For my first 14er climb of the season, I wanted to climb something new and I didn't really want to backpack. With 19 14ers left on my list this didn't leave me too many options. I thought about climbing Blanca/Ellingwood (backpack), Snowmass (backpack), San Luis, Handies, and Wilson Peak. A San Luis/Handies combo won out, but then my friend Bob from the CMC offered to join me if I waited another week. Sounded like a good plan to me, but what to hike this week? I finally decided on Wilson Peak, since I had been to the trailhead before, it is a fairly short hike and being third class, should be more interesting than a simple walkup.

The Wilson group consists of Mount Wilson, El Diente Peak and Wilson Peak. Mount Wilson is the highest and most difficult of the three, and Wilson Peak is the easiest and lowest. It made sense to me to climb Wilson Peak before attempting the other two, so I'd get an idea what I was in for in the future.

I left home around noon and headed for the Silver Pick trailhead near Telluride. It's a long drive just to climb one 14er, but that's what I'm left with at this point. About 6 hours later I arrived at the trailhead, which was deserted. Climbing during the week has its advantages... I drove down a road a hundred feet or so until my way was blocked by a fallen tree. There was a nice campsite right off the road, and I set up my new 1-person Sierra Designs Light Year CD tent. Normally when car camping I go for the comfort of a 2-person tent but I wanted to test out the tiny new tent. The tent went up very easily and was actually reasonably roomy inside, but it didn't allow much for sitting up or moving around in the tent. Strictly a place to sleep.

With camp set up there wasn't much to do but wait for darkness, so I read a little, munched on some beef jerky and bread, and enjoyed some beer I picked up in Ridgway. Just before dark I heard a vehicle arrive at the trailhead, and they set up camp right by the trailhead. I turned off my headlamp and tried to sleep, and spent my usual restless night tossing and turning, but I managed to get enough sleep.

I woke up and the ceiling of the tent appeared a little lighter, so I figured sunrise must be near. I heard the other campers opening and closing car doors so I decided it was time to wake up and pack camp. It was about 05:30. There was no dew on the tent fly so I just took it down and put it in the Jeep, and got my pack ready. It was about 30 F, and I tried to move around to warm myself up. I ate a little bread and half a Clif Bar for breakfast, which wasn't really enough but I didn't feel much like eating in the morning chill and just wanted to start the hike.

Two guys were signing in at the trailhead register and I walked up to them. "Morning" I said, and they looked surprised to see me. "Where did you come from?" one asked. I laughed - my Jeep was parked out of sight of the trailhead to discourage looters... They asked where I was headed and it turned out they were climbing Wilson Peak as well. Good, I thought - it's nice to have someone else around to help with route finding. They headed up the trail, I signed in and followed them. A sign at the trailhead said "avalanche danger ahead" and some notes from the last week or so indicated a weak snowpack. I would keep these warnings in mind on the climb.

I kept behind the pair most of the way. When we reached the lower mine they stopped for a break and I continued on. As I followed the road's switchbacks I lost track of the pair, and after a particularly long road loop I spied them climbing a snow slope above me. Oh yeah, the cutoff I read about - I completely forgot to look for it. I caught up to them, then they continued up toward the rock house. I was moving a little slow, which is the norm for me on my early season hikes. They bypassed the rock house, but I wanted to check it out so I took a side path and walked up to it.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

I felt as if I forgot to eat my Wheaties that morning - my legs were running out of energy quickly. I stopped to eat some food and hoped my blood sugar would rise soon. While I was stopped the pair started up a snow slope toward the Rock of Ages saddle at 13,020'. I could see a path to the west of the saddle, marked with a couple cairns, so I thought I would try to find the trail leading to the saddle. The path wound up some steep scree, and was obscured by some snowfields. There had been a small snow slide here - the snow was still nicely solid that morning, but I would avoid taking this route on my descent. I heard several small rock slides above me, as the sun warmed the snow loosening its hold on the rocks.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

After some steep, loose scree, I found a nice trail segment that led directly to the Rock of Ages saddle. The other two guys were at the saddle, and I caught up to them. I asked how their ascent worked and they said it wasn't bad, and I figured on glissading the slope on the descent. We introduced ourselves: Ben was from Durango, and Steve was visiting. From the pass we had a view of Mount Wilson, El Diente Peak and Gladstone Peak. For a moment I thought Gladstone was Wilson Peak until I remembered we still had to turn a corner to the east to find Wilson Peak. The ridge to Gladstone's summit looked imposing and I was glad I was not climbing it that day.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

