W0C/SC-065
9852
3003 m / 9852 ft
Dec 30, 2016

With N0TA John

By KX0R

9852 is a pleasant minor summit in the Wet Mountains near Colorado City, southwest of Pueblo.

Key Points:

• San Isabel National Forest
• Near a good road
• Easy access via a short off-trail hike
• No marked trail
• Minor route finding required
• Nice forested sub-alpine summit
• Large, easy activation zone
• Superb HF radio site
• Limited VHF/UHF coverage
• ~ 1.0 mile round-trip
• ~ 250 vertical feet

Driving access:

• Drive to Pueblo, Colorado via I-25
• Continue south on I-25, and exit west on Greenhorn Highway 165 to Colorado City
• Drive by Colorado City, and continue west past the town of Rye
• Stay on 165, and drive northwest on the paved highway into the mountains
• Climb steadily up to San Isabel and Lake Isabel
• Continue on up about 3 miles northwest of Lake Isabel
• Just south of the Greenhill Divide, CR 78, an OK 2WD dirt road, leads off to the east at a marked intersection.
• Turn right on CR 78 and drive almost 1 mile up along the south side of Peak 9852 to a modest saddle
• A gated road leads north into a large quarry
• Park away from the gate – this is the “trailhead”

The hike and climb:

• Start the hike by walking past the locked gate into the flat quarry
• Head northwest for about 200 yards to a hidden road
• Follow the road west up behind the east ridge of 9852
• Where the road heads northwest, leave the road, and hike up through the woods to the summit ridge
• Hike west along the forested ridge to the broad summit
• There’s a cairn with a register jar on top

Additional Details:

9852 can also be climbed more directly up its steep south side from CR 78. However, there’s little good parking except at the gated quarry, and the route described above is easy. We descended down the east ridge, directly to the quarry, with no problem.

9852 has limited views through the trees. However, it’s a good radio summit. There’s some residential development nearby along Highway 165, but the RF noise level is low. The peak has excellent prominence to the east, but it’s partially blocked by the mountain range to the west.

This is a fine HF summit. There are good spots to set up, nice trees for holding poles and wires, and even some shelter from wind. I had no problem making 37 CW contacts on 4 HF bands.

VHF/UHF coverage is probably great across the I-25 corridor from Colorado Springs south to Trinidad, as well as across the Plains to the east. Propagation in other directions may be blocked.

73

George
KX0R

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!