Kit Carson Peak Trip Report 07/14/2014

Peak(s):	Kit Carson Peak - 14,167 feet Challenger Point - 14,086 feet Wetterhorn Peak - 14,021 feet Uncompahgre Peak - 14,318 feet Mt. Sneffels - 14,155 feet El Diente Peak - 14,175 feet Wilson Peak - 14,021 feet Mt. Eolus - 14,087 feet Sunlight Peak - 14,061 feet Windom Peak - 14,089 feet
Date Posted:	07/14/2014
Modified:	07/19/2014
Date Climbed:	07/04/2014
Author:	hoodayer

Peak Burnout Trip
The Plan: - 7/3/14: Drive to Willow Creek TH after work - 7/4/14: Kit Carson & Challenger, drive to Matterhorn TH - 7/5/14: Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre, chill in Lake City - 7/6/14: Rest day in Ouray, drive to Yankee Boy Basin TH - 7/7/14: Sneffels, via Southwest Ridge, drive to Navajo Lake TH, backpack in - 7/8/14: El Diente, via North Buttress, traverse to Mt Wilson - 7/9/14: Wilson Peak, backpack out, drive to Durango - 7/10/14: Train to Needleton, backpack in to Chicago Basin - 7/11/14: Eolus, N. Eolus, Sunlight & Windom - 7/12/14: Backpack out, rest in Pagosa Springs - 7/13/14: Drive home Ambitious plan perhaps, but driving 6+ hours to the other side of the state to snag these San Juan peaks individually seemed to be a huge pain in the neck time-wise. So how about lump them all together into one longer trip? 7/4/14 - Kit Carson & Challenger Mosquitoes. Both were cake going up, but distance made for a long day. Descending Challenger sucked majorly: lots of runoff leading to slick grass, rock and dirt/mud. Fell several times despite having a pole. Coincidentally, cursed several times. Waterfall above Willow Lake was beautiful. Due to our schedule, we forwent taking out the canoe onto the lake and rushed to break down our tent (a measly 1.25 miles from TH) and hike out before the rain. Got out before anything started falling. Conditions: Couple of snowfields/snow gullies, including on KC's Avenue, but all fairly manageable with care. Kit Carson Avenue 7/5/14 - Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre Yes, both in a single day. Distance promised an even longer day than yesterday. Got Wetterhorn pretty early--with a glissade descent to boot--and took a "longcut" to Uncompahgre. For those looking to combine them, just stay on the trail, and don't try to do the beeline approach... Both peaks were terrific. Would do either again, preferably individually. Weather threatened for the last few hours, but didn't get any precipitation until 2 miles from car, in the form of tiny hail. At least we were off the peaks and no longer truly exposed. Conditions: Wetterhorn had two smaller snowfields on the standard route, neither being a problem. The scrambling portion is all dry. Uncompahgre was essentially snow-free. Some snowfields to cross in between. Wetterhorn Uncompahgre 7/7/14 - Sneffels, via SW Ridge & backpack in Navajo Lake Prettiest drive in of any 14er I've done thus far. Southwest Ridge was a lot of fun. Met an Anton look-alike. Used crampons and ice axe to climb short gully. Got the summit on a windless day, but the day was not even half over, given our plans. Descended via standard route, maybe saving a few lives in the process, as a large group of unequipped Mormon hikers were hiking that day. They had ascended the steep gully"still containing a lot of snow"but didn't realize how steep and dangerous it would be coming back down. We kicked steps in the snow for them for the way down. Once again, when we got lower the rain began. Drove to Navajo Lake TH and backpacked 5 miles in to just past Navajo Lake. Set up camp just after sundown. Saw lightning on drive in - we shall see what tomorrow brings... Conditions: We were glad to have crampons and ice axe in the gullies mentioned above, but both can be avoided altogether