Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
User avatar
yaktoleft13
Posts: 426
Joined: 4/17/2017
14ers: 58  15 
13ers: 262 22
Trip Reports (21)
 

Re: Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Post by yaktoleft13 »

BKS wrote: Thu Sep 23, 2021 9:25 pm Class 4 moves are on north side of ridge (Navajo or traverse). Not south side.

But yes I’m a bad ass. Eric (yak) can testify I can top rope 5.9 in a gym. This is a joke
Lmao TRUE!

To OP's original question, I haven't been in kilpacker and don't plan on it. The worst part of the traverse was the part on El diente that it shares with the kilpacker route. And the people on Wilson who came up from kilpacker described it as quite loose, and we heard rockfall as some were descending. If you are looking for the easiest route up the peaks from a purely lowest possible class standpoint, yeah, go in from kilpacker. But the best way if you can tolerate a good amount of scrambling is n buttress -> traverse -> n slopes, which really aren't that bad
User avatar
angry
Posts: 662
Joined: 10/5/2017
14ers: 58  45 
13ers: 231 8
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Post by angry »

Brian, you never found the summit of Mt. Wilson, so beat it!!! :lol:
User avatar
LetsGoMets
Posts: 394
Joined: 9/9/2012
14ers: 58  5 
13ers: 132 6
Trip Reports (2)
 

Re: Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Post by LetsGoMets »

Just did this today. Started at Kilpacker around 3:30 or so, summited Mount Wilson first, dropped back down to around 13,200 and traversed easily straight across the basin to pick up the El Diente South Slopes route. Skipped the final gully and climbed the class 3 direct option from the final notch (referenced in this thread) due to snow in the gully. Car to car was just over 9 hours.

My personal take on a few things discussed: Wilson via the SW Slopes is easy class 3, mainly for the final scramble but the exposure is minimal. El Diente is kind of a mess until you make your way up to the Organ Pipes below the traverse. N side of ED is holding snow in some shaded areas. Scramble from the notch is class 3 to the summit ridge.
User avatar
coopergould
Posts: 14
Joined: 8/16/2021
14ers: 58  1 
13ers: 72
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Post by coopergould »

Apologies if there is already some info on this but curious for those who did the 2 peaks separately in a day (from Kilpacker) if you think it took longer or shorter than doing the traverse to go from summit to summit? Thanks!
User avatar
BKS
Posts: 426
Joined: 1/30/2009
14ers: 58  5  1 
13ers: 54 7 3
Trip Reports (3)
 

Re: Mt. Wilson and El D from Kilpacker (no traverse)

Post by BKS »

Have not done the traverse, but I’m sure it’s quite a bit faster than dropping down and traversing the upper basin between approach trails. I don’t remember my time between peaks but I’m sure it was at least 2 1/2 hours. High traverse I would expect would be in neighborhood of 1 1/2 hours
Post Reply