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| Irving Creek   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 37.60700°N / 107.493°W Route Type: Scramble involving some bushwacking Time Required: A long day Difficulty: Class 2
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| Page By: FastEddiesLastStand Created/Edited: Aug 27, 2003 / May 2, 2004 Object ID: 158672 Hits: 886 Loading... Page Score: 86.68% - 2 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
To get to the base of the climb I used the Vallecito Creek Trailhead. I backpacked in the prior evening and camped at the mouth of Irving Creek where it empties into Vallecito Creek. The hike in was 7+ miles. It took me about 3 hours. The elevation gain was about 1100 ft. I camped in an open area very close to the Vallecito Creek Trail about 100 yards before the trail crosses Irving Creek. Don't confuse a smaller creek for Irving Creek. The Vallecito Creek Trail crosses this first small stream about 50 feet before the larger Irving Creek.
Route Description
Just past Irving Creek, you will take a right turn and start bushwacking uphill. I started fairly close to Irving Creek, however it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start a little further up the Vallecito Creek Trail.
I gradually worked my way up and continued getting further away from Irving Creek. Irving Creek goes through several steep box canyons so you will definitely not want to get too close. Maybe 500 ft. up or so I came across a small cliff band about 50 ft. high. You will want to traverse left (North)to find a route around it. After this cliff you may find a primitive trail and sometimes some cairns. At this point hiking straight uphill and parallel to Irving Creek will bring you to a point where the forest meets the rocks (approx. 10,800 ft.) coming down off of Irving Peak. Traverse around to the right on a now more visible trail and cross Irving Creek at around 10,900 ft. The trail now parallels Irving Creek fairly close in and out of knee high vegetation. The trial sometimes is hard to follow but is usually easy to find again after losing it at this point. You will remain on the south side of the now mostly waterfalling creek until you top out at Irving lake at 11,500 ft.
The south (right) side of the lake is the easiest side to bypass the lake on, although either side will work. Once you have passed Irving Lake, pick your way through willows and other shrubbery, cross Irving Creek and ascend up through rock and tundra to the saddle between point 12,884 and Mt. Oso.
The best route at this point is to make a right turn and head East up a ridge that joins the South ridge coming down from the summit of Oso. Finish up by turning North and scrambling on very loose cobblestone sized rocks up to the summit of Oso.
Essential Gear
Get an early start. The bushwacking will slow your progress down some. Do not get too close to Irving Creek on the lower portions of this climb. It is very steep and has several box canyons that cannot be negotiated if you are right by the creek. I learned this the hard way on my way down.
Boots (as opposed to trail runners) are recommended. The cobblestone sized rocks are very unstable and will roll or bounce up against your ankles.
Crampons and Ice Axe are probably not necessary except for very early in the season. On August 11th, there was absolutely no snow.
A camera is absolutely necessary. The views from the summit are spectacular.
Images
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San Juan Range
