Pilot Knob and US Grant

[TravelingMatt]

Looking at attempting these while there's still season left. How do they compare to Gladstone, which I climbed last week?

Gladstone was right around my upper limit for this time of year. However, that was car-to-car from the Scree of Ages TH, whereas for PK/USG I would pack into Ice Lake. I know 550 is closed during the day.

[Kevin Baker]

Pilot Knob is significantly tougher than Gladstone in terms of exposure/pucker factor. I didn't like the downclimb on the n.w. side of the tower you skirt to get to the summit block, so we setup a running belay. Climbing back up on the way back, it didn't seem like a big deal. US Grant is a high quality peak. There's one short 4th class wall, followed by an exposed traverse right into a knobby gully.

[Mtnman200]

I agree with Kevin. The exposure on Pilot Knob definitely got my attention. US Grant is not easy, but it's definitely easier than Pilot Knob.

[SnowAlien]

it's difficult for me to compare them as it seems like apples and oranges. Gladstone was hiked in ski boots, and Pilot Knob was done in sticky rubber approach shoes. Gladstone is loose when dry (and was part of the reason why we decided to do it as a snow climb and ski descent), while the summit ridge of Pilot Knob appears fairly solid. It really depends on your comfort level with exposure and some familiarity with crack climbing. For me, the crux was easier than anticipated, but the initial upclimb from the C4 gully to the exposed ridge definitely got my attention! I also had a small route finding mishap and started downclimbing one of the towers before the crux instead of finding easier way up and over it, which probably turned into low C5 for a brief moment or two, so I came to senses and retraced my steps. Overall, pretty fun peak, with only a very short section of Class 4 scrambling. If I recall correctly, Gladstone is Class 3.

[Monster5]

Kinda echoing above -

US Grant is technically easier from the E (class 3) than from the W (brief class 4), but the route finding is trickier and rock looser. I think the easiest way overall to do it is from the W (saddle with V4) and I seem to recall a faint trail. Connecting it with V4 can get fairly loose. A brief headwall and then curl right. I parked at the Ice Lakes switchback TH, did V4's W Ridge (class 2+/3), connected to US Grant (class 4 but actual crux was descending class 2 scree off V4, over to V2 (move right/W for easiest passage, regain ridge at notch and loose class 3 downclimb, move right/W again for easiest passage to saddle), and then over to S Lookout. US Grant by itself is quite a bit shorter than Gladstone and the loose stuff is fairly small rather than refrigerators.

F/ V4


Crux headwall. Climb up halfway (solid) to the ledge then curl right to stay on the easiest terrain:


Looking back at the loose class 3 crux on the E ridge (left angling ledge connecting to mini saddle)


Again, I thought the Pilot Knob crux was gaining the ridge up scree. I might've been too far left. From the ridge, there's a decent scree trail to the start of the scrambling. Yep, the initial gullies (up and left) are technically harder, but less exposed, than the summit ridge (stay proper until crux). The ridge crux is a down sloping ledge (brief class 3) bypassing a tower on left immediately prior to the summit. Since it slopes down towards the summit, the move is easier to reverse on the descent. I connected it to Golden Horn, Vermillion N Ridge (fun), Fuller (meh), Beatty (meh), UN 13300 (cool sidewalk; formerly V8, - looks like Bill has been updating the 13er names), and ran down Mineral. I think I was on former V8 a day or two after you, from the register.

Terrain up to ridge


Ridge crux Ledge on left


Looking back at ledge crux


Edit - had the wrong peak/directions

[kansas]

I would agree with what the others are saying here.

Pilot Knob- This was the first peak I've been on where I had to stop an collect myself for a little bit to deal with the exposure once we gained the ridge, it surprised me to say the least, the drops are dead vertical or overhanging. The rock quality before the crux is awful, you can literally pull handfulls of loose dried mud like "rock" off of it, but the crux itself is super solid rock. Like Monster said, the real crux of that route is simply getting to the saddle. I think some photos with people on the ridge will help put things in scale.

Pilot ridge people.jpg (62.12 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

Pilot Crux.jpg (37.33 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

Personally, I didn't think getting up US Grant from V4 was any big deal at all. There is a faint trail most of the way and the peak really is a one move wonder with very little exposure. Getting off of the peak towards V2 was a little sketchier and challenging though.

