Turner Peak, Colorado (alt. 13,232 feet)

Turner Peak, Colorado (alt. 13,232 feet)

(A Beautiful Morning Hike In The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness) - June 15, 2007

	Turner Peak is an "unsung" mountain in the Collegiate Peaks. It is not well-known nor does it receive a great amount foot traffic, as many mountaineers shun this peak in their determination to summit many or all of Colorado's "14ers" - peaks with an altitude of 14,000+ feet. Turner Peak stands at 13,232 feet. I must say, it was great to have the entire mountain all to myself this morning. Adjacent Photo: Turner Peak from Cottonwood Pass Road, west of the mountain.
	*The Approach To Turner Peak* Special thanks to Topo Zone for helping me figure out the best route to this mountain. (See their helpful topographical map here.) From Cottonwood Pass, I hiked up a gentle hill to an unnamed 12,581 foot point. From there, I snapped the above photo with Turner Peak to the right. I headed down the saddle and worked my way up between the unnamed 12,873 foot point (left) and Turner Peak (right). In the bottom photo, the somewhat steep scramble up those rocks does not look as intimidating from the saddle as it did from the unnamed point.
	Upward I went along a fairly steep and grassy area west of Turner Peak.
	There is quite a boulder field near the summit that requires some scrambling (i.e. using your hands). At one point, I rested and snapped the photo (right) of Mt. Harvard and Mt. Columbia out there with the valley of Hartenstein Lake in the foreground.

At The Summit of Turner Peak

	All told, it took me two hours to arrive at Turner Peak from the Cottonwood Pass parking lot. It was great to be up there and to have the summit to myself! :)
	It was a really beautiful morning to be outside and the views from Turner Peak were amazing in every direction. TOP: Facing east towards Mt. Yale (alt. 14,197) with Hartenstein Lake in the lower left. SECOND: A zoom-in of Mt. Princeton's summit to the southeast. I "fought off" the morning sun as best as I could to snap this shot. ;) THIRD: I really love this photo. Facing south, I capture Jones Mountain in the forefront with peak after peak after peak in the background. Cottonwood Pass Road (i.e. Chaffee County Road 306) can also be seen way down there. FOURTH: This is the view to the west. The Cottonwood Pass parking lot is out of sight and behind the unnamed 12,581 foot point to the right. I hiked down that ridge along the line of vertical snow. FIFTH: The "Three Apostles" (right) and surrounding mountains as I faced northwest. BOTTOM: Facing the northeast, one of those mountains out there is Mt. Harvard. Other pages of mine in the area: Ptarmigan Lake Cottonwood Lake Jones Mountain Mt. Princeton Hike Midland Hill Trail
	I was also able to see Pikes Peak, over 100 miles away to the east. (My Colorado Springs friends might appreciate this.) The top photo is one that I really love that includes Cottonwood Canyon, the upper Arkansas River Valley and numerous smaller peaks in front of Pikes Peak's snowy top. The bottom photo, a zoom-in, does a better job at showing the peak.
	I signed the registry and was pleased to see I was the first person to reach the summit in five days! :)

A View Of Cottonwood Pass

On my way back to Cottonwood Pass, I took this picture from the unnamed 12,581' point. I spend a lot of time in this area, and I invite you to check out my web site: CottonwoodPass.net.