7/19/2026 Route: With Alamosito and Purgatoire Posted On: 7/24/2026, By: eskermo Info: Met Carlos at the Alamosito gate Saturday at 500. We took the road WildWanderer made a map of in her TR https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=20265. This led to the little saddle on the shoulder of Purgatoire's west-ish ridge at 11,800'. My partner's 2024 Outback Wilderness made it with ease to the trailhead. I would have been a little concerned in my 2018 Forester but probably would have been fine as well. I noticed orange flagging occassionally along the route. We had no service at the gate but had full 4G/5G at camp. We did not have cash but he let us scan his Venmo QR code and pay that way. Sounds like cash and Venmo are the two payment methods accepted. The spot has great views but not the best camping. Continue hiking or driving uphill on the road to 11,840' to several great camp spots and some nice kitchen table tree stumps. In the AM we continued hiking up the road a short way then did some very easy cross country travel to treeline. Saw a herd of elk from below on Purg's false summit. Purgatoire was easy and straightforward. On the summit we watched two separate black bears sprinting up and over the saddle between Purgatoire and Alamosito. Shortly after leaving Purg's summit, we watched a Cinnamon bear from below the same saddle run up Alamosito and periodically turn around to check on our progress. Exciting! Alamosito is straightforward. Take note on the summit of its North Ridge that seems to be the standard descent for these three peaks. You don't need to re-summit Alamosito after Vermejo, but reaching the 13,200' level and not dropping below that will allow you to stay above a cliffy gully but also not have to reclimb all the way to the summit. Vermejo was straightforward as well. My partner was much faster on this stretch and got within 150' of the Cinnamon bear just below the false summit! On the descent, take the 13,200' contour of Alamosito north and west to reach it's north ridge. This drops to the saddle with the sweet looking 12er, where faint trails lead into the upper Alamosito creek. We generally trended downhill and toward the west edge of the basin, eventually running into some vocal cows. Just above the 11,400' contour and south of Alamosito Creek we found some old roads not shown on maps but easily seen in imagery. We took this road through a clean, straight tree cut losing ~100' before the same road began switchbacking steeply uphill and eventually back to the car. Carlos left a key in a lockbox at the Almosito gate and gave us the code the night prior. Carlos asked that we text him after we lock the gate and leave the ranch just to confirm we made it out safe. Mrs. Rios in San Luis afterwards, of course. 10.0 miles, 4,660' vertical, 7 hours 47 minutes. Great trip! Uploaded a GPX to the library. |
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7/5/2024 Route: Purgatoire> Alamosito>Vermejo Posted On: 7/15/2024, By: rleclair Info: Summer conditions throughout the entire route. Our team met Carlos at the Alamosito Gate and then followed him all the way to the upper camp at the base of the Purgatoire shoulder. Great, flat camping area with epic views of the valley floor below. The next morning, we left camp hiking through the forest to treeline. Stayed on ridge proper to the Purgatoire summit. Steep'ish, rocky descent to the Purgatoire/Alamosito saddle, then cruiser to Alamosito summit. Not as steep as a descent from Alamosito the saddle. Easy Class 2 hike to the Vermejo summit area with amazing views of Red and Culebra. We descended back down to the Vermejo/Alamosito saddle then followed a grassy bench to the valley floor where a herd of cattle were grazing. Hiked down valley to a north/south logging road where we then followed old logging roads back to the camp. There were no other hikers/climbers doing the southern CVR BiCents during our time here. Overall a great adventure and thank you to Carlos and CVR for logistics, guidance and keeping these peaks open for those interested in climbing them. |
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7/23/2023 Route: OLS Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: blazintoes Info: From Purgatoire this peak is rockier. Greeted by 200 elk and one sly fox. Was on rock all day and only 3 moved. Climbing up Red looks impossible but the rock is stable and dont forget you have to climb up to 13,900. I could see climbers on Culebra. Passed by a few and was so happy to have my car shuttled to the main upper lot. Operation Light Snake complete. |
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7/10/2022 Route: Purgatoire through Culebra Posted On: 7/11/2022, By: supranihilest Info: From camp along Purgatoire's west ridge we ran all the way through Culebra and down to the upper, 4WD trailhead (the ranch staff shuttled our vehicle for us - included in the $500 you pay for these peaks). No real surprises on any of the 13ers, just lots of deep saddles with lots of elevation gain for everything. Ascending Red from Vermejo is the worst part of the day, steep, endless, and loose. Don't skip Point 12,754 west of "Alamosito", it's literally the only cool peak of these six and has some fun scrambling on bomber granite. |
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6/27/2020 Route: Alamosito Creek Posted On: 6/27/2020, By: angry Info: Purgatoire> Alamosito>Vermejo>Red>Culebra Summer conditions. |
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7/17/2015 Route: From Culebra - Red Posted On: 7/18/2015, By: illusion7il Info: If you want to sign the summit register, bring something to help you open it. I guess King Kong closed it last. |
