Hike Buffalo Peaks Loop Pike National Forest, CO

Aug 01, 2023 — West Buffalo Peak and East Buffalo Peak are a 13er duo located within the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness Area, separated from the other major peaks in the Mosquito Range. The peaks can be approached from a few directions, but the route described here seems to be the most standard, likely because it forms a loop without having to reascend the other peak to return, while also keeping bushwhacking to a minimum. I met up with Rebecca and her pup Tefen at the trailhead, accessible by any vehicle, for our now-annual summer hike. We started out along a gated old switchbacking mining road, the start of the hike to the Buffalo Peaks. A trail bisects the road switchbacks earlier on, but sticking to the road is fine and a nice gradual ascent to start the day.

We began to get views toward the Buffalo Peaks, but the hike for the first couple of miles was mostly forested and not particularly interesting. A cairn marked a spot to leave the main mining road and head left along a social trail through the forest at roughly the same spot we'd be returning later to complete the loop. We emerged into open tundra and made an ascending traverse on the northern slope of East Buffalo Peak, which started off with some light brush to dodge, followed by a spattering of talus as we neared the top of the slope. We had started early to avoid predicted storms later in the day, but the only rain we encountered happened at this point, so the encroaching  brush along the slope drenched us. Honestly, why do we even check the weather? Tundra led to the base of East Buffalo Peak, where the peak's east ridge became covered in talus. We avoided an initial outcropping by keeping left, then continued directly on the crest using Class 2 talus. The terrain became tundra again toward the summit.

A social trail led west down from East Buffalo Peak on more Class 2 talus to the saddle with its higher neighbor, West Buffalo Peak. There were some cool slabby rock formations at the top of the cliffs at the saddle. Eventually the talus subsided and gave way to tundra with just some embedded rocks. We kept just left of the crest in order to stick to the grassier slope until the summit. Although the Buffalo Peaks' summits are both wide and therefore block the view somewhat, their isolation meant we could still see the valleys and rolling terrain forever in all directions.

To return to the trailhead, we needed to wrap around the north side of the Buffalo Peaks. Continuing west from West Buffalo Peak, a social trail was etched into the talus slope again and led us most of the way down to the tundra below. From here we contoured for a bit beneath West Buffalo Peak before the terrain became much more steep and it made more sense to descend more directly into the forest below. Once below tree line, we crossed a creek and bushwhacked for only a few hundred feet until we located an animal trail that led us pretty seamlessly through the forest without obstacles. After hiking through the forest for some time, we emerged on an old road covered in grass, taking it into a wide meadow. The Buffalo Peaks behind us were gorgeous from this angle. Now heading north through this meadow we ascended a small slope to regain the road we hiked in on.