if desired. Marmot protection Downclimbing Sneffels's gully 7/8/14 - El Diente, via North Buttress Not much snow left on El Diente whatsoever, so we chose to ascend via the North Buttress. The scale was deceiving, and it seemed to take longer than expected, but was pretty straightforward...until we reached the 8-foot wide snow/ice patch in the perfectly wrong place just 300 feet below the summit. The risk of simply trying to cross it was too great, so two of us began chipping at it in different places with ice axes to expose the rock beneath. After over 15 minutes we cleared a safe enough path through and manage to get past it and grab our summit. Only to realize at the top that some pretty nasty weather was rolling in early. No way we want to descend the North Buttress when wet, especially with that snow patch to descend through. Would take too long, and would be too dangerous. North Slopes, we heard from a friend just a couple of days before, was not an option either, with its weak snow base and loose rock. Definitely no time to traverse all the way to Mt Wilson (the original plan), so we traversed to the Organ Pipes and escaped down Kilpacker as the only viable route. Hailed on us coming down, but we got down"avoiding the cliffs to the right"easily enough. Had the "pleasure" of an additional 5-6 miles, not to mention a good amount of elevation re-gain"hiking all the way around the mountain back to camp at Navajo. By the time we got back, the weather above the peaks looked just fine. What a tease. Conditions: Short of that snow/ice patch, the buttress was dry. Imagine it will be completely dry in a week. Know your escape options, as we did - they could save you. Approaching North Buttress of El Diente 7/9/14 - Wilson Peak & backpack out Cake. Fun, exposed, class-3 scrambling and rock that was loose, but not too loose. Worst part of day was the backpack out from camp. 4ish miles of hiking on the super muddy Navajo Trail, because, of course, it rained and hailed. Beginning to notice a theme to these days. Drove in near-constant rain all the way to Durango for a beer and a bed. Conditions: A couple of short snowfields, avoidable if you don't wish to cross them. Wilson Pk look back 7/10/14 - Train to Needleton & backpack into Chicago Basin 63. The number of hikers who got off at Needleton. Sixty-freakin'-three! The three of us decided to turn up the juice to get the best camp spot and beat the rain. It worked, as we were the first three into the basin, camping all the way in the upper basin at a great camp spot a little before the Twin Lakes / Columbine Pass fork sign. Just a little drizzle. Lots of goats! 7/11/14 - Eolus, N. Eolus, Sunlight, Windom Started early. Got 'em all, the first two before 8am. Leapt Sunlight. Little drizzle coming down Windom. Well-deserved nap at the gorgeous Twin Lakes. Goats, goats, goats. They want your pee, yo. Conditions: Rock on Eolus in morning was wet. If it is for you too, be careful, as a slip in the wrong place could be very unpleasant for you. One snowfield to cross - no big. N. Eolus was bomber. Sunlight had some avoidable snow, which is nice to avoid if you want your boots dry for a Sunlight Leap. Snowfields traversing from Sunlight to Windom and coming back down from Windom, but nothing too concerning. Eolus Catwalk Sunlight Leap back down 7/12/14 - Backpack out Considered doing Jupiter but in the end opted to sleep in. Met cool hikers on way back to train, which broke down 10 miles outside of Durango. Got back to Durango later than usual, but had a shower and met our new friends for dinner. Good times. 87 miles, 39,000 feet of elevation gain, 11 of 12 peaks - we'll take it! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Peak Burnout Trip

