Rito Alto Lake

Christy Mahon looking out at Rito Alto Lake — Looking out at Rito Alto Lake.

Most Coloradans know the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for the eight 14ers that reside within them. Sure, those summits are dramatic and any adventure in to see them is worthwhile. But if you look beyond that part of the range, you’ll see dozens of other valleys and lakes to explore, and seemingly countless 13,000 foot summits that are seldom visited. We recently took the opportunity to venture into one such valley. We backpacked up to Rito Alto Lake.

To get to Rito Alto Lake you hike 7+ miles up Rito Alto Creek, which is several miles north of the town of Crestone, on the west side of the Sangres.

Rito Alto Peak from Rito Alto Lake — Rito Alto Peak, on a stormy morning in June.

Standing tall above Rito Alto Lake is the aptly named Rito Alto Peak, 13,794 ft. It’s a Colorado Bicentennial (among the tallest 200 summits) and the tallest mountain in the range north of the 14ers.

There are ample places to set up camp in the vicinity of the lake. It’s a real pretty spot. And if you have some peak aspirations, there are a few good options from there.

If you continue up the Rito Alto Trail you’ll eventually cross the spine of the Sangres at Hermit Pass. The other side of the pass is actually a 4wd jeep road so don’t be surprised if you encounter a jeep or OHV up there. From the pass you can easily hike the ridge north to the summit of Rito Alto Peak or head south to Hermit Peak.

Back in 2011 Christy and I did that, it was fun. You can read about it here.

For this trip we had some other speaks in mind. A cross-country jaunt up from camp to the west allowed us to gain a ridge of unnamed 13ers. We topped out on one with the elevation 13,062 feet. It was at one end of a long ridge that wrapped around another high lake called Mas Alto Lake.

Ted Mahon by Rito Alto Lake. — Hiking up from the lake to some nearby 13ers and Mas Alto Lake.

Christy Mahon on PT13062 — On the summit of PT 13,062, looking out at Mas Alto Lake and the ridge we followed to the next peaks.

Summit register on Point 13062 — First summit of the season on PT13062.

Ted Mahon hiking the ridge above Mas Alto Lake — Heading over to the next 13er, PT13060.

Christy Mahon ridge walking above Rito Alto Lake — Such fun ridge walking around here.

From UN13062 we hiked the ridge, tagging a couple more 13ers summits, all the way to UN13028. From there we descended grassy slopes to Mas Alto Lake for a little picnic, and made it back down to camp a short while after.

Rito Alto lake from above — Looking down on Rito Alto Lake with Rito Alto Peak behind.

Ted Mahon on PT13028 — Looking out to some other 13ers in the Cotton Lake area (a little foreshadowing for a future post, stay tuned).

Ted Maho at Mas Alto Lake — After descending from PT13028, we stopped at Mas Alto Lake for a bit.

Rito Alto Lake is a great backpack destination and the surrounding peaks are worthy hikes. Go give it a look sometime.

And if you’re looking for other backcountry adventure ideas in this region, you can go here for everything we’ve posted and tagged with the term “Sangres” on the blog.

Happy Trails

Billy

July 8, 2020 at 1:03 PM

probably don’t need to wear a mask up there.

Ted

Author

July 8, 2020 at 3:26 PM

Feels kind of natural not to.

Christy Mahon

July 8, 2020 at 4:20 PM

We didn’t even talk about ski lines while we were up there!

trigger34

August 4, 2022 at 10:33 PM

Is that yellow shell jacket a black diamond brand jacket? Like it?

August 5, 2022 at 7:31 AM

It’s actually a rain shell from Stio from a few years ago. Good for real weather, not very breathable, but if you’re in steady rain I find it works really well.