Mt. Sneffels

September 25, 2020 / 14,150’

RT STATS: TOTAL TIME - 6 HR & 49 MIN, 8.10 MILES, AND 3,400’ ELEVATION GAIN

TIME STATS: 3 HR & 25 MIN TO SUMMIT, 28 MIN AT SUMMIT, 2 HR & 56 MIN BACK TO TH

RATING (HOW MUCH I LIKED THE HIKE): 9/10

MT. SNEFFELS…. MY 45TH COLORADO 14ER! “The 14er with the stupidest name” —my dad. Woo hoo…my dad came to visit me this weekend and we went down to the San Juan Range to get 3 “easy” 14ers…. Sneffels on Friday 9/25/20, Handies on Saturday 9/26/20, and San Luis on Sunday 9/27/20! “Easy” relative to SO MANY of the 14ers I have done this summer in one-day treks…the last being Snowmass Mountain! My dad did Longs Peak on Thursday 9/24/20, so he did 4 14ers over a 4 day period! Anyways, we left the Springs at around 2am Friday morning to head to Mt. Sneffels! Since Sneffels is hella far aways, it meant a very late start to this 14er (compared to my 2:30 am starts….lmao). The weather, however, looked absolutely perfect this weekend and, furthermore, we knew it would not be a long hike (again….speaking in relative terms). We debated whether we would hike the standard South Slopes route or the Southwest Ridge route (the more fun route!!!!!!) and still hadn't decided when we got to the trailhead.

We arrived at the lower trailhead around 7:30am. The elevation was approximately 10,770’. We started the hike at 7:43am.

We hiked up the 4WD road for awhile still talking about what route we wanted to do. We ultimately decided on the Southwest Ridge route because of my assertion that this will be a much more fun (i.e. much more Class 3 than the standard route) route and that it was going to be the last class 3 opportunity until next year! At 45 minutes/1.70 miles in, we split off from the 4WD road on the left-hand side and took the trail that climbs up to Blue Lakes Pass and passes Wrights Lake. I took some pretty pictures, even though I’m not in any :D

We reached Blue Lakes Pass at 3.22 miles and 1 hour and 46 minutes in. My watch measured the elevation at just under 13k’ ft (12,974’). We took a few minutes here to put on our helmets.

The next 1,200’ gain up to the summit was a lot of fun! I took a ton of pictures that you can check out below. There was only one wicked move that I swear was not class 3. I got up it just fine and didn’t see any other possible path around, but, I guess, oh well!

So, as we got closer to the top, I saw an opportunity that was more exciting…getting up on the actual ridge! So, I kinda ditched my dad (I wasn't being dangerous, don’t worry) and climbed the ridge to the summit. 10/10…no regrets ;) My dad stayed on the more defined path and made it up to the summit very soon after.

I always take a watch picture, but I guess I was out of it and took a sloppy picture of my watch when I got to the top! So, the watch picture below is from when we were leaving the summit (I keep track of trip time stats by taking pictures of my watch). I think we spent about 30 minutes at the top, so that means we got to the summit at about 3 hours and 25 minutes/4 miles! We took a bunch of pictures and, I must say, it was nice being at the summit after only 3.5 hours as opposed to 6-7 hours as some of these!!!!!

I didn’t go back down the ridge on the descent so that I could stay and hang with my dad. Eventually, we got back to the Blue Lakes Pass where we took off our helmets.

The remaining part of the hike back to the TH was very chill! I took some standard kristin selfies with the mountain in the background. After a ton of careful consideration, I chose to post the selfie below, tough decision making when all 4 look THE EXACT SAME. My phone is literally all mountain pictures lmao. Anyways, what a sight wow ;). Side note: as we approached our car (maybe 5 minutes before the end), we saw an old car that (obviously) fell off the 4WD road and was just abandoned there who knows how long ago. I can only imagine what happened, but it reaffirms why I don’t want to drive up gnarly roads for saving some time and energy…

6 hours and 49 minutes/8.10 miles later, we finished the climb! This climb was half the time that my epic solo Snowmass trip was 3 weeks prior. Anyways, usually, I end the posts with finishing the hike; however, this time is different so keep reading yay!!!!!

I’m addicted to Mexican food, so I went on yelp and found El Agave Azul in Ridgway. As we got closer, I realized that I wanted Thai food and there was a highly rated Thai place in Ridgway but it was closed!!!!!!!! >:/ Anyways, El Agave Azul was alright. I got chicken fajitas (my standard order…. my second choice would be STEAK FAJITAS :D). Not trying to be a jerk, but would not go back. Honestly, my dad and I got Qdoba in Montrose (about 30-45 minutes away) after Wilson Peak back on August 1st and we both agreed that we wish we had went there!

So, after our Mexican lunch (that was at 3:45pm haha), we drove over a couple hours to Lake City. Lake City is right near Handies Peak, which we were going to hike the next day. We checked into the Matterhorn Motel where we had stayed the year prior…. Side note: we went to Lake City to get 5 14ers over Labor Day weekend 2019 because I talked my dad into it hehe (check out those posts). Anyways, a few hours later, we went to this bomb restaurant called Climb Eatery in Lake City. 10000/10 would go back! We actually did go back the next night for dinner, but that is detailed in the Handies post. I ordered the fettuccine alfredo with double brussel sprouts and chicken breast. I ate the entire thing minus about 10% of the noodles. Two fun facts: 1. I had to google how to spell fettuccine because I kept guessing spellings and got the red line under my spelling and 2. I think this was my first time ever eating fettuccine alfredo. The menu was limited and it sounded good lol. The picture below is misleading because the bowl was deep and the flavor was hella rich. I thought the owner was BSing when he said that I would take home leftovers and first saw the dish. I was starving even though we had Mexican like 4 hours earlier, so I was like "yeah right about leftovers”. Ok, end of this post!