[TravelingMatt]

Thanks, everyone. I'll probably target US Grant and the surrounding V peaks. It would be nice to have that entire ridge ticked off all the way down to San Miguel, but Pilot will probably have to wait.

[mtnmaneric]

The view from V2 is one of, if not the, most amazing views in the state. In my opinion...

[Matt]

Thanks, everyone. I'll probably target US Grant and the surrounding V peaks. It would be nice to have that entire ridge ticked off all the way down to San Miguel, but Pilot will probably have to wait.

Having just done these last month, I recommend doing your research on descending toward V2 from USG. I wish we'd paid more attention to the existing beta, but all the TRs and accounts of this make it sound trivial, so we blew it off and ended up taking a path of much more resistance. I'm sure you can handle this.
Small route finding mistakes can cost you big reascending effort and/or send you down terribly steep, loose gullies. This cuts the fun factor considerably, but USG and the view from V4 make up for it easily--simply awesome.
It'd be much easier to go up USG from V2 than vice versa, but I would never want to go USG to V4. That would really suck, not only for downclimbing the crux section (not impossible), but the pain in the arse that the messy traverse between the two entails.

[SnowAlien]

The view from V2 is one of, if not the, most amazing views in the state. In my opinion...

Personally, I am very partial to Knife Point, but V2 has one of the best views. I just can't decide if it's better with snow or when dry...

but I would never want to go USG to V4. That would really suck, not only for downclimbing the crux section (not impossible), but the pain in the arse that the messy traverse between the two entails.

I didn't think it was anything special in terms of "suck". Crux section on USG is fairly trivial, and the slog up V4 from the saddle is very short, I think it took me less than 30 min with all the route finding. But giving all the looseness, V4 is probably best done with snow.

p.s. Btw, I am looking for partners for South Lookout peak, if anyone is interested!

[TravelingMatt]

The V4 - US Grant - V2 combo is in the books!

Don't have enough material for a full-blown TR, so here are some notes for posterity:

* The turnoff for the trail to Island Lake is not cairned, but should be obvious. It is at the eastern end of a small meadow after the Ice Lake trail finishes most of its climbing to the lower lake. Where the main trail turns to the left (west), it starts more straight. If you can see lower Ice Lake, you have gone too far. It is a decent use trail all the way.

* This use trail to Island Lake continues all the way to the summit of V2. Several parties went to the lake or all the way to V2 today, and I suspect it's in a guidebook or a popular Web site.

* From Island Lake, I gained the V4/Grant col, then proceeded V4 --> back to col --> Grant --> back to V4/Grant col --> down to ~200' above lake --> contour around front of Grant --> ascend to join trail to V2 --> V2 --> trail most of the way back to lake.

* V4 sucks. The only reason to climb it is for box-checking purposes. Perhaps the SE ridge offers a better route, but then you'd want to return that way too. The NE ridge direct (from the col with Grant) doesn't go, so the only option is traversing multiple loose scree gullies to the north/west, losing some elevation at times. It took me longer to climb V4 than Grant from the col, by some 10-15 minutes.

* I had no problem with the Class 4 headwall on Grant. The crappy gullies on V4 were scarier.

* TRs are split between descending Grant via the W/SW ridge (the standard ascent route) versus the east ridge. I went back the way I came, choosing the sure-footed devil I knew to the dicey devil I didn't (had enough of that on V4). The tricky move on the headwall is near the bottom, reducing the risk factor. Smearing helped.

* If combining with V2, it's not a bad idea to descend most or all the way to the lake, contour around it, then angle up to the V2 trail, where footing is surer than it is higher up. I doubt staying above the lake saves much overall effort.

* No registers on any of the summits, and V4 and V2 have multiple summits. I'll leave it to you to figure out which ones are higher

* The views from V2 are indeed spectacular, as they are from Grant. First pic is the widest angle I could get of the entire basin, second is Grant's east side with V4 in the background.

[SnowAlien]

No love for V4 One word: Snow!
I hear you on registers, was kinda bummed too. V4 has multiple summits, but very close to each other, so I just traversed them all