| Kit Carson Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Kit Carson Peak | |
 TheCrestones as seen fromMount Adams. From left to right:Crestone Needle,Crestone Peak,Columbia Point, Kit Carson Peak, andChallenger Point. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 14,165.2 ft (4,317.6 m)[1] NAPGD2022 |
| Prominence | 1,025 ft (312 m)[2] |
| Isolation | 1.27 mi (2.04 km)[2] |
| Listing | Colorado Fourteener 23rd |
| Coordinates | 37°58′47″N105°36′09″W / 37.9797219°N 105.6025089°W /37.9797219; -105.6025089[3] |
| Geography | |
  Kit Carson Mountain Location in SouthernColorado | |
| Location | Saguache County,Colorado,United States[3] |
| Parent range | Sangre de Cristo Range,Crestones[2] |
| Topo map(s) | USGS 7.5' topographic map Crestone Peak, Colorado[3] |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Via Challenger Point: Easy Scramble,class 3[4] |
Kit Carson Peak, Officially known as theKit Carson Mountain, is ahighmountainsummit of theCrestones in theSangre de Cristo Range of theRocky Mountains ofNorth America. The 14,165.2-foot (4,318 m)fourteener is located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) ESE (bearing 102°) of theTown of Crestone inSaguache County,Colorado,United States.[2][3] The name Kit Carson Mountain is used for both themassif with three summits (Columbia Point, Kit Carson Peak andChallenger Point), or to describe the main summit only. The mountain is named in honor of American frontiersmanChristopher Houston "Kit" Carson. The Crestones are a cluster of high summits in the Sangre de Cristo Range, comprisingCrestone Peak,Crestone Needle, Kit Carson Peak,Challenger Point,Humboldt Peak, andColumbia Point. They are usually accessed from common trailheads.
In January 2002, theNature Conservancy announced the signing of a $31 million purchase agreement for theBaca Ranch.[5] The purchase significantly expanded theGreat Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in 2004. As part of that complex transaction Kit Carson Mountain was transferred to theSangre de Cristo Wilderness within theRio Grande National Forest.[5][6][7]
Kit Carson Mountain features complex terrain that has misled climbers in the past, often contributing to their perishment in the most recent years.[8]
Incidentally, local residents for decades had called the mountain "Crestone Peak" (the official name of a neighboring peak), and never called it by "that other name".[9]
One popular route on Kit Carson Mountain climbs from the west side of the range, starting atWillow Creek Trailhead (elevation: 8,900 ft or 2,700 m). This route first climbsChallenger Point, just to the west of Kit Carson. Climbing from the saddle between Challenger Point to Kit Carson peak involves crossing a path commonly called 'Kit Carson Avenue'. Total elevation gain for this route is 6,250 ft (1,905 m), in a 14 miles (23 km) round-trip.
Kit Carson can also be reached from the east side of the Sangre de Cristos via the South Colony Lakes access. (Afour-wheel drive road currently provides relatively a high elevation trailhead; however this road will be closed halfway up on October 13, 2009.) This route starts by using part of the trail forHumboldt Peak, and then traverses a ridge and plateau toward Kit Carson. A sub-peak namedColumbia Point (informally known as "Kat Carson") is climbed on the way to the main summit.
Kit Carson does not have any glaciers but it does have a semi-permanent ice patch on its rugged north face, which rarely melts even in the driest years (such as 2002 and 2006). During the summer Kit Carson and the neighboring peaks are hit with a diurnal cycle of thunder storms, which often form within a short time period; lightning occurs almost daily and has killed climbers as recently as 2003.[citation needed]
Fatalities also occur because climbers make the mistake of descending the couloir (gulley) between the summit and Challenger Point.[10] Though the couloir looks like a short cut down, and starts off gently enough, it leads to ice fields, and on the edges it quickly becomes cliffed-out, with patches of scree and loose rock, ending in sheer and highly technical terrain. Search and Rescue teams regularly recover bodies from the bottom of the couloir. Bodies that do not make it to the bottom require highly specialized technical teams, not local to the area, and thus not as quickly available to respond.
The ranch and the national monument are to become the nation's 58th national park in 2005
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