13,158' Montezuma Peak

At the trailhead parking, you really have two good options. Your choice will be based primarily what you prefer - a longer trail hike or a steeper bushwhack of sorts. The Guide to the Colorado Mountains had the directions that we basically followed. Option 1 will take you from the trailhead down toward the main south fork of Treasure Creek, following Trail # 710. It crosses Treasure Creek on three sturdy logs. This trail heads south, staying above the creek on its west bank, then it switchbacks to the NNW and makes a broad arc to the west to intercept the Continental Divide trail # 813 near the bottom of the east ridge of Summit Peak. This switchback occurs where the basin opens up into a broad tundra-filled region with many streams. The advantage of this approach is that it utilizes trail the entire way to the east ridge and ascends more gradually. It is also maintained through the beetle-kill forest. The disadvantage is that it adds significant mileage. Option 2, suggested in the book above, is more direct, has more vague trail to follow thus requiring some route finding skill and starts out much steeper.

For Option 2, look for a trail heading up alongside the western fork of Treasure Creek that drains the basin below Summit, The Unicorn and Montezuma. The trail climbs very, very steeply, staying just on the north side of the creek. Initially, after a few hundred yards, it passes by an attractive waterfall and pool that's difficult to reach but easy to view. The trail tended towards being faint in 2010. Above this waterfall, the trail eventually crosses the creek as the book indicates somewhere above 11,400 ft. On the other side of the creek, we found one pink ribbon tied to a nearby tree affirming our route. (Likely no longer there.) Once across the creek, the forest begins to open up. Continue hiking west and contouring south until Summit Peak comes into view (rather unmistakable). As you round a broad tundra ridge, you should encounter the well-used trail #710 and begin following it south. This trail will lead past the west side of the 12,400 ft. closed contour and then will intersect the Continental Divide trail coming in from the south of Summit Peak, and near where the steep part of the east ridge begins. In the tundra-filled basin below Summit, we spotted a nice group of cow elk and their newborn. As of 2024, it appears the forest service has tried to close this approach and perhaps for good reason because of all the beetle-kill and choked forest of fallen logs. We no longer recommend this approach.

Assuming instead, you use Option 1, the Treasure Creek Trail #710 will intersect the CD trail on the flank of the east ridge of Summit. At the eastern ridge of the peak it drops off through some rocky outcrops with a couple of penetrating gullies that lead up toward easier terrain above. You can take a more direct approach heading directly up one of these two gullies or most will want to swing around to the south side of the east ridge and contour your way up along the ridge on largely tundra slopes that steepen. On the east ridge, higher up, you may want to take numerous photos because of the spectacular shots that keep presenting themselves. The remainder of the hike up this peak is steep but negotiable, tundra-covered terrain with some embedded rock. From the summit, the north ridge that connects to The Unicorn and ultimately Montezuma appears problematic, but it's not. The views of this stunning southern Colorado landscape are stunning with vast, tundra and forest-covered vistas stretching out in all directions. With our visit in 2010, the forest here was still quite healthy. In 2024, much of it has been destroyed by the beetle-kill, because the infestation in southern areas of Colorado is so great, especially at the higher elevations.

On another note, the CD trail that continues south in the tundra basin had evidence of many sheep grazing there. It's possible to hike toward the end of the basin and follow sheep trails towards the right and uphill and actually gain the plateau at 12,400 feet. The multiple sheep trails are difficult to follow, but just keep on a more gradual ascending path as you head for the plateau.

For the return hike, most peakbaggers will want to continue on to Unicorn and Montezuma. So, either return from Summit as you came, or continue on to the other two summits on easy terrain.

UN 13,030 (The Unicorn), is sequenced with Summit Peak and Montezuma Peak. One-way mileage and elevation gain are measured from the top of Summit Peak. Round-trip mileage and elevation gain assume completion of the sequence.

At the summit of Summit Peak, a decision must be made. The most direct route to The Unicorn, is to descend the north ridge of Summit. This has a somewhat intimidating appearance, but the only other alternative is to descend the east ridge, drop into the basin north of Summit Peak and work your way uphill back toward The Unicorn. This will consume a lot of time and the north ridge doesn't look that bad, so we struck out along it and found it not too unreasonable. For the first part, there is some steep descending on loose rock & rubble, but we picked our way through and in under a half hour, we arrived at a small, snow-melt tarn at the first saddle. Since the north ridge drops precipitously on the east side, descending always kept us on the west side of the ridge crest. By the time we arrived at the saddle, enough clouds were gathering to impel us onward with all haste. Things were building rapidly. So in 20 minutes, we walked up the easy tundra slopes to the barely 13,000 foot south summit of The Unicorn. The northern summit doesn’t crack the 13,000 foot barrier. On Google Earth, the summit of The Unicorn comes in at 13,002 ft. The figure of 13,020 used is an interpolated elevation. Lidar measures it at 13,030 ft.