For those in the habit of trying to bag the 14ers Culebra has long been the one that most people discount.  Why is this?  Is it somehow less interesting than some of the Sawatchers or is it simply too hard like Sunlight Spire? The answer is that it is privately owned and, until a recent sale to Mr. Bobby Hill, it has remained closed to the public for some time now.  A brief history of Culebra can be found at SummitPost  but the whole history of the land it sits on (currently called the Taylor Ranch) is quite interesting and worth researching.  Prior to Mr. Hill the only access for several years had been a once a year CMC organized event, unfortunately, as with any organization, there were reports of a whole lot less impartiality in the slot selection than the general public should have been entitled and even had the process been neutral the ranch owner limited the numbers on the trip, all of this contributed to very few people being able to climb this peak.  Fortunately for peak baggers the prior owner, Lou Pai (an ex Enron executive), sold the ranch after losing a court battle which returned land use rights to area Hispanics who had been using the land for most of there lives before being barred from it.  A simple google search for 'Taylor Ranch Lawsuit' or 'Lou Pai'  should turn up some of the story for the interested reader.  Apparently there is quite a history of violence between ranch employees and the locals who were enraged to be thrown out.

So, how did it turn out that Jen and I got out to climb this ranch?  The answer is that I decided (although it is $100.00 to climb Culebra and $150.00 for Culebra and neighboring centennial Red Mountain) that I wanted to add it to the lists of 14ers climbed.  Anyone who knows me would know it would drive me nuts not to have the peak on my list if it was possible to climb.  Starting in February of 2005 I offered to set up a trip for May 31st for a group of 14erworld forum members.  As it turned out the people from the ranch contacted me and said access was not starting that early due to snow conditions.  Tim Flannery (a forum member) offered to take over  the organization and I said sure.  He set up a date of July 30th and sent everyone maps and waivers.  Thanks Tim, you were great about the whole thing. 

On Friday, July 29th, 2005 Jen and I set out for Culebra.  Culebra itself is the southern most 14er and is within a stones throw of New Mexico.  We arrived at the gates of the Taylor Ranch at  9:30, set up our air mattress and went to bed.  There must have been about 6 or so vehicles parked there and over the course of the night I'd say 10 more pulled up.  I have to say that the 14erworld forum members are the most polite car campers I have ever met.  Not only were they quick, polite, and efficient in setting up there camps but I had two or three cars right near me when I woke up that I never heard come in and I am not a heavy sleeper.  Allot of the inconsiderate people I run into at trailheads could take lessons from these guys.  It was a pleasure to be surrounded by people like that.  Before turning in I remarked to Jen that there were sure to be coyotes in the area (being southern Colorado grasslands and all).  Somewhere near 12:30 at night I heard one make a call, he was quickly joined by a pack and another pack far away answered.  If you haven't heard coyote packs talking to each other it is a pretty cool sound.  I woke Jen up so that she could hear it.  We went back to sleep and at near 1:30 I heard several playing VERY close by.  That was good enough for me and I decided to retire to the comfort of the truck.

Most everyone started waking up around 4:30 in the morning and getting prepared.  At 5:00 the ranch hand opened the gate and we drove up to the ranch.  At the ranch we all headed into a small office, payed our fees and signed waivers before heading back to the cars.  most people choose to drive up to road's end but one or two wanted to hike from the ranch.  From the ranch it is 13 miles and 4810 feet, from the roads end it is 5 miles and 2350 feet.   If Red Mountain is included add about 1,150 feet and 1.5 miles.   I choose to drive to roads end, as did 90 percent of people, and start from there.  The road up, in summer conditions, isn't really a 4WD road but it is dirt and gets steep so good tires and decent power are required to get up it.   We drove up and brought Mike Madden along with us.

We arrived at roads end (which I should add is about 1 mile past Fourway) and started up around 5:45.  The hike proceeds up towards a ridge which you basically follow all the way to the peak.  The ridge itself is somewhat sinuous and wraps it way around a bit before dropping you on the peak.  I spent some time talking with Greg, Ryan, and Matt on the way up but hung back with Jen for the most part.  Jen and I summited around 8:00 along with Matt.  Greg, Derill, Ryan, and Piper (plus one guy Mark? whose name I can't remember) had already summited and were headed over to Red Mountain.  I may be mistaken but I think no one else had summited yet.  I snapped a few photos and headed up over to Red Mountain just as Dan England was coming up.  I made it over to the summit of Red in 30 minutes, took a 5 minute break and headed back.   I turned around from Red and headed back to try to meet up with Jen who was heading back already.  Piper (actually Heather) was hauling and I figured I should try to match her pace to make time ( I couldn't quite catch up but was close).   Near to the summit of Culebra again I ran into Dan who told me Jen wanted to talk on the walkie talkies.  I figured I had a short while left before re-summiting and would just try to run her down  and just kept going.  I glanced at my watch and it took me 11 minutes to get back to the summit.  Piper was way ahead already and I eventually (she slowed down) caught up to her.  We chatted a bit and caught up with Jerry, Sue, Rick (with whom I had climbed the Bells with the prior year), Matt, and Jen.  Our group headed back down to the cars together and chatted most of the way.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time with everyone and thought meeting so many members of the forum was a blast.  Jen and I had been in a hurry to go because our plan was to climb the following day as well. When we got to the car we decided we didn't feel like it.  This was to bad as I would have hung out with people longer if I wasn't in a rush to pack into another trailhead. 

Back at the truck we took Rick down so I could say hello to his wife Tahee (who also climbed the Bells with us).  We drove into San Luis, talked a bit, then Jen and I headed back home.

All in all it was a great time.  I wouldn't climb Culebra again because of the cost but really enjoyed it.