Camping near Broken Hand Pass

[Olathe]

Looking to camp as close to Broken Hand Pass as possible (Plan on climbing both Peak and Needle following day). Is there camping at South Colony Lakes? It looks like this would be around a 1/2 mile from Broken Hand Pass and have a water source.

[pmeadco]

Yes, there are many spots up there. If you have a map, take a look at the intersection where the trail branches off to go up BHP. You can camp before or after that intersection (assuming you came from the south side). The creek crossing is just past the intersection and is an easy place to get water. If you are going that far up you may consider taking the trail that goes on the north side of the lakes, toward Humboldt, and then cross over to the south toward the BHP intersection. That way is a bit shorter, but steeper, and sloppier when it has been raining.

[Urban Snowshoer]

There are sites up there and the only restriction, at least that I'm aware of, is having to camp at least 300 feet from South Colony Lakes.

The Lower South Colony Lake area puts you closer to Broken Hand Pass, whereas Upper South Colony Lake lines you up for Humboldt or the northeast gulley of Crestone Peak. You could also climb Kit Carson from the upper lake if you so choose.

[Mason Griffin]

We did the Crestones last week and camped at Cottonwood Lake on the other side of Broken Hand Pass. It really set us up well the next morning, and we were literally the only people camping on the other side of the pass. It certainly took some extra effort to get full packs over the pass (both ways), but I wouldn't do it any other way. If you go over, then there is a great campsite on the western end of Cottonwood. Elevated, good wind protection and very close to the start of C. Peak. We had spotty weather so it was nice to be able to make go/no go calls so close to our tents nd the start of climbs and to get to cover quickly when some hail started coming down.

[BethL]

We did the Crestones last week and camped at Cottonwood Lake on the other side of Broken Hand Pass. It really set us up well the next morning, and we were literally the only people camping on the other side of the pass. It certainly took some extra effort to get full packs over the pass (both ways), but I wouldn't do it any other way. If you go over, then there is a great campsite on the western end of Cottonwood. Elevated, good wind protection and very close to the start of C. Peak. We had spotty weather so it was nice to be able to make go/no go calls so close to our tents nd the start of climbs and to get to cover quickly when some hail started coming down.

Do you recall how long it took you to hike in to the other side of Broken Hand Pass? I looked into backpacking into Cottonwood Lake from the Cottonwood Lake TH but that sounds like a miserable bushwhacking experience.

[pfiore1]

Packing over BHP to camp at Cottonwood can be helpful on summit day especially if you plan on both peaks via the traverse. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who may feel in any way uncomfortable carrying a heavier bulkier overnight pack through the crux at 12,800’ on BHP’s NE side…as of Sunday night there was about two inches of sleet/hail/graupel and was four to six inches deep in places at the bottleneck on BHP although most has melted today. Most places that you can camp at the lower So Co Lake are around 11,700’ leaving you with 1,300’ to BHP and the start of the Needle’s standard route. Most places you can camp at Cottonwood Lake are around 12,300’ leaving you with 700’ back to the top of BHP and shorter distance…unless you take a shortcut to the Needle’s standard route from Cottonwood (please don’t). And the Peak’s access is obviously closer.

And to your question about water sources, besides the lakes, many small ponds, springs and creeks you’ll be able to find enough water almost anywhere. As a result of this way above average precipitation over here there is enough water runoff flowing down the peaks and clear puddles scattered all over the place that you won’t have to go far to find what you’ll need. Plus you shouldn’t camp within 200’ of any main water source or trail.

Also for anyone reading this thread who is planning to climb both peaks via the traverse, unless you are very familiar with the Needle descent route, please go from Needle to Peak and not up Peak and down Needle…route finding issues on the descent of the Needle have been problematic for CCSAR, especially if you haven’t already and recently ascended it with a high level of attention, awareness and memory...we just did a rescue last night for a party that did the traverse P2N and got off-route on Needle's descent and ended up in the gully west of the standard east gully where it quickly becomes near vertical (he will be okay but is extremely fortunate).

I replied to a thread several days ago regarding the difficulty of route finding during the Needle descent (especially between 13,900’ and 13,400’ including the crossover) and attached a graphic showing where many people go wrong (have some more to add in the same area). Many of our rescues and recoveries have occurred in the gully west (skier’s right) of the standard east gully mostly due to missing the crossover and descending too early around 13,600’. I may bump that thread and offer some ideas on how not to miss the crossover.

Hope all that rambling and off topic info helps. Stay safe and have fun. And bring your bug spray and fishing pole if you fish, all those lakes are great.

[Olathe]

Thank you for all the great information. We plan on camping at the Lower South Colony Lake. We plan on following standard route for both Needle and Peak.

[JDG7]

We did the Crestones last week and camped at Cottonwood Lake on the other side of Broken Hand Pass. It really set us up well the next morning, and we were literally the only people camping on the other side of the pass. It certainly took some extra effort to get full packs over the pass (both ways), but I wouldn't do it any other way. If you go over, then there is a great campsite on the western end of Cottonwood. Elevated, good wind protection and very close to the start of C. Peak. We had spotty weather so it was nice to be able to make go/no go calls so close to our tents nd the start of climbs and to get to cover quickly when some hail started coming down.

