Storm Pass Trail to Estes Cone

Once, while leading a group of hikers to Chasm Lake, I informed them of a lecture to be given that evening by a man who had climbed Longs Peak more than fifty times. “Fifty times!” exclaimed one panting hiker. “Why, any reasonable man would have stopped at thirty.”

Relatively few climbers can claim such a record on the park’s tallest peak. Fewer yet may be able to match my record on the park’s ninety-fourth tallest peak: One summer I climbed Estes Cone more than a dozen times. Why? Because it is strategically located. Although not very high (11,006 feet), it is a good vantage point from which to photograph taller peaks, especially Mount Meeker. Among the bare rocks at Estes Cone’s top hide rare dwarf columbine, and photogenic limber pines grow on the slopes below the summit.

I climb Estes Cone by way of Storm Pass. You can hike to Storm Pass from Longs Peak Campground, 2.6 miles away via Eugenia Mine (see the Longs Peak and Nearby Goals chapter) and from Bear Lake Road, 3.75 miles away on the Boulder Brook and Storm Pass Trails (see the Bear Lake Road chapter).

But the most interesting route to Storm Pass is the 3.0-mile trail from Lily Lake. From the parking lot at the east end of Lily Lake, hikers head left along a wheelchair-accessible trail that follows an old road around the south side of the lake. This easy walking turns to a rather steep path where the Storm Pass Trail branches left to cross the Aspen Brook drainage. A separate trail branches north descending along Aspen Brook to a private road. This road is not open to public use and is gated where it meets Tunnel Road (CR 69B) near the YMCA of the Rockies.

The Storm Pass Trail climbs from Aspen Brook over the east flank of Estes Cone to where spectacular views provide an excuse to rest on trailside rocks. On this sunny south-facing slope, lodgepole pines cast little shade, and the trail can be warm in summer. If you plan to continue over Storm Pass, you will feel an obvious drop in temperature when you reach the north-facing slope. Of course you will be walking mostly downhill, which will have something to do with the perceived drop in temperature.

If you are headed to the top of Estes Cone, however, pines and warmth predominate for the 0.7 mile from Storm Pass to the summit. From a classic limber pine grove in Storm Pass, follow the path that runs uphill to the right (east). Keep alert to the view on the left through the pines; the first example of Estes Cone’s strategic position is a unique perspective of Specimen Mountain straight down Forest Canyon. The trail first runs clear and certain, zigzagging up the steep slopes, then it degenerates to cairns, and then not much of anything.

The terrain guides you to a spot where a bit of rock scrambling is necessary. Avoid trampling rare dwarf columbine growing among the rocks. The top of this climb is a false summit, but it is easier and more fun to go over the rocks than around them. Next you must descend into a gully and then climb to the cone’s summit on the east side of the mountain.

The panoramas are excellent in all directions from the top of Estes Cone, especially if you started before dawn. Such an early beginning has the dual advantage of cool temperatures on the way up and the best light for summit photographs.