Steve Knapp Finishes Custer County

[PaulStratmoen]

Steve Knapp became the third person to complete the Custer County ranked summits on Sunday June 22, with a big day picking up Eagle Peak, 13123, Cottonwood Peak, 12658, 12780 and Wulsten Baldy. We just missed you by a day on 12658 with our little loop of that and Nipple Mountain.

I bet Custer County has some interesting access issues. We know someone from Rosita, and from the stories he tells, it doesn’t sound at all like a good place to get caught trespassing…sort of a combination of Deliverance and the Tannen family from Back to the Future. Got any good stories?

What's next? Chaffee County?

[John Paul]

Congratulations Steve Knapp! 100 peaks! Your 25th completed county! Looks like you started with a Humboldt/Crestone Needle combo back in 1991 and finished strong with the remaining 6 ranked peaks yesterday. Killer commitment...Now back to the Andrew Hamilton thread :) JP

[lukePlumley]

Fantastic stuff Steve! Keep them coming!

lp

[Steve Knapp]

Thanks guys! Custer was a great list of peaks. 33/100 are above 12k and on or near the Sangre crest along the western border of the county. I truly do love the Sangre range, lot's of fun to be had in there. The remaining peaks are in the Wet Mountains and scattered around the east side of Hwy 69. Those were fun as well. Didn't have any property encounters that I can recall, even near Rosita. Careful route selection, time of day, and season helps with that. There just aren't many people out there in the winter months when most of the lower peaks can be done. It's a much better list than Fremont just to the north. Greater percentage of alpine peaks, easier bushwhacking, fun times. My finishing day was awesome and a great workout, just wrote a TR for those.

Paul, I noticed in the register you and Kate were just up on 12658 the day before. Too bad the glass jar was broken, did you improvise with the water bottle cut in half? Sorry I missed you! How was the climb over there from Nipple? Probably a bit long but at least you don't have to reclimb Nipple on the way out. I regret not having added 12658 with Nipple last year, it was a lot of work from Cottonwood. But it did add nicely to the challenge and complexity of the day, which always entertains me in a sick kind of way.

Johnpaul, that's right. Started this list 23 years ago on my initial 14er quest. The Needle/Peak and Humboldt, what a great intro to mountaineering on my first full summer in Colorado. I was hooked for sure after that! You must be watching Andrew's progress as well. Now that is exciting, everything else pales to what he is trying to do right now. So impressive, go Andrew!

Thanks to Brian and John who hiked a lot of these with me. John has already finished it and Brian is close. Also thank you Doug Hatfield (first to finish Custer) for all the great pics and trip reports which were very useful.

I have no idea what county I'll finish next. Getting closer on Chaffee though it probably won't happen this year. There's always Larimer which I've strayed away from lately. Haven't completed Alamosa yet which could be done in a few hikes. I'm just happy getting out and climbing any peak, as always.

[MikeRodenak]

Nice job Steve! Nice to see you finishing on some alpine peaks as well, seems like being up on the Sangre crest with those views is certainly a pleasant way to reflect on another county finish

[PaulStratmoen]

Paul, I noticed in the register you and Kate were just up on 12658 the day before. Too bad the glass jar was broken, did you improvise with the water bottle cut in half? Sorry I missed you! How was the climb over there from Nipple? Probably a bit long but at least you don't have to reclimb Nipple on the way out. I regret not having added 12658 with Nipple last year, it was a lot of work from Cottonwood. But it did add nicely to the challenge and complexity of the day, which always entertains me in a sick kind of way.

Hi Steve – the cut-in-half water bottle was already there. We added the pencil and built a shelter for it in the summit cairn (which didn’t seem to be quite on the high point, though). Most of the previous entries in the register had faded away.

We did 12658 and Nipple via a different route than you’re probably thinking – via Black Canyon. Went up to 12658 first, and then did the 3-mile traverse over to Nipple along the ridge. Then we followed the barely-discernable Black Mountain trail back to Black Canyon. With all the ups and downs, it turned out to be over 14 miles and 5,600 feet. Unfortunately we ended up orphaning 11660 doing them this way.

Congrats again! I seem to remember a story about someone taking the wheels off of your 4-Runner on one of your clandestine summits, and you had to grovel to get them back. Was that in Custer County?

[Steve Knapp]

Paul, I noticed in the register you and Kate were just up on 12658 the day before. Too bad the glass jar was broken, did you improvise with the water bottle cut in half? Sorry I missed you! How was the climb over there from Nipple? Probably a bit long but at least you don't have to reclimb Nipple on the way out. I regret not having added 12658 with Nipple last year, it was a lot of work from Cottonwood. But it did add nicely to the challenge and complexity of the day, which always entertains me in a sick kind of way.

Hi Steve – the cut-in-half water bottle was already there. We added the pencil and built a shelter for it in the summit cairn (which didn’t seem to be quite on the high point, though). Most of the previous entries in the register had faded away.

We did 12658 and Nipple via a different route than you’re probably thinking – via Black Canyon. Went up to 12658 first, and then did the 3-mile traverse over to Nipple along the ridge. Then we followed the barely-discernable Black Mountain trail back to Black Canyon. With all the ups and downs, it turned out to be over 14 miles and 5,600 feet. Unfortunately we ended up orphaning 11660 doing them this way.

Congrats again! I seem to remember a story about someone taking the wheels off of your 4-Runner on one of your clandestine summits, and you had to grovel to get them back. Was that in Custer County?

Oh, I thought you did those from Hayden Pass like we did last year. Now you'll have to do another trip for the 11er!

Ha ha, you are correct about a wheel incident. It wasn't Custer county though, it was out on the southeastern plains doing some 4ers of all things. And Brian was the lucky driver that day, the friendly rancher borrowed three of his wheels for a while. After some careful apologies and the ranchers realization that we weren't hunting, we defused the situation and were on our way. Still one of the hairiest predicaments we've been in though. Ah, the things we do for peaks.

[dhgold]

Congratulations on making it through the Little Big Horn with your scalp intact. And thanks for all the TRs which should help others aspiring to duplicate your feat.

[Jeremy Hakes]

Good work, Steve. Don't stop (indeed, speed up! ) writing your excellent access TRs. Congrats!