Sangre de Cristo RANGE Traverse! Let's Explore -- it's HARD!

[@TheLongRanger]

Update #2! There is a now a guide for those wanting to go S->N: sangrestraverse.longmayyourange.com/

[@stevenryan8689]

My name is Steven Ryan and I hiked the crest of the Sangre de Cristo range with two companions from LaVita Pass to Poncha Pass over 12 days in 1981. This was over 40 years ago and we didn't know if anyone had done this before. We did skirt around the Blanca 14ers and the Crestone 14ers, but otherwise follwed the ridgeline. We had two food drops along the way. I documented the hike with photos and a diary, and posted a lot of this material on my Facebook page a couple of years ago. I was thrilled to find your KZbin channel and discover what is going on now days with this traverse. Do you know the history of hiking this route? When was the first documented traverse along this crest? We wondered about this in 1981, and maybe I can finally know how our experience fits into history! On May 24 1979 I had attempted hiking the complete Sangre range crest from the Santa Fe Basin Ski Area to Poncha Pass with 1 companion and 4 food drops, but we started in late may of a heavy snow year and had to abandon the hike after 7 days due to the unanticipated difficulty of postholing in the snow and falling behind schedule. On July 8, 1979 I became the 220th person to have climbed all the 14ers on the Colorado Mountain Club list. At that time my name was Steven Fahnenstiel. After a 35 year career with NOAA (Including wintering over at the South Pole Station in 1982-83) I retired and now live in Hilo, Hawaii since 1989. Please give me links to the history of the history of hiking the Sangre de Cristo crest and how my 1981 hike fits in. Thank you!

[@TheLongRanger]

Update! I was able to finish the traverse N->S in 6days, 16hrs! justinsimoni.com/2023/07/25/north-to-south-the-sangre-de-cristo-range-traverse-completed/

[@Junkorgem]

So did you have enough food?

[@TheLongRanger]

@@Junkorgem just enough!

[@Junkorgem]

@@TheLongRanger how much food did you take?

[@TheLongRanger]

About 26,100 calories for the 6 1/2 days: justinsimoni.com/2023/08/03/gear-breakdown-2023-sangre-de-cristo-range-traverse/#Food

[@Junkorgem]

That’s a lot of calories. ❤

[@RyanConklin]

Almost no water, no flat spot to camp, no escape from exposure, class 3 for miles, oh and 55k feet of gain… sounds perfect! Good luck!

[@TheLongRanger]

Completely reasonable backpacking route!

[@Junkorgem]

You have me laughing. 😂Class 2 hop. I don’t want hop off of a mountain EVER! Lol.

[@TheLongRanger]

Don’t forget your parachute!

[@borisgrozev2289]

Amazing! I fell in love with this range in 2020 after a couple of single day hikes and it's been on my mind ever since. I visited again earlier this year and decided to go back in September and do my first longer hike. I'm probably just cross east to west and back, with one or two nights on the route. This video is a great inspiration, even though I doubt I'll ever attempt the route!

[@TheLongRanger]

It's totally rad - even after doing it (now) two times, I still want to go back and do it again! Even crossing it W -> E is a commitment. Probably easiest to go from South Colony Lakes to Willow Lakes? Hell of a car shuttle!

[@ruggedland]

Willow Lake to S Colony Lake is totally doable as a day hike. Add the Crestone Traverse and that’s heck of a day, if one can solve the car shuttle problem

[@adamcauble3674]

Dude this is gnarly as hell wow

[@TheLongRanger]

Truth.

[@dansouth2088]

So epic! Thanks for sharing this Justin! We need a race that covers this course! 🤪

[@andrewconnelly2590]

Can amateur hikers do this

[@TheLongRanger]

This would be a very advanced backpacking trip.

[@andrewconnelly2590]

Are there easier ridge hikes that exist

[@TheLongRanger]

Sure! One idea is to start at Berthoud Pass, and go towards Colorado Mines Peak. You can keep going on the ridgeline until you've got your fill and turn around and go back to the pass.