From the Rock of Ages saddle the route makes its way to another saddle, between Wilson and Gladstone Peaks. Nothing tricky about this part, just a trail through some talus. At this saddle, I could see the rest of the route, and finally had a good view of Wilson Peak's summit.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

The three of us reviewed the route: one can contour across some class 3 cliffs, or pass below the cliffs on class 2 talus, head toward the ridge at the obvious notch, and continue the traverse on a trail visible from our viewpoint. The crux is a deep cleft just below the summit, which you negotiate by crossing over to the north side of the ridge, descending about 50', traversing 50', then climbing up to regain the ridge on class 3 rock. From there a short ridge walk takes you to the summit.

You couldn't beat the conditions we had for this climb. The wind was low, temperature was just right, and the skies were clear. Snow cover was light on the ridge, even though it was late May. The odd thing about this climb is that I kept the same clothes for the entire climb that I started out with: nylon convertible pants, capilene t-shirt, polypro thermal shirt, fleece jacket, light polypro hat and glove liners. I never once had to add or subtract clothing on the ascent.

Contouring across the cliffs was easy enough. Ben soon took the lead, as he was a faster climber than Steve and me. I followed closely behind Steve the rest of the way. We regained the ridge, and made our way to the crux notch. When we crossed the ridge to the north the crux was clear. "Cool!" I said when I saw the rest of the route. The ridge was narrow and steeply exposed on both sides. Ben was already on the other side of the cleft, having regained the ridge.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

Steve went first into the sharp gully on the north side of the notch, and I followed keeping a safe distance to avoid rockfall. Steve reached the bottom, traversed over and climbed up a small couloir to reach the ridge. I climbed up a little sooner, on some fun class 3/4 rock to keep it interesting. When I topped out on the ridge I looked over and the exposure on the south side was sharp. It wasn't exactly a knife-edge but the ridge was quite narrow at that point. A few minutes scramble and I was on the summit with Steve and Ben. Ascent time was 3 hours and 30 minutes. We congratulated each other and Ben asked if I had done a lot of 14ers. "This is number 37 for me" I said. Steve volunteered that Wilson Peak was his first 14er, and Ben concurred. I remarked that they picked a good one for their first 14er, and they did a good job on it. Ben had climbed a lot of 13ers, so he had good experience - many of the 13ers are harder than any 14ers.

I signed the register and checked out the view. Mount Wilson and El Diente towered to the west, Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn were visible to the east, Lizard Head Spire and Dallas Peak to the south, and to the northwest there was a distant range that must be in Utah. A wildfire was burning to the north, its smoke trailing for miles.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

After 15 minutes on the summit I took my leave of Steve and Ben and headed back down. Finding the right descent path into the crux notch was tricky; I started down too soon and ended up above a steep couloir. Rather than backtrack I contoured up and around a rock rib and got myself back on track. Once past the crux the rest of the route was easy, and I made good time. Checking back occasionally I finally saw Steve and Ben emerge on the ridge, the crux behind them.

The wind on the Rock of Ages saddle was strong as it had been on the ascent, and I hurried past to get out of the wind. Now was the time for some fun - glissading down the snow slope into Silver Pick Basin. I stopped to put on snow pants, shell jacket and snow gloves, and got out my ice axe. The ride down was bumpy, but it was still fun and faster than walking. Steve and Ben passed me as they didn't add any clothing. Steve plunge-stepped down the slope and Ben did some boot-skiing. I removed my snow gear as they continued on, and I caught up to them as they took a break at the rock house. I passed them and didn't see them the rest of the way.

Foto ©2002 by John C. Maki

I took a scenic detour to check out part of the old mine tramway. After a few pictures, I made my way back to the rough road, and quickly reached the lower mine building. I ran out of water shortly after this point, maybe 1/2 mile from the trailhead. I reached the trailhead after a descent of 2 hours 15 minutes, signed out on the register, and enjoyed a beer as I leisurely unpacked my gear and changed back into my "civilian" clothes. A 6 hour drive back to Conifer and I was home.

A good climb - great weather, great conditions, only two other people on the mountain. Perhaps I'll return this year to finish the trio with Mount Wilson and El Diente, or maybe I'll save them for next year...