Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

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ScottLovesRMNP
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Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by ScottLovesRMNP »

Hi everyone,

Currently working on the bi-centennials and tri-centennials (about halfway through them), and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do Tijeras, Milwaukee, and Pico Aislado. I am off from work Thursday-Sunday and was considering a backpacking trip to Lower Sand Creek Lake. I don't have any partners, and in keeping with my general rule of not climbing anything Class 4 or higher alone (and especially after the unfortunate accident on Pico Aislado earlier this summer), I'm wondering if this is a reasonable way to get these peaks done with mainly Class 2 (and a little Class 3) climbing only:

Day 1: Starting from 2WD access, pack in to Lower Sand Creek Lake.
Day 2: Hike Tijeras, then descend to Tijeras-Music saddle and traverse below Music's west-facing cliffs to bypass Music and climb class 2 SW slopes up Milwaukee Peak. Return to camp by retracing route the same way.
Day 3: Hike from Lower Sand Creek Lake up the trail past Upper Sand Creek Lake to Milwaukee Pass, then descend west along the north side of Pico and Pt. 13,020. Climb Pt. 13,020 and then over to Pico Aislado (reverse of a common descent route off Pico). Return to camp by retracing route the same way.
Day 4: Possibly do Music Mountain in the morning before hiking out.

I realize this is very inefficient, but my stamina for big days (elevation & mileage) is usually good, and this seems like the easiest way to get these peaks without traversing directly to or from Pico Aislado & Milwaukee Peak. I haven't done all of the calculations of distance and elevation, but does this seem like a do-able plan?

Thanks,
Scott
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by Aphelion »

I'm not familiar with a some of these routes, but your day 2 may be rough. The west side of the Tijeras/Music ridge is very steep and loose, I certainly wouldn't want to try a descent of it. Unfortunately, I don't remember seeing any other obvious avenue on that side (don't remember if the west ridge from Tijeras looks like it went).
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IHikeLikeAGirl
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by IHikeLikeAGirl »

I 100% agree on your plans for Milwaukee from the Music/Tijeras saddle. My partners and I took this route and it worked out well (Class 2, lots of tundra, short bouts of stable talus).

I would highly, HIGHLY recommend you also do 13020 and Pico Aislado from the Music/Tijeras saddle as well. Again, we took this route (doing 13020 first then over to Pico Aislado) and it went nicely. Have heard nothing good about descending/ascending to the north.

When you get to the T/M saddle, look for the tundra strip that goes all the way (or nearly all the way) down. You may not see it at first, but it's there and you will have a nice (yet steep) descent on tundra/embedded rock. Everything outside of that strip (if memory serves me right) is loose, unpleasant, and may wish to launch. Chicago Transplant has a good TR describing this route to Milwaukee: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=18975

Good luck!
- Valerie
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by bunny256 »

I didn't do Milwaukee from the Music/Tijeras saddle, but I did descend from 13,020 (after doing Pico) to the upper Dead Man Creek drainage and returned to Lower Sand Creek Lake via the saddle. Like Valerie said, there is a pretty friendly route down the west side of the saddle and then you can pick up game trail segments to contour around to reach the Pico/13,020 saddle.
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by Aphelion »

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 1:04 pm I 100% agree on your plans for Milwaukee from the Music/Tijeras saddle. My partners and I took this route and it worked out well (Class 2, lots of tundra, short bouts of stable talus).

...

When you get to the T/M saddle, look for the tundra strip that goes all the way (or nearly all the way) down. You may not see it at first, but it's there and you will have a nice (yet steep) descent on tundra/embedded rock. Everything outside of that strip (if memory serves me right) is loose, unpleasant, and may wish to launch. Chicago Transplant has a good TR describing this route to Milwaukee: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=18975
Huh, guess I missed that strip. Good to know, thanks for the correction.
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by Dobsons »

Really good information all. I had no clue both milwaukee and Pico Aislado could both be climbed without the highly exposed class 4 routes. I had been planning on taking on these eventually in the next few years and they felt like difficult exposed peaks from what I had read. So it is really interesting to me that with some added grunt and leg work over some of the saddles saddle these peaks can be done with really minimal exposure. Thanks
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by BobbyFinn »

IHikeLikeAGirl is correct. That grass strip is, if I remember correctly, closer to Music than Tijeras. Steep and mostly grassy, but a good route.
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by ScottLovesRMNP »

Super helpful info, everyone! Thank you, and I just might give this a try soon!

Cheers,
Scott
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by IHikeLikeAGirl »

BobbyFinn wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:49 am IHikeLikeAGirl is correct. That grass strip is, if I remember correctly, closer to Music than Tijeras. Steep and mostly grassy, but a good route.
Bob would know, as he and Kate allowed me to tag along.... :-D
Yes, the tundra strip is near the low spot on the ridge, closer to Music. Approximate location: 37.93098, -105.54479
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Re: Tijeras, Milwaukee, Pico Aislado without Class 4

Post by BobbyFinn »

But you found it!
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