LoJ: #603 (Pre-LiDAR #601) / 13,059' "Alto Peak" UN 13060 B
Range ›
Sangre de Cristo Range
Quadrangle ›
Rito Alto Peak
Summit Location ›
N 38° 05' 20.72", W 105° 41' 21.92"
(Not Field Checked)
N 38° 05' 20.72", W 105° 41' 21.92"
(Not Field Checked)
Neighboring Peaks ›
"Menos Alto Peak" [Formerly UN 13028]
"Mas Alto Peak" [Formerly UN13062 B/"Alto Peak"]
"Menos Alto Peak" [Formerly UN 13028]
"Mas Alto Peak" [Formerly UN13062 B/"Alto Peak"]
Peak Summary
With a backpack trip up and over Hermit Pass, UN13,059 (Previously 13,060) - "Alto Peak" can be climbed from Rito Alto Lake along with UN13,065 - Mas Alto Peak, and UN 13,031 - "Menos Alto Peak" for a nice half-day hike from a splendid campsite by the lake. The backpack distance will depend on the 4WD and clearance capabilities of your vehicle. Stock 4WD vehicles should be able to make it most of the way up the pass, but the road has become relentlessly rocky. All three summits located above Rito Alto Lake and surrounding Mas Alto Lake are Class 2. Lidar diminished this summit by 1 foot.
"Alto Peak" North Ridge Route
Class 2+
RT From Hermit Pass Road:
8.3 mi / 4,265'
RT From
Rito Alto Lake
with
"Formerly UN 13062 A":
4.1 mi / 2,565'
From "Formerly UN 13062 A":
0.40 mi / 360' (One-Way)
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Hermit Pass Road TH
From the Town of Westcliffe and the intersection of Highways 69 and 96, drive south on 69 a few blocks (about .3 mile) and turn west onto Hermit Road (CR160). Drive 6 miles to an intersection where you should stay left. From this point, it's about 9 miles to the summit of Hermit Pass if you can make it. The road quickly becomes a rough 2WD for the next 1.25 miles and then degrades even more to 4WD, high clearance advisable, if not required. The higher you go on this road, the rockier it becomes with a section or two near and above tree line that crosses through talus slopes of rubble. For our suggested climb of Spread Eagle and Peak of the Clouds, park at the coordinates provided which will be a wider spot in the road at about 11,970 ft. elevation and directly below a saddle to the north that lies between Pt. 12818 and Pt. 12,671. There will be a few remaining trees here. Additional parking can be found just a little farther at the tight turn at 12,060 overlooking Horseshoe Lake. The highest we have ever made it is another saddle at 12,620 ft., just west of Pt. 12,818 and about .6 mile east of the pass.
A little history here: In November of 1989, we drove this road to climb Rito Alto and found the road to be in surprisingly good shape. We breezed right up it in a Jeep Cherokee Sport. We returned in 1996 to find that it had degraded some, but still managed to drive it with no problems in another Jeep Cherokee Sport. Our next visit to here was not until 2009 - 13 years later. In that time, the road had degraded extensively. It had become a very slow seven miles of driving on what seemed like endless rock of varying sizes. That same trip, we also drove the South Colony Lake Road all the way to its end. Between that road and the Hermit Pass road, we had to replace the complete set of shocks on our Toyota T-100! Those two roads had wiped them out. Moral of this story - drive this road at your own risk. It grants access to a large number of 13ers, but you'll have to decide if the potential price is worth it.
Camping
Once the Hermit Pass Road gets onto national forest land, there are several primitive, campsite locations all along the drive up, especially at the lower elevations. The nearest designated campground with facilities is the Alvarado CG a little further to the south out of Westcliffe. On weekends, because of close proximity to the Front Range, competition for campsites makes it more difficult to find an open spot.
Campsite Locations
Alvarado Campground › N 38° 04' 49.37", W 105° 33' 45.75"9,000 ft. elevation
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From Hermit Pass Road TH via Rito Alto Lake & "Formerly UN 13062 A":
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"Mas Alto" SE Slopes Class 2 / 1.5 mi / 1,635’ One-Way
Click thumbnail to view full-size photo + caption
Open This Route in a New WindowUN 13,062 (Mas Alto Peak) is the first summit in a sequence of three peaks. Mileage and elevation gain provided for UN 13,062 assume completing this summit only. Mileage for the other two sequenced summits (UN13,060 - "Alto Peak" & UN 13,031 - "Menos Alto Peak") assumes completion of the entire sequence. The following is taken from our trip account with some minor modification.
If camped near our suggested camp spot by Rito Alto Lake, you may want to scout things out first, if you have time. "We decided to leave our campsite more directly from our tent and begin ascending through forest for 600 feet before coming to a dry drainage for Mas Alto Lake. This took us to the north side of a prominent knoll of 12,200 ft. and into a lush meadow area filled with flowers and grass. We half way expected to see some elk or deer here, but were not so privileged. From here, we then walked across the small valley and headed toward a prominent bulge on a SE ridge coming off the summit of UN 13,062. Along the way, we walked past an interesting, decomposing, conglomerate pinnacle of rock. The terrain gradually increased in steepness as we walked over a tundra/grass/rock mix. As we approached the first summit, there was a band of exposed rock that we thought might provide a significant obstacle, but when we got to it, we easily found a route through and continued on to the summit. All along this hike, clouds were swirling and drifting around the upper valley, sometimes obscuring the high summit of Rito Alto Peak across the way and sometimes affording a glimpse. There was just a little light drizzle, but not enough to get us wet and as we progressed upward, the clouds began to lift some. We arrived at the first summit in well under two hours with low clouds still obscuring at times, the ridge over to UN 13,060. There were not enough winds to clear this pattern out, so the clouds tended to just drift around." This is typical for the Sangre de Cristo Range. Winds coming from the west cause moisture-laden air to rise on the west side of the range and linger above the mountain tops. On the east side, those clouds will dissipate as the air begins to sink and warm up.
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Click thumbnail to view full-size photo + captionRoute Description
Year Climbed: 2009UN 13,060 - Alto Peak is located directly south of UN 13,062 - "Mas Alto Peak, along a connecting ridge of about .4 mile. This summit is sequenced with UN 13,062 - "Mas Alto" and UN 13, 031 - "Menos Alto Peak, to follow. One-way mileage and elevation gain are measured from UN 13,062. Round-trip mileage and elevation gain assume completion of the three summits in the sequence from a campsite at Rito Alto Lake.
From the summit of UN13,062, simply follow the connecting ridge south to UN13,060. There will be some elevation loss to the saddle and you'll need to regain about 330 ft. to reach the summit. The descent to the saddle is mostly straightforward. The main difficulty comes in the vicinity of the saddle where there is an extra point or bump on the ridge that the USGS map does not really reveal. The main section of saddle becomes rocky with slabs and outcrops of rock which continue for a while as you head up to UN 13,060. If you're looking for some fun scrambling, try staying on the ridge crest for some possible 3rd class scrambling. If you want to avoid the difficulties, in the vicinity of the low point of the saddle, follow a tundra ramp down on the east side that takes you below the rocky outcrops. After dropping 50 feet or so, contour along to the south and start planning an ascent route back up to the ridge through slabs and large embedded rocks with tundra ledges in between. Ascending back up will be steep at times but it's all secure. Once back on the ridge, stay on the west side for an easy finish to the summit. From here, you'll enjoy a closer view of Mas Alto Lake and you'll have a good view of the remaining route to UN 13,031.
Additional BETA
Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful. -
"Nothing great was ever done without much enduring." Catherine of Sienna
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