Mt. Wilson Trip Report 08/07/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Wilson - 14,256 feet El Diente Peak - 14,175 feet
Date Posted:	08/07/2015
Modified:	07/13/2020
Date Climbed:	07/31/2015
Author:	glodder
Additional Members:	Michael J, zdero1, thePhoenix

El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse, from Kilpacker
Finally, after 16 years, I would embark on a potential finisher trip! Our plan was to climb the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse on Friday, July 31st from Kilpacker Basin, and then climb Wilson Peak from the Rock of Ages Trailhead on Saturday, Aug. 1st. This Trip Report will cover the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse portion of the trip. Kelly and I decided to give ourselves a few extra days in Colorado on this trip, so on Monday, July 27th, we began driving to Denver in mid-afternoon. After a nice leisurely trip, we arrived at the downtown Denver Hampton at around 9:00. We of course stopped at REI the next morning, and then we made our way west and arrived in Telluride at around 5:00 on Tuesday evening. We explored Telluride over the next 24 hours until Adam and Tara arrived on Wednesday evening. It was great hanging out with them in this great town. At around 11:00 on Thursday, we began the drive south toward the Kilpacker Trailhead. This drive was beautiful, taking us over Lizard Head Pass en route. The view from Lizard Head Pass was excellent with the Centennial, Vermillion Peak, to the east from there. Coming down the pass, we got our first glimpse of the interesting mountain, Lizard Head, which was a cool and highly anticipated sight. We continued on our drive and eventually made it to the dirt-road turn-off, and then after an easy 2WD dirt road trek, finally to the trailhead at around noon. We readied our gear, and then Steve, Mike, Mikey and Sarah arrived at around 12:45. They readied their gear and we were all off on the trail by 1:30. The Kilpacker Trail is a nice gentle trail with only about 800 feet of elevation gain in around 4 miles. We were able to arrive in the basin within about 2 hours, where we could scout out potential camping spots. We found an absolutely ideal camping spot. The camping spot was about 1 mile after the major Kilpacker Creek crossing. Here is a pic of us approaching the area. On the trail, look for a small 10-foot long bridge over a very small tributary creek, high in the basin. Just after this bridge, there is a perfect meadow downhill to your right about 150 feet. This is the camping spot I would highly recommend. There are great views of the upper waterfall and El Diente from this spot. Our water source was the small creek we crossed, with a small dam which had been built by someone 30 feet above the foot bridge. We reached this meadow and set up camp there. Pic of camp: After getting situated, the afternoon and evening was comprised of relaxation, a game of charades, and stories. This was a great day in the mountains for sure. As we readied ourselves for tent-time, we targeted 3:30 as our departure time the next morning. Kelly and Tara would stay behind at camp and relax in the morning, and the other 6 of us would be climbing the Traverse. Kelly and Tara tented together due to this, and Adam and I took the other tent. It was our normal terrible night's sleep for us. There is no question Adam and I could have left earlier since we were just laying there not sleeping. In any event, each of us dozed off for small portions during the night, but probably no more than 1-2 hours in the aggregate for either one of us. The 3:00 a.m. alarm sounded and we quickly got ready for the day. We were all off on the trail by 3:40. There was an obvious trail which took us above the upper waterfall, and from there, a faint trail along with cairns guided us the correct way. The cairns helped us weave between the cliffs taking us high into El Diente's south face. There was an obvious couloir we ascended almost to the ridgeline. Mike, Adam and I went ahead and climbed to the ridgeline to check out the spectacular view. We then descended back to a point about 40 feet below the ridgeline and then traversed underneath the Organ Pipes, eventually reaching the ridge beyond the cliffs. From here, the path moved to the north side of the ridge, and the summit abruptly appeared after a short traverse. We reached this summit at around 7:00! There have been many stories I had heard in the past of climbers detesting El Diente for its loose rock, and after climbing it I totally understand what they were talking about. So this was a summit to be relished. I loved being up there. But I was tired and I knew I had a long, arduous, and mentally-challenging way to go on this day across the ridgeline to Mt. Wilson. I tried to relax and get my breath a bit while on the El Diente summit, at least as much I could. Summit pics! The time came to start the Traverse. We retraced our steps back below the Organ Pipes to the "40-foot-below-the-ridgeline-couloir-spot" I mention above. We left our ascent route and started scurrying well below the ridgeline on the south side. Eventually our scurry led us back to the ridgeline where El Diente's North Face route reaches the ridge. Another excellent view from here! At this point, the route begins a traverse below the ridge again, toward a path underneath some towers referred to as the "Gendarmes". In my opinion, all of these traversing sections below the ridgeline toward the Gendarmes were dangerous, not necessarily because of the climbing moves, but more because of the rockfall potential. There were several sections where I looked up to my left and I felt like there were about a billion talus-type of rocks which were about to slide down and bury me. Whenever I saw these "Rock Nets" above me, I tried to hustle as fast as I could to get out from underneath these horrendous-looking spots where slides could start. Luckily, there really aren't ever any climbers up above these sections who would trigger a rockslide, but you never know with geologic time, or with mountain goats, or with jarring a rock down low which triggers rocks up high to slide, or whatever else could possibly start such a wicked slide. Having said this, there are definitely some tricky climbing moves in these traversing sections as well, especially once you reach the area below the Gendarmes. I would call them "Hard Class 3" or "Class 3+", with some significant exposure on many of them. Be ready for these moves. They are doable, but definitely trying. Here are