Mt. Wilson Southwest Slopes

[scottaskinger]

Hike above Navajo Lake and camp just below tree line Monday night. Tuesday morning summit El Diente via North Buttress, Mt Wilson via traverse, and then Wilson Peak via Southwest Ridge. Sure it would be a long afternoon hike out, but manageable with a light enough camping setup. I have heard that all 3 in one day is feasible if weather permits.

The topo makes it look like there are flat spots not too far off the trail above Navajo Lake for pitching a tent. It also looks like I wouldn't have to gain and drop too much elevation this way. Finally, it looks like I would have the option of the Navajo Lake TH or Woods Lake without much of a difference. I think if the weather looks good and I don't get called a huge idiot by several people I will go for it!

I camped roughly where you are describing last month, although it is above tree line. From ROA saddle I descended into Navajo basin and set up camp about 3/4 mile into the basin, roughly where the flat contour is at the base of the El Diente North Slopes route. I was about 100 yards South off the trail and 100 yards North of where the West Dolores river starts. This is probably 200 yards North of where the North Buttress route starts but it is easy to cross talus and merge into the route.

As I mentioned previously, I made a 3 day affair out of this (hike in from ROA/WP/camp day one, ELD and Wilson day two and hike out on day three). I've ready many trip reports of people doing all 3 peaks in one day but they did them as a day hike. You didn't mention your exact plan but what are you thinking? ELD North Buttress-->traverse-->Wilson-->WP-->Pack Camp-->Hike out? I think this is doable. Just think about the time/weather. I'm an average speed hiker. My time to do that would be roughly:

Camp to ELD (via North Buttress) - 4 hours
Traverse to Wilson - 3.5 hours
Wilson to ROA saddle - 3 hours
ROA saddle to WP - 3 hours
WP to ROA saddle - 2.5 hours
ROA Saddle to camp - 45 min
Hike out - 3 hours (just a guess because I started from a different TH)

Regardless of your speed, it is a long day and you need perfect weather for the traverse and Wilson Peak.

[bdloftin77]

All three are definitely doable as a day hike, especially if you have good weather and/or are quick. (though both would be preferable) It took my group 5 hours to get to El Diente from Kilpacker (took me 4 total, went ahead when it got steep). 3 hours for the traverse to El Diente (2.5 for me, again with going ahead after the crux). 2.5 hours from Mt Wilson to Wilson Peak. I stayed with one hiker for a bit, going down Mt Wilson, then zoomed ahead for Wilson Peak, because the weather looked iffy. Then 3 hours from Wilson Peak to the Navajo Basin trailhead. (jogged on the way down, because it was raining and hailing). The Navajo and Kilpacker trails do join after you get back out of the Navajo Basin.. so you could start and end at Kilpacker. (though we had two cars, and one guy only did the traverse, so he drove his truck to the Navajo TH). It took me 13:48 from TH to TH. But if you are very quick and don't take breaks, it'd be more like 10-11-12 hours. Otherwise around 14 or 15 hours might be common for all three as a day hike.

[Wish I lived in CO]

There are tons of options for the 3 Wilson group peaks. It depends on many factors including: what are your technical abilities, speed of hiking, desire to camp or not, talus-tolerance, desire to avoid rockfall, fall exposure, weather, preparation, and route finding. What I'm saying is that this is definitely NOT a one size fits all area for choice of routes. It will depend on what your preferences are, then choose what works best for you. Read the descriptions and trip reports.

My partner and I were there last weekend and did Mt. Wilson -> low traverse -> El Diente via Kilpacker and camped in the basin. While we can do class 4, we preferred to keep it easier in terms of technical and exposure. The camping was great. A few notes from our trip:

Mt. Wilson via the SW route:
1) The route is quite easy technically (if you stay on route). Mostly class 2 with a few easy class 3 moves. I'd rate it as easy class 3.
2) The route is also full of talus and the trail mostly disappears after the El Diente turnoff. You can find cairns, but they don't mark any path of easier resistance - it's a talus fest.

