Horn Peak Loop
Little Horn - Fluted Peak - Horn Peak
Date: 8/05/2021
Partner: Solo
Trailhead: Horn Creek
Summits: Little Horn, Fluted Peak, Horn Peak
Distance:12m
Elevation Gain: 5700ft
Duration: 6 Hours 40 Minutes
GPX
Little Horn Peak 14ers.com Page
Fluted Peak 14ers.com Page
Horn Peak 14ers.com Page
A fantastic loop with world class views and some fun class 3 scrambling on solid rock.
Although the terrain and views were great, I will remember this day for the trauma. While descending Fluted Peak's north ridge, a pika scampered out from under a rock and managed to get under my foot. At first I didn't realize what had happened... it all went down so fast... but when I looked down the Pika's guts were spilling out and his spine was broken. He was alive and looking up at me... squirming in pain. I was overcome with grief as I realized I had had no choice but to put him out of his misery. It was so brutal and it felt so bad. Rest in peace little friend... I am so sorry.
12m - 5700ft - 6.5hrs
Wonderland Mushrooms
Looking up Little Horn's east ridge
Kit Carson and it's class 4 north ridge route
The Crestones
Looking north to Horn Peak from Little Horn's east ridge - Dry Lakes below
Comanche to the north
Little Horn's scramble is about to begin
Little Horn's solid class 3 with Adams on the left
Up the slab
Little Horn summit selfie
Looking west to Fluted Peak from Little Horn
Horn Peak from Little Horn
Could stare at this all day
Comanche, Spring and Venable to the north
Mount Adams - The texture and colors in this zone were off the hook
Looking back to Little Horn en-route to Fluted
Looking up Fluted Peak's east ridge
Mount Adams
Horn Peak and Dry Lakes from Fluted
The ridge between Fluted and Adams looked amazing - almost added it to the day
L2R: Horn Peak and Little Horn - Quite a bit of smokey haze on the east side of the range
En-route to Horn Peak - Looking back to Fluted - This is the section were the Pika incident occurred
I recently learned that these little guys are disappearing due to climate change
Comanche and Spring
Horn Peak looking steep from the west
Fluted Peak from Horn's west ridge
More scrambling on Horn's to Horn's summit
After summitting Horn I descended it's east ridge and followed trails back to the truck
Hazy views - L2R: Adams, Little Horn, Fluted and Horn
Wrapping up the day at Chappy's in Westcliffe - Best burger and fries in the Colorado! Plus they call me 'sweetie'