some pics at the Gendarmes area, which help to show some of the moves and the exposure here: After traversing below the Gendarmes, we ascended back up to the ridgeline. Most of the remainder of the Traverse was up high on the ridge, and I can't describe in words how delighted I was to be up on the ridge instead of below the Rock Nets. I can handle practically all of the exposure you can throw at me..., what I struggle with is being at the mercy of something I can't control, such as rockfall from above. Once back to this ridgeline, we were on a relatively benign section for a while. Pics: As our views of the last third of the Traverse improved, we began to scout out a potential descent route off of Mt. Wilson. This descent route is not documented very well yet, whether it be through climbing books, on 14ers.com, or elsewhere... it's definitely difficult to find information on a Mt. Wilson south-side descent back into Kilpacker. I hope to help the cause with this write-up. In my opinion, the Kilpacker-side ascent of El Diente, with the Traverse and south-side Mt. Wilson descent, is an excellent, doable, and viable route for relatively experienced 14er climbers. It could someday end up being considered the most dependable standard route to climb these mountains, whether together or separately. After the long section of easier more benign ridgeline, we descended slightly to reach a semi-low saddle, where a couloir descended to the south. This couloir had obvious gold rock toward the top of it. I'll call it the "Gold Rock Couloir". This couloir was located on the El Diente side of what we thought was "West Wilson", so it is west of several minor bumps on the ridgeline from Mt. Wilson. We ventured to say the "Gold Rock Couloir" could be a potential descent route, but we weren't too sure about it yet since there was definitively some snow lingering in there which we would need to descend. We also spotted some climbers coming up this couloir as we continued our Traverse. So this made us think it could very well be a great descent route. We would decide conclusively on this later. Mike, Mikey and I continuously have had a discussion on where exactly "West Wilson" is, during the climb and after. I have not been able to find much reliable information which pinpoint this unofficial summit's location. To help show our assessment, I have stolen one of Bill's photos from his Traverse description, attached below. This shows the North side of the mountains (and obviously we were climbing from the south), but you can get the gist of the terrain by looking at this photo. Our Traverse team came to the conclusion that the summit of "West Wilson" is where the "Narrow Section" is. The "Gold Rock Couloir" descends south (opposite side of what you see) from the low point just to the right of "Narrow Section" or "West Wilson". This was our assessment. It's possible we are incorrect about where "West Wilson" is; it could very well be the high point of the long flat section between the "Gendarmes" and the "Gold Rock Saddle". It appears "Narrow Section" is higher in elevation, and this is a major reason why we concluded it is "West Wilson". From the "Gold Rock Saddle", we then ascended the ridge to what we thought was "West Wilson". In this area and beyond up toward the Mt. Wilson summit, we encountered the trickiest terrain on the Traverse. There were Class 3+ moves along with narrow and exposed ridge sections, and the Traverse's crux is in this area. This area was absolutely fun, or at least it would have been fun had I not been so damn tired at this point. I was dragging a little bit here, but kept going with resolve. We reached the top of another south-side couloir, continued below the right side of a ridge-bump from here, and then eventually entered a final south-side couloir which we had to ascend about 100 feet back to the ridgeline. This final couloir was dangerous! Immediately after entering the couloir, Mikey stepped on some talus here and it collapsed underneath him. About 8-12 football-to-basketball-to-hulahoop-sized rocks were jarred loose with Mikey on top of the pile. He held on and was able to stabilize himself while the rocks careened down through to the bottom of the couloir. We yelled "Rocks" downhill at the top of our lungs, and luckily no one was in the couloir below us. This incident happened right in front of me, as I was closely following Mikey but had not quite entered the couloir yet. I saw one flat �-hulahoop-sized rock slide down to Mikey's left and onto his left leg. I thought his leg was going to be smashed, but luckily another rock had propped it above and to the left of his leg and not actually on top of his leg. Mikey has no recollection of a rock hitting his leg, which is a good thing. This incident spooked all of us, especially Mikey, but we were able to shake it off and carefully get up the couloir back to the ridgeline. Looking at these last few couloirs, we were also considering these chutes as descent routes. But they looked terrible, and after Mikey's incident, it appeared pretty dangerous to descend one of these. We kept thinking the "Gold Rock Couloir" would be best. From where we reached the ridge again, we continued to ascend up the ridge to Mt. Wilson's final Class 4 crux move. I agree with all of the route descriptions which opine that the left side is easier, and the right side is harder with sensational exposure. I climbed up the right side, and I thought this climbing move was a harder move than the final move on the Sunlight summit block. The left side did not appear overly difficult (see below on descent). Pics: After the crux, the summit immediately appeared, at 9:30. This was an outstanding summit, and an unusually small one! We shared the summit with 2 other people, and the 8 of us barely fit on top even with close quarters. I was pretty fatigued at this point, but my exhaustion couldn't overcome my elation to be standing on this incredible summit! Pic of the 6 of us: We lounged up here for about 20 minutes, and I tried to get my breath. I kept thinking that it was mostly downhill from here and to keep up the perseverance. I prepared for the descent. On the descent of Mt. Wilson's final Class 4 crux move, I scooted down the opposite side of where I came up (so I descended the right side, looking down). The descent of this side was not difficult. Copying Sarah's nomenclature, this descending move was a "5-Point Move": two hands, two feet, and a butt. It was probably a 3-4 part 5-Point Move, and relatively