El Diente via the south face:
1) This route is a lot tougher than it is billed out to be. The lower part of the climb (above the turnoff) is all talus, trail is there but not so good. Starting at maybe 13,600 the class 3 is very sustained. One move in the bottom of the gray gully I found pretty difficult. The route finding up high is somewhat complex. The key is to find the gray gully. The "easier" parts are loose with exposure. It's class 3 and parts of it are fun, but don't under-estimate this as an easy climb.

Some general notes for both:
1) The "low traverse": cutting across at about 13,200 is the best. Too low (at or near the trail to Mt. Wilson) and you lose too much elevation so what is the point then. Too high (just below the cliffs) you could do, but would be more steep, loose, and dangerous. 13,200 is the sweet spot elevation.
2) Would suggest doing Mt. Wilson first. That way you've got the longer route done first and if you can't do El Diente due to weather or other then it would be easier logistically (shorter) to get El Diente later.
3) Prepare, know the routes. We were surprised with the number of people off course and / or not having brought any descriptions. Of course some like it that way (but don't bitch if you can't summit due to route finding).
4) I consider myself an average pace hiker. We took 12 hours to do the 2 peaks and low traverse, and that was from camping in the Kilpacker basin. Certainly others can complete these quicker. I'm just saying it's a long day - if you're not a speed demon then leave really early, or camp, or do each separately. Leaving at 6 on a monsoon day for an average hiker trying to do both will not cut it.
5) Great area, enjoy!

[mountainute]

Hi all,

first, thanks to Bill and Hipilgrim for finding the alternative variation to the Mt Wilson SW Slopes route and posting it.
We climbed Mt Wilson up this new route 8/11 and ElD 8/12, both from a camp about 3 mi into Kilpacker (Dolores River Valley);
camped to gain a couple hours on the weather on summit day [ the weather was very iffy early last week].
Camp locations as described on 14ers.com approximately. In good weather, routes each go in a day from TH, as many others have posted.

Here are my thoughts to add to this:

1a) The Mt Wilson route was surprisingly good. On the scree slope, i'm with Gerry Roach "the waterfall ... is an enchanting place. The enchantment soon whithers, as you engage the wretched scree..." (even with the trail).
Staying on the permanent (!) snowfields makes this route much better/faster/ more enjoyable (than seeing people without spikes scramble up the boulder fields and scree fields or slip-slide around on the snow). For people with little snow and ice hiking experience, crampons and an ice ax may be even safer than microspikes, as the season progresses and the snow surfaces harden. We used microspikes and ski poles (only).

1b) The top of Mt Wilson is the section where the Cl-3 scrambeling is found. This only has an elevation gain of 500 feet. The route is easily found
and the logical line; note there are many good photographs in Bill's route description. However this is the most logical line in this part of the Wilson S Face. The cross-over is key. The route is surprisingly solid (disclaimer: for the San Juans and for the impression one gets looking on the route from afar.) The Class-3 scrambeling is mostly on the top part; i.m.h.o. this is the most fun part of the entire climb. Not much exposure and
quite solid. We were able to move faster on this section than on the trail. Another disclaimer: I am an alpine rock and ice climber and hate slogathons in scree as much as the next guy.

2) El Diente S Face (aka S slopes). The main point I want to make is that - regardless of how the exposure rating is defined on this website -
the exposure on ElD is much harder than on the Mt Wilson SW route (but both rated 3 out of 6). Route finding does require taking a good look, pretty much anywhere above about 13200. The top part of the route (above the 2nd gully) is longer than the route description may suggest.
The exposure increases and with wet mud among loose rock above several 1000 ft of dropoff
[location: above http://14ers.com/route.php?route=eldi4& ... iente+Peak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(photo 17 in Bill's route description) to the summit], this is not a place for error. It rained *a lot* the previous night and the days before.
I always carry a rope and a small amount of gear and used it on the top sections where needed (mostly running belays for speed).
For comparison, the rope stayed in the pack on Wilson as the fall danger is much less (in my view).
We kept the rope handy and quickly belayed down the (lower) grey gully.
We had no difficulties finding the route, however, I suggest changing the exposure rating a bit.

- Hiked in the evening before (8/10) and out in the evening after climbing ElD (8/12), after a break at camp.

Good times and thanks again for everyone's input.
I'll try and turn this into a short TR so people can find it.

mountainute