Do you recall how long it took you to hike in to the other side of Broken Hand Pass? I looked into backpacking into Cottonwood Lake from the Cottonwood Lake TH but that sounds like a miserable bushwhacking experience.

Pfiore1, Thanks for the info. Always appreciate your updates. Warnings like yours have well prepared me for the crossover.

Mason - I have the same question Beth had. I have been planning to do the Peak/Needle for a couple of years. And earlier in the year did Humboldt on a day hike, all the while scouting for this upcoming trip. I am camping at the S. Col Lakes 8/31-9/4. Planning on soloing the Peak first, Needle second, then doing the east ridge to Obstruction/Kitty Kat/Columbia/Kit Carson/Challenger/return.

I have always planned to do the camp at S. Col, since the bushwhacking from Cottonwood TH sounds really rough. But i never considered climbing over BHP with the large pack, and don't relish the thought. 1) How hard was it? Was it worth it? 2) How long did it take? 3) Does it make any sense, given that the Kit Carson East Ridge approach is best reached from the S. Col Lake side of BHP?

[Urban Snowshoer]

We did the Crestones last week and camped at Cottonwood Lake on the other side of Broken Hand Pass. It really set us up well the next morning, and we were literally the only people camping on the other side of the pass. It certainly took some extra effort to get full packs over the pass (both ways), but I wouldn't do it any other way. If you go over, then there is a great campsite on the western end of Cottonwood. Elevated, good wind protection and very close to the start of C. Peak. We had spotty weather so it was nice to be able to make go/no go calls so close to our tents nd the start of climbs and to get to cover quickly when some hail started coming down.

Do you recall how long it took you to hike in to the other side of Broken Hand Pass? I looked into backpacking into Cottonwood Lake from the Cottonwood Lake TH but that sounds like a miserable bushwhacking experience.

Pfiore1, Thanks for the info. Always appreciate your updates. Warnings like yours have well prepared me for the crossover.

Mason - I have the same question Beth had. I have been planning to do the Peak/Needle for a couple of years. And earlier in the year did Humboldt on a day hike, all the while scouting for this upcoming trip. I am camping at the S. Col Lakes 8/31-9/4. Planning on soloing the Peak first, Needle second, then doing the east ridge to Obstruction/Kitty Kat/Columbia/Kit Carson/Challenger/return.

I have always planned to do the camp at S. Col, since the bushwhacking from Cottonwood TH sounds really rough. But i never considered climbing over BHP with the large pack, and don't relish the thought. 1) How hard was it? Was it worth it? 2) How long did it take? 3) Does it make any sense, given that the Kit Carson East Ridge approach is best reached from the S. Col Lake side of BHP?

If you want to climb Kit Carson from South Colony Lakes, you would climb from the upper lake, whereas you climb Broken Hand Pass and the Crestones from lower lake--the upper and lower lakes are on different sides of the valley (more or less). Starting from the lower lake is going to put you on the wrong side of the valley for Kit Carson--the only way to get to Kit Carson from the top of Broken Hand Pass is traversing both Crestones--unless you crossover to the other side while you are still in the drainage.

I found Broken Hand Pass to be harder from the South Colony Lakes side than the Cottonwood Lake side--I didn't relish having to re-climb it on the way back from doing Crestone Peak but the Cottonwood Lake side is mostly a grunt, whereas the South Colony Lake side may have a Class 3 section, depending on your exact route.

[Mason Griffin]

I agree with everything posted above. Crossing from SCL to Cottonwood is definitely more of a challenge than coming back (from vertical rise, technical difficulty and distance standpoints). I didn't time it, but I imagine it took an hour or so from SCL to reach the top of BHP and then 20-30 minutes to descend to Cottonwood. The climb up BHP is Class 2 but you can definitely encounter 2+/3 if you get off route. The benefits are (i) isolation (you'll probably be the only ones camping at Cottonwood), (ii) greater flexibility with weather since you don't have to worry about getting up and over BHP on summit day, (iii) greater visibility to the west (if one assumes most weather down there comes west to east), (iv) isolation - I know I've said it twice, but it sure was nice to not have to deal with the dozens/scores of people at SCL, all of whom I'm sure were lovely. As for the Cottonwood approach, I've heard the same things others have described - miles of deadfall to cross. I've never done it, but that didn't sound too appealing. It would be nice if that were a more viable option for Joe Hiker (like me) to take some of the strain off of the SCL approach.

[JDG7]

Thanks for the great advice, guys. I'll go back to the drawing board on this.

[hberry]

This thread is very timely as I'm hoping to do both of these soon without the traverse.

So based on my reading of route descriptions I'm wondering if, when you camp at Cottonwood lake, in the morning do you hike the peak, come back, pack up all your stuff, hike up the pass and dump your bag, then hike the need and then head out?

Seems like a lot of suck to hike over the pass, then go up the peak, then up the pass again up the needle, down the pass, pack up your stuff, up the pass yet again and then down the other side of the pass.