straightforward. After the crux and after descending another 50 feet or so, I encountered the climbers we had seen far below us in the "Gold Rock Couloir". I stopped to talk to them for about 5-10 minutes. They had ascended up some talus and snow from Kilpacker and ended up topping out on the ridgeline at the "Gold Rock Saddle". They then followed the Traverse route to this point. I asked what they thought of our potential descent of the "Gold Rock Couloir", stating that we all had some sort of traction whether it be ice axes, crampons, or microspikes. Because we had traction, they immediately said it was a no-brainer for us to descend the route they ascended. They told us there were a few steeper portions of the snow, maybe some scree and choss we would encounter, but that it was totally doable. They also told us there were no worries about getting cliffed out. Other climbers from my group arrived as they were providing this opinion to us. We all agreed to return to the "Gold Rock Saddle" and descend the couloir from there. In order to make this return, we had to cross back over the Traverse's trickiest portions, and also back over "West Wilson". This took a little bit of time, but it definitely was worth it to ensure the safest descent route. Plus, this area has some really fun and airy climbing sections as mentioned before. Here is one pic of part of the descent: We all gathered at the top of the "Gold Rock Couloir" and began the descent at about 10:30. Initially, the top of the couloir was comprised of dirt alleys and talus. Once down about 100 feet, there was some avoidable steep snow. We all initially avoided the snow and continued descending on the choss. In this pic, you can see Mike (left) and I (right) avoiding the snow, and Steve was below us and had already descended the route I was standing on: In the next pic, you can see Sarah and Adam also descending the talus and avoiding the snow patches: At about the 200-foot point, the snow was unavoidable and we all got ready with some sort of traction/arrest gear. Personally, I did not wear crampons or microspikes, and I simply had my axe out for arrest purposes and a potential glissade. The snow really was perfect as far as its mushiness, not too hard and not too soft to where we sunk in too much. Steve started down, walking on the snow with his ice axe in hand: Mikey and Adam tractioned-up here, I got ready with my ice axe: I sat down and started a glissade, which took me down several hundred feet. Eventually, the slope was not steep enough for me to glissade, so I began walking down the snow slope with my regular hiking boots and axe in hand. After a 100 more feet, the slope was steep enough again for me to glissade, and so I glissaded down the remainder of the slope all the way down to Steve at the edge of the rocks below, who had been about 200 feet below me just 10 minutes before. I probably glissaded a total of about 500 feet or more. Looking back up at Mt. Wilson: In this pic, you can see some possible descent routes from the Mt. Wilson summit, but we did not like the look of any of the couloirs seen here. I have seen some Trip Reports mention the possibility of descending a couloir to the right of the Mt. Wilson summit as seen in this picture, but this seemed sketchy as well. The "Gold Rock Couloir" seemed like a great option compared to these. Below is a great pic showing the whole area. You can see the "Gold Rock Saddle" above here and it gives a good viewpoint of where the entry point to the Couloir is located on the ridgeline: More pics looking back up from the end of my glissade: At the point at the end of my glissade, the descent became a talus descent all the way back to the trail we had ascended up El Diente earlier in the morning. The route through this area was obvious and it really was not possible to get cliffed out in this area unless you really tried to do so. More pics of the descent as the route joins in with the El Diente ascent trail: My opinion is this descent is totally doable. Don't be dissuaded by potential snow on this descent route. Just bring the necessary equipment! We thought the short sections of snow we encountered were refreshing and much better to descend than the choss. Remember this is a true mountaineering route and you should be equipped as such. If equipped, it is a more than feasible route and within a decently-experienced 14er-climber's capabilities. Back on the trail, we quickly descended back down the El Diente trail and back to camp. We arrived at camp at 1:00, so it was a total of about 9 � hours on the Traverse from camp. The clouds and rain moved in on us just as we arrived at camp, so it was a soggy gear-gathering and a soggy descent back to the vehicles. But, we were elated that the rain held off until we were back at camp! Adam and I getting wet: We arrived back at the cars at around 4:00, and we all drove to Telluride for some burgers at Steamies. We would then start making our plans for Wilson Peak on the next morning. The Traverse Team, with the Traverse in the background: Final words on the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse: In comparing this route to the Maroon Bells Traverse and the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse, I believe the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than the other 2 traverses. My assessment on this comes from the overhanging "Rock Nets" just sitting there above you on some of the below-ridgeline portions of the Traverse, along with the fact that loose rock is littered all over these mountains. The climbing sections of this Traverse are not overly difficult, but this Traverse probably was more concentrated and sustained with Class 3 to 3+ climbing sections than the other 2 traverses had. I assessed some of the moves on the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse as Class 4, so if off route, you may encounter some of those sections. There is definite exposure on this route, significant in some spots, but definitely not as dramatic and sustained as the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse. I did not assess any of the climbing sections as Class 5, so the hardest moves on this Traverse are definitively not as hard as the hardest moves on the other 2 Traverses. On the Difficulty spectrum, I would say the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse is easier than these other 2 Traverses. Great route! Again, climb it and make your own assessment! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse, from Kilpacker

