Las Animas County High Point Trip Report

Date: May 25, 2001
Author: Dave Covill

We left Colorado Springs early and headed down to do W Spanish Peak (13,626 ft). The road from Cuchara Pass to Cordova Pass opens mid-May, and we were pleasantly surprised to find almost no snow anywhere. The route is through pleasant woods for 2 miles, then up a steep talus ridge for 1,600' in a mile to the summit. We spent almost 4 hours up, under 2 down. Of the 3 summit pinnacles, each ~ 100' apart and with a ~ 5' dip between them, we concluded the westernmost one, where the register is, to be ~3' higher than the others. We had a bit of wind a little rain on the way down, but no big deal. Poured en route to the San Luis Valley later, though.