Late Season Weekend Backpack in the CO Sangre de Cristos

This will be a 2-night backpack to the Sangre de Cristos in Colorado, doing a loop on the Venable and Comanche trails via Phantom Terrace. The terrace is known for its exposure and the loop for its views. The elevation gain is quite significant, ca. 3,000 ft the first day over 4.5 miles, another 1,000 ft the second day to the ridge, plus two (if time permits) summmits to Venable and Comanche peaks, both of them over 13,000 ft (that's another 1,100 ft or so in combined elevation gain).

We'll depart LA on Friday morning (ca. 7 am) for the ca. 4.5 hour drive and begin the hike. The first night we'll camp at Venable Lake, the second night at Comanche Lake. This leaves a 4 mile hike on Sunday morning back to the vehicles and the drive home. In order to assure a mid-afternoon arrival in Los Alamos, we will depart early on Sunday morning and descend quickly.

While all of this is on trail (except the summits off the ridge), the significant elevation gain and exposure demand conditioning and comfort with steep terrain. As such, you need to have hiked with me previously to qualify for this trip, or receive endorsement by a trusted hiking partner of mine. 

Be prepared for cold (freezing) temps at night. The Venable Lakes are over 12,000 ft; Comanche Lake is 11,700 ft. If it snows, we'll do something else as this is exploratory for me as well.