Finally, after 16 years, I would embark on a potential finisher trip! Our plan was to climb the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse on Friday, July 31st from Kilpacker Basin, and then climb Wilson Peak from the Rock of Ages Trailhead on Saturday, Aug. 1st. This Trip Report will cover the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse portion of the trip.

Kelly and I decided to give ourselves a few extra days in Colorado on this trip, so on Monday, July 27th, we began driving to Denver in mid-afternoon. After a nice leisurely trip, we arrived at the downtown Denver Hampton at around 9:00. We of course stopped at REI the next morning, and then we made our way west and arrived in Telluride at around 5:00 on Tuesday evening. We explored Telluride over the next 24 hours until Adam and Tara arrived on Wednesday evening. It was great hanging out with them in this great town. At around 11:00 on Thursday, we began the drive south toward the Kilpacker Trailhead. This drive was beautiful, taking us over Lizard Head Pass en route. The view from Lizard Head Pass was excellent with the Centennial, Vermillion Peak, to the east from there. Coming down the pass, we got our first glimpse of the interesting mountain, Lizard Head, which was a cool and highly anticipated sight. We continued on our drive and eventually made it to the dirt-road turn-off, and then after an easy 2WD dirt road trek, finally to the trailhead at around noon. We readied our gear, and then Steve, Mike, Mikey and Sarah arrived at around 12:45. They readied their gear and we were all off on the trail by 1:30.