The Plan:
- 7/3/14: Drive to Willow Creek TH after work
- 7/4/14: Kit Carson & Challenger, drive to Matterhorn TH
- 7/5/14: Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre, chill in Lake City
- 7/6/14: Rest day in Ouray, drive to Yankee Boy Basin TH
- 7/7/14: Sneffels, via Southwest Ridge, drive to Navajo Lake TH, backpack in
- 7/8/14: El Diente, via North Buttress, traverse to Mt Wilson
- 7/9/14: Wilson Peak, backpack out, drive to Durango
- 7/10/14: Train to Needleton, backpack in to Chicago Basin
- 7/11/14: Eolus, N. Eolus, Sunlight & Windom
- 7/12/14: Backpack out, rest in Pagosa Springs
- 7/13/14: Drive home

Ambitious plan perhaps, but driving 6+ hours to the other side of the state to snag these San Juan peaks individually seemed to be a huge pain in the neck time-wise. So how about lump them all together into one longer trip?

7/4/14 - Kit Carson & Challenger
Mosquitoes. Both were cake going up, but distance made for a long day. Descending Challenger sucked majorly: lots of runoff leading to slick grass, rock and dirt/mud. Fell several times despite having a pole. Coincidentally, cursed several times. Waterfall above Willow Lake was beautiful. Due to our schedule, we forwent taking out the canoe onto the lake and rushed to break down our tent (a measly 1.25 miles from TH) and hike out before the rain. Got out before anything started falling.
Conditions: Couple of snowfields/snow gullies, including on KC's Avenue, but all fairly manageable with care.

7/5/14 - Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre
Yes, both in a single day. Distance promised an even longer day than yesterday. Got Wetterhorn pretty early--with a glissade descent to boot--and took a "longcut" to Uncompahgre. For those looking to combine them, just stay on the trail, and don't try to do the beeline approach... Both peaks were terrific. Would do either again, preferably individually. Weather threatened for the last few hours, but didn't get any precipitation until 2 miles from car, in the form of tiny hail. At least we were off the peaks and no longer truly exposed.
Conditions: Wetterhorn had two smaller snowfields on the standard route, neither being a problem. The scrambling portion is all dry. Uncompahgre was essentially snow-free. Some snowfields to cross in between.

7/7/14 - Sneffels, via SW Ridge & backpack in Navajo Lake
Prettiest drive in of any 14er I've done thus far. Southwest Ridge was a lot of fun. Met an Anton look-alike. Used crampons and ice axe to climb short gully. Got the summit on a windless day, but the day was not even half over, given our plans. Descended via standard route, maybe saving a few lives in the process, as a large group of unequipped Mormon hikers were hiking that day. They had ascended the steep gully"still containing a lot of snow"but didn't realize how steep and dangerous it would be coming back down. We kicked steps in the snow for them for the way down. Once again, when we got lower the rain began.
Drove to Navajo Lake TH and backpacked 5 miles in to just past Navajo Lake. Set up camp just after sundown. Saw lightning on drive in - we shall see what tomorrow brings...
Conditions: We were glad to have crampons and ice axe in the gullies mentioned above, but both can be avoided altogether if desired.

7/8/14 - El Diente, via North Buttress
Not much snow left on El Diente whatsoever, so we chose to ascend via the North Buttress. The scale was deceiving, and it seemed to take longer than expected, but was pretty straightforward...until we reached the 8-foot wide snow/ice patch in the perfectly wrong place just 300 feet below the summit. The risk of simply trying to cross it was too great, so two of us began chipping at it in different places with ice axes to expose the rock beneath. After over 15 minutes we cleared a safe enough path through and manage to get past it and grab our summit. Only to realize at the top that some pretty nasty weather was rolling in early. No way we want to descend the North Buttress when wet, especially with that snow patch to *descend* through. Would take too long, and would be too dangerous. North Slopes, we heard from a friend just a couple of days before, was not an option either, with its weak snow base and loose rock. Definitely no time to traverse all the way to Mt Wilson (the original plan), so we traversed to the Organ Pipes and escaped down Kilpacker as the only viable route. Hailed on us coming down, but we got down"avoiding the cliffs to the right"easily enough. Had the "pleasure" of an additional 5-6 miles, not to mention a good amount of elevation re-gain"hiking all the way around the mountain back to camp at Navajo. By the time we got back, the weather above the peaks looked just fine. What a tease.
Conditions: Short of that snow/ice patch, the buttress was dry. Imagine it will be completely dry in a week. Know your escape options, as we did - they could save you.

