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| Hike & Climb | 16.50 Miles |
6,302 AEG |
| | Hike & Climb | 16.50 Miles | | | |
| 6,302 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I had been mulling over doing one of the 14ers in the Wilson Group out of the Navajo Lake basin area since June, but forest closures, Montana, weather and hiking with dogs kept getting in the way. However, I was not be denied this weekend and in typical FOTG fashion, instead of settling for one 14er, I decided to go for all three.
This hike/climb was suppose to start very early Saturday morning, but some crazy storm patterns for this time of the year nixed those plans. I arrived to the trailhead at 1:30 a.m. and after a quick nap was making final packing preparations at 3:00 a.m. However, after only a few minutes into packing, I began to hear some low rumbles of thunder and started to observe some lightning. I decided I could wait an hour or so to see if things cleared up, but the showers intensified, as did the early morning storm conditions. Thinking it would not be very prudent to start a 14er in a thunderstorm, I nixed Plan A for the day and headed for some lower key, lower elevation hikes for the day. My attempt at the Wilson Group would now have to occur on Sunday.
I set off for my assault on the Wilson Group at 3:58 a.m. Sunday morning. Ideally, I would have liked to have left the trailhead by 3:30 a.m., but there was a zero percent chance of rain and storms on Sunday and I did not want to have to start the off trail portion of the climb with a headlamp. The hike up to the turn off for the North Buttress Route was dark and uneventful. It took me a few minutes to verify I was in the right spot to begin the ascent, as at first I simply could not believe it was the route due to its rugged nature and extremely steep nature. It was definitely an intimidating route to look at in person and a little different than what I had imagined while drawing it up in route manager. To say the route is steep may not even adequately describe it. For a frame of reference, if you include a couple tenths of a mile on the trail as you climb out of Navajo Lake, you gain 1800 feet in the first mile of the climb. The route is pretty much class three the entire way with a mixture of class four depending on lines you take and obstacles you choose to go up and over, or around. There is a mixture of boulder fields, loose scree and slab rock along the way. A helmet is a must for this route. I took a couple of poor lines and less direct routes along the way, but nevertheless I was standing on the summit by about 9:00 a.m., which was a lot later than I had anticipated to be honest. From the summit of El Diente, I began the iconic El Diente-Wilson traverse. This traverse is one of the "Four Great Traverses" of Colorado and is certainly a challenge that should not be attempted by those without a somewhat higher level of mountaineering, climbing, or route finding abilities. Strong nerves and endurance would also come in handy for the completion of these two summits and the traverse. However, that being said, I did not find the traverse overly difficult and found it to be pretty fun, challenging yes, but also fun. But it was clear from observing other climbers and teams that some found it to be a pretty difficult and taxing endeavor. One team in particular, was roping in on some of the short climbs and along the narrowest points of the ridgeline. To each their own, but I think most would agree that roping in might be a little overkill. A helmet, a good sense of route finding and a little bit of climbing ability should be enough for most.
Mount Wilson required a couple of more difficult, but manageable class four maneuvers to reach the summit, but nothing that those with a little scrambling experience can't handle. The views looking back on the ridgeline traverse were spectacular and I found myself feeling very satisfied with my little accomplishment. As is the case with most 14ers, the summit was too cold and windy to enjoy for long and I quickly descended. I took what they refer to as the Mount Wilson Standard route down, but that was the one route I did not research extensively and it became more of an improvised beeline descent to trail. Once I hit the trail, it became evident that Wilson Peak would have to wait for another time. I dwelled over missing the third peak more than I should of and it was a bit of a bummer, but I was already looking at a very late return to Phoenix and I did not want to add to that anymore than I had to.
Once I hit the trail, the hike back was uneventful and pretty quick. A good amount of people out on the trails. I took a little pleasure in telling a couple of hikers what I had did when prompted by the helmet attached to my pack, they asked< "What did you do today?"
Side Note
Route Scout went a little Route Scout on me and straight lined the track along the North Buttress Route and along the ridgeline to Wilson and for most of my descent, so some of the track was hand drawn by me. I added an additional .25 to make up for the straight line along the N.B.
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Route Editor
Route Scout