The Kilpacker Trail is a nice gentle trail with only about 800 feet of elevation gain in around 4 miles. We were able to arrive in the basin within about 2 hours, where we could scout out potential camping spots. We found an absolutely ideal camping spot. The camping spot was about 1 mile after the major Kilpacker Creek crossing. Here is a pic of us approaching the area.

On the trail, look for a small 10-foot long bridge over a very small tributary creek, high in the basin. Just after this bridge, there is a perfect meadow downhill to your right about 150 feet. This is the camping spot I would highly recommend. There are great views of the upper waterfall and El Diente from this spot. Our water source was the small creek we crossed, with a small dam which had been built by someone 30 feet above the foot bridge.

We reached this meadow and set up camp there. Pic of camp:

After getting situated, the afternoon and evening was comprised of relaxation, a game of charades, and stories. This was a great day in the mountains for sure.

As we readied ourselves for tent-time, we targeted 3:30 as our departure time the next morning. Kelly and Tara would stay behind at camp and relax in the morning, and the other 6 of us would be climbing the Traverse. Kelly and Tara tented together due to this, and Adam and I took the other tent.

It was our normal terrible night's sleep for us. There is no question Adam and I could have left earlier since we were just laying there not sleeping. In any event, each of us dozed off for small portions during the night, but probably no more than 1-2 hours in the aggregate for either one of us. The 3:00 a.m. alarm sounded and we quickly got ready for the day. We were all off on the trail by 3:40. There was an obvious trail which took us above the upper waterfall, and from there, a faint trail along with cairns guided us the correct way. The cairns helped us weave between the cliffs taking us high into El Diente's south face. There was an obvious couloir we ascended almost to the ridgeline. Mike, Adam and I went ahead and climbed to the ridgeline to check out the spectacular view.

We then descended back to a point about 40 feet below the ridgeline and then traversed underneath the Organ Pipes, eventually reaching the ridge beyond the cliffs. From here, the path moved to the north side of the ridge, and the summit abruptly appeared after a short traverse. We reached this summit at around 7:00! There have been many stories I had heard in the past of climbers detesting El Diente for its loose rock, and after climbing it I totally understand what they were talking about. So this was a summit to be relished. I loved being up there.

But I was tired and I knew I had a long, arduous, and mentally-challenging way to go on this day across the ridgeline to Mt. Wilson. I tried to relax and get my breath a bit while on the El Diente summit, at least as much I could. Summit pics!

The time came to start the Traverse. We retraced our steps back below the Organ Pipes to the "40-foot-below-the-ridgeline-couloir-spot" I mention above. We left our ascent route and started scurrying well below the ridgeline on the south side. Eventually our scurry led us back to the ridgeline where El Diente's North Face route reaches the ridge. Another excellent view from here! At this point, the route begins a traverse below the ridge again, toward a path underneath some towers referred to as the "Gendarmes". In my opinion, all of these traversing sections below the ridgeline toward the Gendarmes were dangerous, not necessarily because of the climbing moves, but more because of the rockfall potential. There were several sections where I looked up to my left and I felt like there were about a billion talus-type of rocks which were about to slide down and bury me. Whenever I saw these "Rock Nets" above me, I tried to hustle as fast as I could to get out from underneath these horrendous-looking spots where slides could start. Luckily, there really aren't ever any climbers up above these sections who would trigger a rockslide, but you never know with geologic time, or with mountain goats, or with jarring a rock down low which triggers rocks up high to slide, or whatever else could possibly start such a wicked slide.

Having said this, there are definitely some tricky climbing moves in these traversing sections as well, especially once you reach the area below the Gendarmes. I would call them "Hard Class 3" or "Class 3+", with some significant exposure on many of them. Be ready for these moves. They are doable, but definitely trying. Here are some pics at the Gendarmes area, which help to show some of the moves and the exposure here:

After traversing below the Gendarmes, we ascended back up to the ridgeline. Most of the remainder of the Traverse was up high on the ridge, and I can't describe in words how delighted I was to be up on the ridge instead of below the Rock Nets. I can handle practically all of the exposure you can throw at me..., what I struggle with is being at the mercy of something I can't control, such as rockfall from above.

