West Apostle - Just Hiking

Statistics

Date - 08/17/2024
Elevation - 13,568'
Route - West Ridge
Miles - 8.5
Elevation Gain - 3,300'
ACME Mapper - Link
CalTopo - Link
Partners - Not Applicable

Description

The West Apostle is a Bi-Centennial Peak and the 200th tallest mountain in the state of Colorado according to old map elevations. After not hiking a 13er in just over a month, I was able to get back out. However, instead of heading south to the Sangre de Cristo Range, I elected to go west and return to the Sawatch Mountains.

West Apostle, Ice Mountain, and North Apostle are located south of 14er Huron Peak and are generally referred to as the Three Apostles. Many people climbing these peaks complete a full traverse and summit all three mountains in one trip. I am unfortunately not nearly as smart or efficient. Back in 2006, Brian Kooienga, Kevin Smith, and myself did a snow climb up the Refrigerator Couloir on Ice Mountain and struggled with post-holing with no intentions of climbing any other peaks. Thirteen years later in 2019 I returned to the area to hike the North Apostle since it was a Colorado Centennial Peak. Now five years later in 2024 I went back up the same trail to summit the West Apostle since it is a top 200 peak in Colorado.

I drove to the South Winfield/Lake Ann Trailhead on Friday evening and got a fairly good night's sleep in my tent. I got up at 4:00 am and was hiking by 4:20 am. The first mile is flat as you head south towards the Three Apostles. I opted to head directly towards the West Apostle and continue south on the trail instead of going to Lake Ann as many trip report indicated. Once I got to an open meadow around 11,350', I simply scrambled southwest near a huge rock glacier until I reached a small unnamed tarn at 12,350'. From the small mountain lake you can see the rest of your climb above you.

I thought I had read that you simply ascend a gully from the tarn to reach the west ridge of the peak, so I started up the most obvious line to climber's left. The shallow gully was rotten, loose, and miserable. I was slowed down quite a bit and about two-thirds of the way up I finally traversed right to the the the north ridge proper. The ridge was so much more solid and fun and I finished the scramble to the base of the west ridge of West Apostle. Once you gain the west ridge you make a hard left and simple follow the ridge through hiking and scrambling to the summit. You can stay directly on the ridge or drop off to the south on occasion to keep things slightly easier. There is one false summit, but other than that it is a pleasant scramble.

After 30 minutes on the top, I reversed my route; however, when I reached the base of the west ridge and turned north to drop back to the tarn, I stayed directly on the solid ridge for as long as I could. Approximately two-thirds of the way down the ridge I did cliff-out and was unable to continue. At this point, I had to work my way skier's right across the top of a gully and finish the descent on a less solid and defined rib. However, this bottom section was still better than going up or down the gully. Once at the small mountain lake, I decided to drop west to Lake Ann.

I knew taking the Lake Ann Trail back to the trailhead was going to be a bit longer, but I had never been on it so I thought the change of scenery would be nice. Once back at my vehicle I simply drove back to the Front Range and had dinner with my family. My car-to-car time was 7 hours and 45 minutes.

Photos