This should maybe be called Colorado Hill. No wonder I couldn’t find it on Google - it’s only 300 ft high…….but what a 300 ft. I’m putting this forth as a lesson on being just a little bit humble.

I had heard there’s an airplane wreck on the side of the hill, so a few weeks ago went looking for it, missed the entire mountain and wound up climbing Tetilla Peak - an interesting and enjoyable climb………but how do you miss a whole mountain ?? Even a small one ??

The knowledgeable gentleman at the “Travel Bug” near my home and work found it on a highly detailed map and wrote down the GPS co-ordinates for me to enter into my GPS, which I did that night. When time came to find it last Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, I found that the smaller scale maps - and my pre-conceived notions - were the problem. Colorado Peak is a mile or 2 to the west of the main (??) road, and I found it by following a narrow, twisty, rocky, washed out track back into the hills. Der Bug (and Der Lar) eat this stuff up. :-)……………

Colorado Peak, (Hill) about 15 miles from Santa Fe. Not much to see is there ?? Just wait ! ! !

A pair of tracks led from the “main” road toward the hill, so I followed them way in till heavy brush and the steepening hill stopped me. These trees are Juniper, a gnarly, smelly, twisted, fish hook branched monstrosity that reaches out and grabs and tears clothes and skin. When I got out of Der Bug, I set a waypoint on the GPS before leaving - this on the much maligned eTrex Legend that I griped about at Winsor Trail last week. It saved my bacon today, you bet. Looks like plenty of room here, doesn’t it ?? Yah, sure. You’ll also note the alignment of the 3 hills in the background, eh ?? Navigator Lar in action…………..

This went fast - only 20 minutes from car to summit. The view was great, with White Rock (yes, this is still on the Caja del Rio plateau close to home that I enjoy so much) in the distance across the Rio Grande Canyon. Above center and just to the right of center, notice the large mountain that shows a pale triangle just to the right of the light patch. That’s mighty Chicoma Peak (Tse Como) - 11,561 ft high, and I’m looking at climbing it very soon if the weather holds. It’s 25 miles west of Española on dirt roads to reach the base, so will watch the weather very closely that day………………..

Something I hadn’t figured on was the ruggedness of the broken, volcanic lava country and the thick, tangled, heavy, claw-like Juniper brush. What a mess. A straight line was impossible, and visibility was only a few feet………….

At the long, tapering summit I worked my way west toward the peak and to the SouthEast found the now-familiar Tetilla Peak (

) looking at me…………

To the west the drop-off was jagged and very steep. Nice view, tho’. This is among the roughest-to-travel country I’ve encountered. I think only Cerro Pedernal was rougher. (and MUCH bigger)……………..

Airplane ?? In this mess ?? Going at it blind ?? Nawwww……….you’d hafta know pretty precisely just where the thing was to have even a hope of finding it. The Juniper only runs about 8 ft to 12 or 15 ft high, but is very thick and you’re effectively blind going thru it. I went back down, keeping my 3 landmark hills in view, and stub-Bourne-ly resisting the urge to follow the GPS………….and missed Der Bug. Finally gave up, looked at the GPS - and missed the car again…..and again. Finally thought I saw a gleam thru the brush. Sunlight reflecting off glass ??………

Yup, I’d gone completely around the car, passed it twice and wound up going back toward the Hill. The moral to the story ?? Don’t get overconfident just cause it’s a small area and “you can’t miss.” If I hadn’t had the GPS, or if it’d quit, I’d still be looking for Der Bug out there……and I’m a pretty experienced navigator.

Posted: October 30th, 2007 under 07-10-28 Colorado Peak, 08 New Mexico.
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