Once back to this ridgeline, we were on a relatively benign section for a while. Pics:

As our views of the last third of the Traverse improved, we began to scout out a potential descent route off of Mt. Wilson. This descent route is not documented very well yet, whether it be through climbing books, on 14ers.com, or elsewhere... it's definitely difficult to find information on a Mt. Wilson south-side descent back into Kilpacker. I hope to help the cause with this write-up. In my opinion, the Kilpacker-side ascent of El Diente, with the Traverse and south-side Mt. Wilson descent, is an excellent, doable, and viable route for relatively experienced 14er climbers. It could someday end up being considered the most dependable standard route to climb these mountains, whether together or separately.

After the long section of easier more benign ridgeline, we descended slightly to reach a semi-low saddle, where a couloir descended to the south. This couloir had obvious gold rock toward the top of it. I'll call it the "Gold Rock Couloir". This couloir was located on the El Diente side of what we thought was "West Wilson", so it is west of several minor bumps on the ridgeline from Mt. Wilson. We ventured to say the "Gold Rock Couloir" could be a potential descent route, but we weren't too sure about it yet since there was definitively some snow lingering in there which we would need to descend. We also spotted some climbers coming up this couloir as we continued our Traverse. So this made us think it could very well be a great descent route. We would decide conclusively on this later.

Mike, Mikey and I continuously have had a discussion on where exactly "West Wilson" is, during the climb and after. I have not been able to find much reliable information which pinpoint this unofficial summit's location. To help show our assessment, I have stolen one of Bill's photos from his Traverse description, attached below. This shows the North side of the mountains (and obviously we were climbing from the south), but you can get the gist of the terrain by looking at this photo. Our Traverse team came to the conclusion that the summit of "West Wilson" is where the "Narrow Section" is. The "Gold Rock Couloir" descends south (opposite side of what you see) from the low point just to the right of "Narrow Section" or "West Wilson". This was our assessment. It's possible we are incorrect about where "West Wilson" is; it could very well be the high point of the long flat section between the "Gendarmes" and the "Gold Rock Saddle". It appears "Narrow Section" is higher in elevation, and this is a major reason why we concluded it is "West Wilson".

From the "Gold Rock Saddle", we then ascended the ridge to what we thought was "West Wilson". In this area and beyond up toward the Mt. Wilson summit, we encountered the trickiest terrain on the Traverse. There were Class 3+ moves along with narrow and exposed ridge sections, and the Traverse's crux is in this area. This area was absolutely fun, or at least it would have been fun had I not been so damn tired at this point. I was dragging a little bit here, but kept going with resolve. We reached the top of another south-side couloir, continued below the right side of a ridge-bump from here, and then eventually entered a final south-side couloir which we had to ascend about 100 feet back to the ridgeline.

This final couloir was dangerous! Immediately after entering the couloir, Mikey stepped on some talus here and it collapsed underneath him. About 8-12 football-to-basketball-to-hulahoop-sized rocks were jarred loose with Mikey on top of the pile. He held on and was able to stabilize himself while the rocks careened down through to the bottom of the couloir. We yelled "Rocks" downhill at the top of our lungs, and luckily no one was in the couloir below us. This incident happened right in front of me, as I was closely following Mikey but had not quite entered the couloir yet. I saw one flat �-hulahoop-sized rock slide down to Mikey's left and onto his left leg. I thought his leg was going to be smashed, but luckily another rock had propped it above and to the left of his leg and not actually on top of his leg. Mikey has no recollection of a rock hitting his leg, which is a good thing. This incident spooked all of us, especially Mikey, but we were able to shake it off and carefully get up the couloir back to the ridgeline.

Looking at these last few couloirs, we were also considering these chutes as descent routes. But they looked terrible, and after Mikey's incident, it appeared pretty dangerous to descend one of these. We kept thinking the "Gold Rock Couloir" would be best.

