Peak Climbed: Eagle Peak

Peak Height: 13,205'

Route: Northeast Ridge

Difficulty: Class 2

Location: Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

Trailhead: Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp

Mileage & Gain: 11.5 mi & 4,850 ft RT

Date Climbed: January 27, 2019

Eagle Peak sits on one of the numerous spurs shooting out east from the Sangre de Cristo spine. It's gentle northeast ridge is a natural choice for the avalanche season.

County Road 198 is plowed to the Lutheran Rainbow Trail Camp. We found the area a little confusing when we arrived in the dark. Park at the first lot you hit when you get to the camp and start hiking up the continuation of the road on the right. We found it well tracked by boots, skis, and snowmobiles for the first several miles.

The route is straightforward. Leave the road at the small switchback near 9,800 feet and head through the trees to gain the broad northeast ridge. It's 1.7 miles off trail to treeline and another easy 1.2 miles over tundra and some talus to the top. The ridge narrows at the very end, making for an aesthetic finish.

The day before this outing we hiked the road all the way up to Rainbow Lake as a consolation prize after realizing we'd stupidly forgotten one pair of snowshoes at home. Once in late October I was able to climb directly up to the ridge from the lake on steep terrain, but current conditions certainly didn't allow that. We experiened a ton of whoomphing along the trail.