Date: 06/17/2015
Who: myself and Sammy
Length: 7 miles roundtrip
Time: about 6 hours
Weather: about 80 degrees, sunny

The Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado are visible from Colorado Springs on a clear day. I would often see them driving to and from work and think to myself that I would like to hike there. In June, I finally hiked both East and West Spanish Peak. The Spanish Peaks are prominent landmarks, and have sacred significance to Native American tribes. The Native American name for them is “Wahatoya” or “Huajatolla” which translates to “breasts of the earth”.

Spanish Peaks

We camped with the popup camper at national forest campground, Purgatoire. The campground is southwest of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness at the headwaters of the Purgatoire River, and turned out to be about a 50-minute drive to the West Spanish Peak trailhead at Cordova Pass.

Helpful signage at the trailhead:

Sign at Cordova Pass

The trail (#1390) was easy to follow until treeline. Above treeline, the route is quite steep and marked by cairns.

Summit selfie:

West Spanish Peak Summit Selfie

Video:

This hike followed the BLUE line:

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