From where we reached the ridge again, we continued to ascend up the ridge to Mt. Wilson's final Class 4 crux move. I agree with all of the route descriptions which opine that the left side is easier, and the right side is harder with sensational exposure. I climbed up the right side, and I thought this climbing move was a harder move than the final move on the Sunlight summit block. The left side did not appear overly difficult (see below on descent). Pics:

After the crux, the summit immediately appeared, at 9:30. This was an outstanding summit, and an unusually small one! We shared the summit with 2 other people, and the 8 of us barely fit on top even with close quarters. I was pretty fatigued at this point, but my exhaustion couldn't overcome my elation to be standing on this incredible summit! Pic of the 6 of us:

We lounged up here for about 20 minutes, and I tried to get my breath. I kept thinking that it was mostly downhill from here and to keep up the perseverance. I prepared for the descent.

On the descent of Mt. Wilson's final Class 4 crux move, I scooted down the opposite side of where I came up (so I descended the right side, looking down). The descent of this side was not difficult. Copying Sarah's nomenclature, this descending move was a "5-Point Move": two hands, two feet, and a butt. It was probably a 3-4 part 5-Point Move, and relatively straightforward.

After the crux and after descending another 50 feet or so, I encountered the climbers we had seen far below us in the "Gold Rock Couloir". I stopped to talk to them for about 5-10 minutes. They had ascended up some talus and snow from Kilpacker and ended up topping out on the ridgeline at the "Gold Rock Saddle". They then followed the Traverse route to this point. I asked what they thought of our potential descent of the "Gold Rock Couloir", stating that we all had some sort of traction whether it be ice axes, crampons, or microspikes. Because we had traction, they immediately said it was a no-brainer for us to descend the route they ascended. They told us there were a few steeper portions of the snow, maybe some scree and choss we would encounter, but that it was totally doable. They also told us there were no worries about getting cliffed out. Other climbers from my group arrived as they were providing this opinion to us. We all agreed to return to the "Gold Rock Saddle" and descend the couloir from there.

In order to make this return, we had to cross back over the Traverse's trickiest portions, and also back over "West Wilson". This took a little bit of time, but it definitely was worth it to ensure the safest descent route. Plus, this area has some really fun and airy climbing sections as mentioned before. Here is one pic of part of the descent:

We all gathered at the top of the "Gold Rock Couloir" and began the descent at about 10:30. Initially, the top of the couloir was comprised of dirt alleys and talus. Once down about 100 feet, there was some avoidable steep snow. We all initially avoided the snow and continued descending on the choss. In this pic, you can see Mike (left) and I (right) avoiding the snow, and Steve was below us and had already descended the route I was standing on:

In the next pic, you can see Sarah and Adam also descending the talus and avoiding the snow patches:

At about the 200-foot point, the snow was unavoidable and we all got ready with some sort of traction/arrest gear. Personally, I did not wear crampons or microspikes, and I simply had my axe out for arrest purposes and a potential glissade. The snow really was perfect as far as its mushiness, not too hard and not too soft to where we sunk in too much. Steve started down, walking on the snow with his ice axe in hand:

Mikey and Adam tractioned-up here, I got ready with my ice axe:

I sat down and started a glissade, which took me down several hundred feet. Eventually, the slope was not steep enough for me to glissade, so I began walking down the snow slope with my regular hiking boots and axe in hand. After a 100 more feet, the slope was steep enough again for me to glissade, and so I glissaded down the remainder of the slope all the way down to Steve at the edge of the rocks below, who had been about 200 feet below me just 10 minutes before. I probably glissaded a total of about 500 feet or more.

Looking back up at Mt. Wilson:

In this pic, you can see some possible descent routes from the Mt. Wilson summit, but we did not like the look of any of the couloirs seen here. I have seen some Trip Reports mention the possibility of descending a couloir to the right of the Mt. Wilson summit as seen in this picture, but this seemed sketchy as well. The "Gold Rock Couloir" seemed like a great option compared to these.

Below is a great pic showing the whole area. You can see the "Gold Rock Saddle" above here and it gives a good viewpoint of where the entry point to the Couloir is located on the ridgeline:

More pics looking back up from the end of my glissade:

At the point at the end of my glissade, the descent became a talus descent all the way back to the trail we had ascended up El Diente earlier in the morning. The route through this area was obvious and it really was not possible to get cliffed out in this area unless you really tried to do so. More pics of the descent as the route joins in with the El Diente ascent trail:

My opinion is this descent is totally doable. Don't be dissuaded by potential snow on this descent route. Just bring the necessary equipment! We thought the short sections of snow we encountered were refreshing and much better to descend than the choss. Remember this is a true mountaineering route and you should be equipped as such. If equipped, it is a more than feasible route and within a decently-experienced 14er-climber's capabilities.

