In November Whiley and I had tried Electric Peak and Lakes Peak in the northern Sangre. Fresh snow had slowed us considerably and we turned around near treeline since there was no way we'd get the peaks and be back before nightfall. With last week's success on three peaks just south of Electric and Lakes we figured we could go back and not have much trouble this time, plus add a few or four peaks, because big, ambitious days are the best days.

We met at the Major Creek Trailhead the night before and slept in our vehicles. We woke up at 6am the next day, drove and dropped a car over at the Hot Springs Canyon/Garner Creek Trailhead, and then drove back to Major Creek. There's only a mile or so between the two trailheads but it's all on a dirt road and would add absolutely nothing at the end of the day. At 7am we were on the trail. The Major Creek Trail is very easy to follow and slowly gains about 2,500 feet of elevation in six or so miles. It was a bit chilly in the morning but the sun was shining and soon we were both warm. The glow of nature already told us today was going to be a good day.

For the first few miles the peaks remained hidden. The trail took is gradually closer and eventually Lakes' massive southwest face popped into view.

A talus field below Lakes Peak marked the end of the trail for a bit. We took a short break and then continued to the right along the edge of the talus field and back into the trees. Our goal was to locate the start of the switchbacks on the Electric Peak side of the Lakes Peak/Electric Peak saddle.

There was a little bit of rock hard snow in the trees here, and after crossing through a meadow the switchbacks were easy to locate as they made their way up to the saddle. We hopped on and began zig-zagging up, easily reaching the saddle.

We turned hard right and took a short break, then continued up towards Electric Peak and Mount Niedhardt, an unranked 12er near Electric. A large, sharp peak stood above us but wasn't Electric - the point was actually the terminus of a flat ridge, we just couldn't see it yet.

There was a little bit of Class 2+ up to the point, but it could all have been kept at simple Class 2 if desired.

We topped out on the point and had a choice: Electric or Niedhardt?

I said we should do Niedhardt first, since it's both shorter and unranked, and we wouldn't want to do it after doing Electric. Whiley reluctantly agreed and off we went to Niedhardt. We crossed a short snow gully and then were able to stay on dry ground. The ridge to Niedhardt held a little Class 2+ scrambling and was honestly the most interesting part of the day.

Niedhardt was a worthwhile addition if for no other reason than it gave us views of all the remaining peaks for the day, whereas Electric did not.

We still had all five thirteeners to go so we quickly scooted off Niedhardt and sidehilled around to get underneath Electric, then went straight up the large, stable, Class 2 talus. From Niedhardt Electric was bigger than it looked.

We took another break on Electric since it was kind of a beast, then began descending back to the Lakes/Electric saddle, which seemed awfully deep, and Lakes awfully large, from high on the Electric side.

Lakes consisted at first of steep grass and dirt, and then steep and stable talus. There was a huge amount of elevation gain and we were tired and the wind was highly irritating. Sometimes it would howl and we'd be cold and put on layers. Then it would stop dead and we'd be sweltering within seconds and strip down. This pattern continued all day and helped wear us out.

With the summit of Lakes we had done half the peaks and fortunately far more than half the distance and elevation gain, but the remaining route was still no gimme.

Thirsty Peak, an unranked 13er, came next. There was a rather steep looking dip near the peak and we weren't sure exactly what we'd find there.

We followed the ridge as it squirmed around under us. There was some snow on the ridge but it was thick and supportive and we just walked right across it. Our mystery dip consisted of nothing but more Class 2 talus, which was pretty much ubiquitous from the ascent of Lakes all the way through the first couple thousand feet off of Cottonwood.

Whiley and I questioned how Thirsty was unranked and Point 13,123 was ranked, since it seemed that the latter had a very short saddle with Cottonwood. Thirsty is also 100 or so feet taller, and we talked in circles until agreeing that 13,123 must not have a lot of prominence over Thirsty. Ultimately it didn't matter. We were drawn to climb them all.

Another steep drop down talus took us to Point 13,123, by far the least noteworthy peak of the day. Whiley's climbed it a couple of times now and has nicknamed the peak "Thirsty For More," which seemed apt given its small and unassuming stature. She and I were definitely Thirsty For More as we clamored over the itsty bitsy bump.

Point 13,123 was simple and we took another break on its summit in anticipation of Cottonwood, which Whiley called a "Big Papa." It'd be a push since we were exhausted by this point in the day. We'd been at it for eight hours already!

We steeled ourselves for the last push, then made our way down 13,123 on even more talus. These peaks must have just been giant stacks of the stuff.

At the saddle Cottonwood looked big. Time to grin and bear it.

We trudged with heavy feet, used to the tedium by now. Cottonwood went surprisingly quickly despite its size, and the talus was mercifully stable. Our sixth peak of the day and the uphill was over.

There were only a few more miles left but well over 4,000 feet of elevation loss, which would be hard on tired legs. No rest for the wicked, I guess. We had two choices to get back to my car: the Garner Creek Trail or the Hot Springs Canyon Trail. We took the latter, as Whiley said it was shorter. We began descending Cottonwood's west ridge towards the top of the canyon. This ended up being the snowiest part of the day.

We were able to make quick progress down by skating down the snow. There was plenty of talus hopping too, but the snow sped things up considerably and wasn't all that mushy, even at 4pm. The top of the canyon was very welcome. Despite being steep it was grassy and not as hard on the legs as the obnoxious talus elsewhere.

We practically fell into the canyon as it funneled us into a narrow, steep-walled channel.

There wasn't much of a trail this high up, just a faint line of battered grass leading down through the forest. We bounced back and forth between the walls of the canyon following the trail as it snaked around. The trail was covered in deadfall, and as we lost elevation it eventually became a tricle of water, then a full blown creek. We crisscrossed over the creek a dozen or more times, taking our time and drinking in the beautiful forest.

The trail took us through another aspen glade and then diverged from the creek before dumping us back into the shrubs and harsh grasses of the San Luis Valley.

The trail here was in great shape and easy to follow, but it was ungodly hot. Whiley was far ahead of me but I'd catch up in time. The trail wandered around seemingly aimlessly in the open space, far longer than it should have been. While I felt slow I knew food and cold drink would be waiting back at the car, which eventually came. Whiley and I fistbumped, stoked on such a big and successful day. We were both whipped physically, but elated. This was a fun route that nabbed a bunch of peaks in a great area. What can I say? I love the Sangre!

Statistics

Climbers: Ben Feinstein (myself), Whiley H.
Trailheads: Major Creek (start), Hot Springs Canyon/Garner Creek (finish)
Total distance: 20.06 miles
Total elevation gain: 8,695 feet
Total time: 11:06:55
Peaks: Four ranked thirteeners, one unranked thirteener, one unranked twelver

• Mount Niedhardt, 12,780' (unranked)
• Electric Peak, 13,598'
• Lakes Peak, 13,375'
• Thirsty Peak, 13,213' (unranked)
• Point 13,123
• Cottonwood Peak, 13,588'

Splits:

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