7/9/14 - Wilson Peak & backpack out
Cake. Fun, exposed, class-3 scrambling and rock that was loose, but not too loose. Worst part of day was the backpack out from camp. 4ish miles of hiking on the super muddy Navajo Trail, because, of course, it rained and hailed. Beginning to notice a theme to these days. Drove in near-constant rain all the way to Durango for a beer and a bed.
Conditions: A couple of short snowfields, avoidable if you don't wish to cross them.

7/10/14 - Train to Needleton & backpack into Chicago Basin
63. The number of hikers who got off at Needleton. Sixty-freakin'-three! The three of us decided to turn up the juice to get the best camp spot and beat the rain. It worked, as we were the first three into the basin, camping all the way in the upper basin at a great camp spot a little before the Twin Lakes / Columbine Pass fork sign. Just a little drizzle. Lots of goats!

7/11/14 - Eolus, N. Eolus, Sunlight, Windom
Started early. Got 'em all, the first two before 8am. Leapt Sunlight. Little drizzle coming down Windom. Well-deserved nap at the gorgeous Twin Lakes. Goats, goats, goats. They want your pee, yo.
Conditions: Rock on Eolus in morning was wet. If it is for you too, be careful, as a slip in the wrong place could be very unpleasant for you. One snowfield to cross - no big. N. Eolus was bomber. Sunlight had some avoidable snow, which is nice to avoid if you want your boots dry for a Sunlight Leap. Snowfields traversing from Sunlight to Windom and coming back down from Windom, but nothing too concerning.

7/12/14 - Backpack out
Considered doing Jupiter but in the end opted to sleep in. Met cool hikers on way back to train, which broke down 10 miles outside of Durango. Got back to Durango later than usual, but had a shower and met our new friends for dinner. Good times.

87 miles, 39,000 feet of elevation gain, 11 of 12 peaks - we'll take it!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Krullin_14ers	damn! 7/15/2014 6:45am love the pics and report....especially the chicken wire lol. Nice work! Impressive!
IanG	man,, 7/16/2014 2:29am That pic of the snow on snuffels is a little discouraging. We were thinking of doing the ridge as well and downclimb the standard on 7/18. Anyone have any current conditions? Also was there snow on the ridge at all? Thanks!
hoodayer	Sneffels Conditions 7/16/2014 5:41am The SW ridge route had us crossing one small, easy section of snow and climbing up one short gully. Other than that it was snow free. If you really want to avoid the short gully on the ridge route (separate gully from the standard route gully) and you're comfortable scrambling around on looser rock, then you may be able to stay above it -- that is what the Anton look-alike dude did. For the descent, if you want to avoid all the snow in the steep main gully, you may be able to stay to the right of it. Look at BodenTA's trip report from his 7/13 climb where he avoided the gully in this fashion.
BodenTA	Nice... 7/16/2014 2:08pm ...trip report. You did work over those 10 days! I'd like to try and do something like that one of these days. Planning a possible trip to do Challenger/KC this weekend so good to see the Avenue isn't covered in too much snow. Are hiking poles enough to get past the little snow that is there without any issues? @IanG - You can descend Sneffels to the right (south) of the gully (standard route) on some easy class 2+ rock. Most of the rock is solid with some loose pebbles and dirt in some areas. If you're hiking up the SW Ridge, you'll have no issues descending the ridge next to the gully. You'll see some cairns and a faint trail along the way down. Try and get back to the gully before the saddle or you may hit a cliff area if you go too far down the ridge.
hoodayer	Avenue 7/16/2014 2:25pm Thanks, it was work, yet strangely invigorating to continue waking up early day after day and do another peak or two. For the Avenue on the KC, we used no special equipment. Had spikes and an ice axe in/on our bags but didn't touch either to cross or at any other point on the climb. Just the due caution got us through fine. Good to know those alternatives on Sneffels; certainly seemed like there were other ways like you mention, but this was our first time with this boot-crampons combo, so it provided an excellent testing-out opportunity. Cheers!
meg383	Love it... 7/16/2014 2:58pm Nice work Chris Glad you two had such success!!
MissH	Awesome! 8/7/2014 1:23am Sounds like a dream vacation. Congrats and good job.

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