Back on the trail, we quickly descended back down the El Diente trail and back to camp. We arrived at camp at 1:00, so it was a total of about 9 � hours on the Traverse from camp. The clouds and rain moved in on us just as we arrived at camp, so it was a soggy gear-gathering and a soggy descent back to the vehicles. But, we were elated that the rain held off until we were back at camp! Adam and I getting wet:

We arrived back at the cars at around 4:00, and we all drove to Telluride for some burgers at Steamies. We would then start making our plans for Wilson Peak on the next morning. The Traverse Team, with the Traverse in the background:

Final words on the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse: In comparing this route to the Maroon Bells Traverse and the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse, I believe the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than the other 2 traverses. My assessment on this comes from the overhanging "Rock Nets" just sitting there above you on some of the below-ridgeline portions of the Traverse, along with the fact that loose rock is littered all over these mountains. The climbing sections of this Traverse are not overly difficult, but this Traverse probably was more concentrated and sustained with Class 3 to 3+ climbing sections than the other 2 traverses had. I assessed some of the moves on the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse as Class 4, so if off route, you may encounter some of those sections. There is definite exposure on this route, significant in some spots, but definitely not as dramatic and sustained as the Little Bear/Blanca Traverse. I did not assess any of the climbing sections as Class 5, so the hardest moves on this Traverse are definitively not as hard as the hardest moves on the other 2 Traverses. On the Difficulty spectrum, I would say the El Diente/Mt. Wilson Traverse is easier than these other 2 Traverses.

Great route! Again, climb it and make your own assessment!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Cookiehiker	Congrats!!! 8/8/2015 12:36pm Has been wonderful following your 14er adventures!
glodder	Thx! 8/11/2015 10:18am Thanks, Noel! I’ve enjoyed watching yours too. Congrats on Longs!
ronbco	Great report, alternative descent 8/13/2015 9:45am My team of 4 did the same basic route a couple days after you. I had not read your report at the time. I wonder if I would have went the traverse after reading about the rock fall you experienced. This was peak 50 for me and I don’t intend to do Capitol or Little Bear; a friend died on the former and another friend had a harrowing experience on the latter. If the traverse had been half as long then I would have considered it pure fun. But it wasn’t, so it wore on me. We did fine and had no rock fall or difficulty with the climbing. I’m glad to see your great pics as I was not inclined to take many pics, because, well, I was not sure I wanted to see what we had done; of course I was wrong. We descended from the south which saves you from the class 4 down climb. I think we came down the 2nd couloir south of the summit and then crossed over the rib to the 1st south col; there was a notable cairn to mark that point. I did not think this descent route was any worse than so many loose gullies. But I would hate to ascend it.
LoveRocks	Stay safe out there !!! 8/22/2016 9:14am We were the ones up on top of Wilson when you guys started that rock slide. I was so worried for everyone and kept watching to see if you seemed OK. It sounded huge. I had been out on Snowmass a few years before during that traverse rock slide that happened (Hagerman) - the woman with you said she knew someone who had been on that, so it just brought back memories of the helicopters searching for days... I can't imagine losing a friend that way and then being in a slide or starting a slide myself... When you arrived you all acted like it was no big deal... Guess it was scarier watching and hearing it from above than actually being in it... I thought a couple of people from your group came down the other side of Wilson with us? But you don't mention that? Maybe it was the second group you mentioned that was behind you that came back our way? You were all on the top at the same time, so not sure who was with whom. I vaguely remember a guy named John (think that was his name, he was a bit slower and we hiked together in the Basin for a little bit). There was at least one other person with him too. The other side of Wilson is so much better !!! Nice solid rock. There is only one kinda loose section at the very top where we took turns getting around the corner !! Just a long hike back to Kilpacker if go down that way I guess, but seems much more pleasant. We were staying at the lake. Amazing how much snow you have in those pics of the Kilpacker side... We had hardly any at all on the other side...
glodder	A Year Later 8/22/2016 9:23am LoveRocks, you might have our group confused with another one; we did the Traverse over a year ago.

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