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Hiking – Exploratory hike Venable Peak 13,334 from Venable Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains outside of Westcliffe.

Exploratory hike Venable Peak 13,334 from Venable Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains outside of Westcliffe.

Contacts

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Jacqueline Hooper
Primary Leader
  • Sat, Sep 9, 2023
  • El Pueblo
  • Hiking
  • Adults
  • Difficult D
  • Difficult
  • Mileage: 12.65 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 4,357 ft
  • High Point Elevation: 13,334 ft
  • Pace: 1.5-2 mph with 500-1000' gain per hour

Exploratory hike to Venable Peak (13334’) in the Pike-San Isabel National Forests in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. Follow Venable Lake trail to Venable Pass with going off trail to summit the peak. Return on the Comanche Lake Trail to the Comanche Lake Trailhead. 

The hike is about 13 miles and 4000' gain, difficult D hike, 1.5-2 mph hiking speed with 500-1000' gain per hour. f you are faster, please pace with the group to enjoy the views and your fellow hikers. If you would like to hike faster, please select another hike.

The start of the hike is the Venable Lake trailhead which is in the same parking lot as the Comanche Lake Trailhead. The trailheads are accessible by 2WD cars until the entry to the trailhead that is a rutted dirt road where most AWD SUVs can easily maneuver the terrain. A vault toilet is available in the parking lot.

Permission of the leader is required to register for the hike. This is a challenging hike that will require completion of recent hikes of near similar difficulty.  Please text me by Thursday, September 7th at 5 pm at (702) 480-5704 or email me at hooperjacqueline@yahoo.com to let me know if you would like to join the group. If I have not hiked with you previously, I will want to know the distance and gain of hikes you have done in the last 2 months. I will register participants on the CMC website.

For those registered for the hike, I will email last minute details about the hike including weather information by Friday, September 8th.

Pueblo participants will meet in the southeast corner of the Albertson's parking lot, 1601 US-50, Pueblo CO 81008 for a 5:30 am departure. People from Colorado Springs can determine their own car-pooling arrangements or meet at the trailhead at 7:00 am hiking start time. The distance from Pueblo to the Venable Lake Trailhead is 70 miles with a drive time of 1 hr 30 minutes. 

Route/Place

Route-Place TBD

Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

Bring hat/gloves/rain gear with a warm coat to for high wind, and trekking poles. Weather dependent, the plan is to eat lunch at the summit of Venable Peak but bring snacks to eat enroute, 2-3 liters of water, and the other 10 essentials. Bring a camp chair and libation of your choice for an after hike celebratory tailgate gathering, or depending on consensus of the group, we may opt to go into Westcliff for an optional celebratory libation and/or meal.

As of today the weather forecast for Venable Peak is a low of 40 degrees F, high of 60 degree F, a W-SW wind 11 mph with gusts of 30+ mph (which will make the ambient air temp highs in the 50's degree F), and a 10% chance of rain at 3pm.

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