EL DIENTE PEAK 8/4/89

EL DIENTE PEAK 14,159'

Mountain........El Diente Peak
Elevation.........14,159
Rank...............24th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......7 miles (from Dunton Meadows)
Elevation gain..4,000' (from Dunton Meadows)
Difficulty..........****
Comments........Steep ice gully (El Diente is the peak on the right; my route is the left-angling snowfield left of the peak)

TRIP REPORT

8/4/89

I spent a pleasant night at the Victorian Inn in Telluride, and got up later than usual (8:15) for coffee and muffins in the lobby. I drove to Dunton Meadows and packed in to Navajo Lake, where I ran into 9 campers from the Philadelphia - New York area, some of whom were nude bathing in the lake. I don't like crowds, so I headed up to one of my previous campsites on the stream about 100' above the lake in a small grove of short trees. I goofed off, got bored, had dinner, played solitaire, and then slept badly until 5 a.m.

I had breakfast in the dark and started climbing at 6. I took the main trail until El Diente's summit was directly above to the right, then I angled up the slope to the right, across boulders and slabs, toward a gully that cut straight up to the Organ Pipes on the 'infamous' Wilson - El Diente ridge.

The gully was very steep and in many places was filled with ice. I started on the right-hand side on loose rock. After a bit it got too steep for comfort, so I whipped out my ice axe and very unsteadily worked my way across the ice (about a 600-foot slide to the rocks below if I slipped) to the left-hand side where the going was a bit easier, but still VERY steep and loose. At the top of the gully I climbed out to the right and onto El Diente's summit ridge. The cairned trail does not follow the ridge top but runs below it it on either side with a few crossovers from one side to the other.

After about a quarter mile of tough scrambling, I reached a high point and saw that there were about 5 summit lumps all nearly the same height. I explored for a while and eventually found the register and the true summit at 10:30. I had a brief lunch as some puffy clouds floated nearby. The clouds got bigger and darker, so I headed back down, gingerly testing each step on the loose rocks in the gully and being extremely careful on the ice crossing.

I got back to camp shaky and exhausted but OK, so I packed up and headed out. On the way I met a ranger doing trail maintenance - he had tried El Diente but didn't make it. I gave him climbing tips. Then I returned to Telluride where Elaine & Tom (owners of the Victorian Inn) were amazed that I had made it. I gave them tips too. Me - the big expert.

I had dinner at the Floradora Saloon where it appeared to be Joe Jackson singalong night. Then I rehydrated with a 6-pack of diet Pepsi and canteloupe back at the Victorian.

The next day I drove down to Durango and had a pleasant time shopping and eating, then flew back home the following day to find that the union at my company had gone on strike. So I got shipped out to Charleston, West Virginia for several weeks to scab until the strike ended.