MOUNT WILSON 8/24/88
MOUNT WILSON 14,246'
Mountain........Mount Wilson
Elevation.........14,246
Rank...............16th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......2.5 miles (from Navajo Lake)
Elevation gain..3,100' (from Navajo Lake)
Difficulty..........***
Comments........Rocky, with a tricky pitch at summit
TRIP REPORT
8/24/88
The morning after climbing Wilson Peak from my campsite at Navajo Lake I was feeling up for an attempt at Mount Wilson and El Diente Peak, so I hit the trail around 7:00 a.m. and hiked up to about 12,200' in the Navajo Basin where I saw Mike's high camp (Mike was another guy from Maryland I had met the day before). He was eating breakfast and didn't see me breeze by. I began picking my way up the flank of Mt. Wilson at the head of the basin, crossing some steep slabs on the right to a grassy area with loose rock. Looking down, I saw 5 'expert' climbers arrive at Mike's tent and talk him into joining them on an ascent of El Diente (I ran into Mike later and he told me this). They took off downvalley.
I continued up the grassy stuff and loose rock and some steep spots requiring hand-over-hand climbing. I avoided the icy snowfields and arrived near the top of the ridge at 13,800', then stayed on or near the ridge, stumbling up and down over pinnacles until I reached the summit block. There was a little wall here (about 30') that an older couple from Dallas was climbing with ropes. I free-climbed slowly behind them and made the summit at noon.
There was some serious bad weather moving in - low dark clouds were beginning to obscure the ridge crossing over to El Diente - so I decided to retreat. On the way down one of the loose rocks flew out from under my feet and I did a painful butt plant that tore my jeans and left some really colorful bruises. But nothing was broken, so I stiffly continued back to camp.
I reached my tent at 2:00, packed it up and cleared my site by 2:15, and hurried back to the car just ahead of the growing thunderstorm. I drove into Telluride and checked in at the Victorian Inn (my favorite) and went to dinner at Floradora's which is where I ran into Mike again and he recounted his successful El Diente adventure. After dinner I headed back to the Victorian with a pint of Haagen Dazs and a smile.
I took the next day off, and had a nice discussion with Tom & Elaine (owners of the Victorian Inn) over muffins & coffee in the lobby. They wanted to climb El Diente at some point but per Elaine, had yet to drag their butts up there. I was tempted to show her what could happen to her butt if she did drag it up there (big purple & yellow bruise). I checked out after breakfast and drove to Ouray where I scouted the approach to Mt. Sneffels and thrill-cammed the rough drive with my new Sony minicam. Then I had dinner and slept.
Mountain........Mount Wilson
Elevation.........14,246
Rank...............16th
Range..............San Juan
Trail length......2.5 miles (from Navajo Lake)
Elevation gain..3,100' (from Navajo Lake)
Difficulty..........***
Comments........Rocky, with a tricky pitch at summit
TRIP REPORT
8/24/88
The morning after climbing Wilson Peak from my campsite at Navajo Lake I was feeling up for an attempt at Mount Wilson and El Diente Peak, so I hit the trail around 7:00 a.m. and hiked up to about 12,200' in the Navajo Basin where I saw Mike's high camp (Mike was another guy from Maryland I had met the day before). He was eating breakfast and didn't see me breeze by. I began picking my way up the flank of Mt. Wilson at the head of the basin, crossing some steep slabs on the right to a grassy area with loose rock. Looking down, I saw 5 'expert' climbers arrive at Mike's tent and talk him into joining them on an ascent of El Diente (I ran into Mike later and he told me this). They took off downvalley.
I continued up the grassy stuff and loose rock and some steep spots requiring hand-over-hand climbing. I avoided the icy snowfields and arrived near the top of the ridge at 13,800', then stayed on or near the ridge, stumbling up and down over pinnacles until I reached the summit block. There was a little wall here (about 30') that an older couple from Dallas was climbing with ropes. I free-climbed slowly behind them and made the summit at noon.
There was some serious bad weather moving in - low dark clouds were beginning to obscure the ridge crossing over to El Diente - so I decided to retreat. On the way down one of the loose rocks flew out from under my feet and I did a painful butt plant that tore my jeans and left some really colorful bruises. But nothing was broken, so I stiffly continued back to camp.
I reached my tent at 2:00, packed it up and cleared my site by 2:15, and hurried back to the car just ahead of the growing thunderstorm. I drove into Telluride and checked in at the Victorian Inn (my favorite) and went to dinner at Floradora's which is where I ran into Mike again and he recounted his successful El Diente adventure. After dinner I headed back to the Victorian with a pint of Haagen Dazs and a smile.
I took the next day off, and had a nice discussion with Tom & Elaine (owners of the Victorian Inn) over muffins & coffee in the lobby. They wanted to climb El Diente at some point but per Elaine, had yet to drag their butts up there. I was tempted to show her what could happen to her butt if she did drag it up there (big purple & yellow bruise). I checked out after breakfast and drove to Ouray where I scouted the approach to Mt. Sneffels and thrill-cammed the rough drive with my new Sony minicam. Then I had dinner and slept.
posted by JansStores at 6:31 AM
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