The photos are looking a bit rough because I broke my lens and condensation was building up inside. New lens coming soon!
Jul 14, 2018 — Even though a dirt road leads right into the Columbus Basin up to the historic mine, this route takes you far above, semim-circling around the basin and bagging two very pretty peaks in the La Plata Mountains. Starting from a pull-off along the Columbus Basin Road (or a few hundred feet before that if your car can't make it up the rocky uphill), bushwhack up a steep and grassy slope to gain the ridgeline, which undulates up to Lewis Mountain, nothing harder than Class 2. Once you reach Lewis Mountain's summit, the ridgeline scramble to the saddle with Snowstorm Peak is a great introduction to Class 3 ridges, and there are super nice views of the surrounding mountains, including Babcock and Spiller Peaks. From the saddle, you'll see a use trail that you'll be taking to get down to the Columbus Mine. However, Snowstorm Peak is so close, and there are nice views from the top of that peak as well, so just scramble over on Class 2 stuff, with one minor obstacle.
After Snowstorm Peak, switchbacks from the saddle take you to the historic Columbus Mine, and then the dirt road leads back to your car.
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