GC4DK7P Cottonwood Peak
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Tom.dog @ | Hide Date: 06/04/2013 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 13.158 W105° 45.392 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                       

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A cache placed near the summit of Cottonwood Peak - elevation 13,588 ft.

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Cottonwood Peak offers some longer and more diverse routes than some of the other 13ers. You can also significantly shorten the journey with a good 4x4 or ATV. If you come up to find this cache, please also consider hiking across the ridge to the hide on top of Unnamed 13123.

Here are my suggested routes for reaching the summits of Cottonwood Peak and Unnamed 13123:
Route 1: Start at Garner Creek Hot Springs Trailhead to the West/Southwest
This trail will lead you almost up to the North ridge of Cottonwood Peak.
Route 2: Start at Major Creek Trailhead to the West/Southwest
This trail will get you to the saddle of Thirsty Peak and Unnamed 13123, where after you can hike Unnamed 13123 and walk the ridge on to Cottonwood.
Route 3: Start at Lake Creek Campground to the East/Northeast
You can follow Forest Service Road 198 up Cloverdale Basin to Silver Lake, and then ascend the front face or East ridge of Cottonwood, or go to the saddle of Thirsty Peak and Unnamed 13123.
Route 4: Start from the end of Forest Service Road 198
If you take this route, you will need a very high clearance vehicle with great 4x4. If you don't have that, expect vehicle damage due to large boulders in the road. If you want to take this route, I suggest riding an ATV up. With an ATV you can also cut another mile by travelling on the road that goes farther on from the cabins for the Cloverdale Mine, as long as all snow drifts are melted (they weren't when I hid the cache).

This area is amazing due to its remote nature. With that said, be sure to hike along with another person. It's about 6 miles on any route to the nearest help from the summit.

Be safe and enjoy the hike!

09/09/2016 By WingsAndTales
I made the long, rough drive to Rainbow Lake a couple months ago to get the cache on Eagle Peak. I had planned to do all three in the area but that turned out to be too much for me and the weather that day. This time I decided to try the west approach.

I parked at the Hot Springs/Garner Creek trailhead and started up the Hot Springs trail at sunrise. The trail is reasonably good until you get to a meadow a couple miles in. After that it is overgrown and hard to follow for a mile or so. It gets better at about 11,000 feet. Not long after that it disappears totally but by then you can see the ridge to follow. There is a false summit at about 13,000 but the last few hundred feet to the summit wasn't as bad as it looked from below. Four hours, 5.5 miles and 5000 feet of elevation later I reached the summit. After a few minutes searching I spotted the rock cairn and had the cache in hand.

Then I set my sights on UN13123. See my log for that cache for the rest of the story.

09/01/2014 By COpackrat
That's quite the approach road!!! Hiked up past Silver Lake on a clear but windy day and had a nice time walking along the ridges. Thanks for the cache - picked up the TB.

08/10/2013 By ernie66
Being higher than 13,000 feet, this cache and its neighbor were on our short list of caches to do before the snow hits the high country next month. Estes01 handled her Jeep perfectly on the 8+ miles of very rough "road" to the beginning of the Silver Lake trail. From the lake, we crossed over to the north ridge of Cottonwood Peak, ascending a good distance on grassy slopes, but then the talus began. The view from the top was spectacular - the San Luis Valley on one side and the Wet Mountain Valley on the other, views from Mt. Shavano to peaks in the La Garita mountains. Traded trackables - don't leave it stranded for too long up there . Great cache - thanks!

08/10/2013 By estes01
I'm not sure what to say about this cache and UN 13123. It was a little more (in every way) than I expected. But that seems to be my theme for the high altitude caches this year. One expects talus above timberline, but this area is nothing BUT talus with several ups and downs. Ernie66 has no fear of this kind of terrain and probably would have completed it much less time if I hadn't been along…but I'm far more cautious than he is. I would not want to drive the 8-mile road up to the Silver Lake trail (trail 1354) in anything less equipped than a Rubicon.

I DO like a challenge, though, and these two caches certainly provided that. Thank you.

06/12/2013 By A & J - Adrift
We hiked up past Silver lake, climbed the steep slope to the ridge line, and then followed it around to the summit. We had the area all to ourselves. It was mostly a clear blue sky day. But, we could see plumes of smoke from the fires to the East.