hey guys,

I am much more of a hiker than an alpinist. But ever since the time I climbed Truchas Peak in NM in the dark and watched the sunrise from the summit, well... i think about it at least once a week, almost everyday. (Do i see a possible addiction here?)

anyhow, I'm hashing out some plans to climb El Diente and Mount Wilson with a climbing buddy of mine! I'm posting this just because I'm really excited even though its 4-5 months away.

Wilson and El Diente are two of the harder 14ers in terms of both distance and exposure. If you have the time, you might want to test out your comfort with exposure on nearby Mt. Sneffels. Also, if you're already camping out, it may be worth climbing Wilson and Gladstone peaks.

Why not go big and climb Mt. Begguya, hardest 14er in the northern hemisphere.

ExcitableBoy wrote:Why not go big and climb Mt. Begguya, hardest 14er in the northern hemisphere.

Funk dat! ("Dat" being Mt. Hunter in Alaska.) There's really no point in hiking peaks in the northern hemisphere that aren't in the Himalaya.

Seriously, maybe benwood wants to improve his skills and broaden his experience by taking on incrementally harder peaks.

Seems like youre picking a tough one to start out with...

seano wrote:There's really no point in hiking peaks in the northern hemisphere that aren't in the Himalaya.

Considering the EASIEST route on Begguya is Alaskan Grade 4+ (Cassin Ridge is 5), it wouldn't be hiking. And I was being funny.

hahaha, thanks all, i appreciate the warnings.

however, the friend i am going with has done most of the 14ers in CO and from lots of time and experience together he knows my abilities. He is quite confident that I can do these and I trust him. The distance doesn't worry me as I have hiked 25+ mile days on many occasions with all backpacking gear. I know what its like to carry a load uphill for miles on end at altitude.

that said any advice is always welcome. EB, i got your humor, its good.

one question i had is gloves/mitts. What is necessary to take on a trip like this? I've found that OR 400wt is a good all around for me, but wondering if I might need something more for this?

In the San Juans in the summer you need to be prepared for getting caught in a heavy cold thunderstorm with likely hail. Just assume that you will need to hunker down in a boulder field at 12,000 ft, and bring what you need to stay warm in that.

The backpacking distance isn't what people are urging caution over. The "expert halo" heuristic could come into play, but let's assume your partner is a trustworthy dude. In that case, El Diente and Mt. Wilson are reasonable, although the easier peaks mentioned wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm assuming he wants to do them both from Kilpacker since there's no mention of Wilson Peak.

The real difficulty of El D/Mt Wilson is the rock quality. Loose rock kills both the experienced and inexperienced alike, though the former may stand a better chance of avoiding it. Be mentally prepared to test out your holds and be aware of each other's fall zone. On those peaks, you may have to make numerous micro decisions and bump up the technical difficulty with a return of solid (relative) rock.

As for gear, be prepared for thunderstorms and heavy rain around noonish that time of year, give or take a few hours. Mittens are overkill for most people - I would take liners and maybe a very light waterproof glove. As for clothing, I would not bother with heavy insulating layers and focus mainly on storm shells and light insulating layers. If before early July, you'll also want an ice axe.

Wilson is a tough, exposed, loose and remote peak that is one of the lesser climbed and more difficult of the 14ers. Most people consider Wilson one of the 3 or 4 hardest 14ers based on the hardest individual move. It is not a technical peak, but has technical terrain if you get off route. Generally as a first 14er, it would not be something I would recommend, but that is something you and your friend will have to judge based on your other experience.

You will need a helmet for this climb, its pretty loose. Wilson is much more of a climb than most of the other 14ers, especially if combining the connecting ridge with El Diente. I agree that if you have time, you may want to give an easier one a shot first, in that area, Sneffels would be the best option, perhaps go via the 3rd class south ridge, it has some loose gullies with some route finding, then a nice solid class 3 ridge. Its easier than Wilson, so a good primer to see how feel about that kind of terrain.

We did El Diente and Wilson together from Kilpacker a few years ago. The trail miles are not a problem, and the trail through the scree to the base of El Diente is pretty reasonable. Once you start climbing El Diente it gets looser towards the top the of the gully. You then have to traverse a bit below some towers (called the Organ Pipes) to get to El Diente's summit and there is some loose 3rd class involved. Back on the traverse to Wilson there is a lot of loose rock and some tricky route finding to avoid some 5th class terrain and scramble back up onto the ridge. With climbers above it can be dangerous with the threat of them kicking rocks on you. Then you have a stiff scramble back up to the ridge crest, which is exposed, there is a fun class 4 headwall. The final moves onto Mt Wilson are tough and a bit exposed as well, maybe another 1 or 2 fourth class moves. Our descent gully was pretty horribly loose, but really the best option at that point because other wise you would have to do the entire traverse in reverse. You need to retrace the ridge slightly, then down a steep series of loose scree gullies. Then you have to cross a tedious sea of loose scree in the upper basin before you link back to the climbers trail that took you to the base of El Diente.

Hope this was useful. Look through the trip reports for the traverse on this site and 14ers.com to get an idea of what to expect. Good luck, and be safe.

One more thought: if you're flying into Denver, Longs Peak would be a great warm-up. It's one of the more spectacular Colorado 14ers, it's not too exposed, and the rock is generally pretty good on the Loft (left) and Keyhole (behind the right) routes.

hey guys,

monster, yeah i understand what you are saying.

chicago, thanks for the info, i've read a few reports both here and 14ers.com


thanks for all the input. Looking at Sneffels, it seems like another viable option. I like the south ridge option as it looks pretty awesome. I actually kinda like the blue lakes side, looks like a little more elevation gain and a good place to camp.

i'll also consider Wilson peak and/or Gladstone. it looks like the Bilk Basin would be a cool (and less travelled) route to these two. It looks like a Gladstone/Wilson peak combo would be doable from Bilk Basin or Navajo Basin.

Any other thoughts, please keep them coming.

seano,

yeah i doubt i'll be flying into denver since my buddy is in Durango area.

I have seen reports on longs peak before and it looks pretty sweet. long hike in.

Here’s a trip report for El Diente from 4th of July a couple years ago. As others have mentioned, it’s not a mountain to take lightly.
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=6446&parmuser=MountainHiker&cpgm=tripmain&ski=Include

With Colorado fourteeners when we talk about the harder ones, it’s not just their YDS rating. It’s how sketchy they can be combined with YDS rating. The Wilson group rank high with sketchiness.

A much easier group in the San Juans is Sunshine, Redcloud & Handies. Harder than those but easier than the Wilson group are Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn.