14ers.com

I did El Diente and Mt. Wilson via the traverse from the Kilpacker Trailhead via the south slopes. The following day did Wilson Peak from ROA Trailhead. While I have NO DESIRE to repeat El Diente and Mt. Wilson, I feel the Kilpacker side is the way to go. While on the traverse, I heard rockfall on the Navajo Basin side that really creeped me out. Those mountains are just too darn loose for me to consider them enjoyable. Wilson Peak, on the other hand, was a very enjoyable peak that I would repeat.

What are your thoughts on this.

Climb Mt. Wilson via ROA TH and hit Wilson Peak (weather-permitting) on the way back. Then drive around and climb El Diente from Kilpacker.

It'd be a big weekend (20+ miles and 10k gain), but I'm probably looking for the safest option.

Considering all options and combinations of them, I'd recommend climbing Wilson Peak via ROA like others have mentioned. Although a lot of the trail is scree, the open view is gorgeous. Also, as far as safety is concerned, Wilson Peak isn't a mountain I'd worry about. I found the final push to the Peak's summit is similar to that of Wetterhorn and was pretty solid. Just my perspective, but I found Wilson Peak to be pretty tame but with exaggerated danger and difficulty by default due to being part of the group. Would climb again!

Here's an option not mentioned yet... How about the west ridge for El Diente? I have yet to climb both Mt. Wilson and El Diente and my priority for them is safety. Milan and I attempted them last year from the Kilpacker side but got rained out. They were going to be done separately; El Diente from the south on one day and then the same for Mt. Wilson the next day (although he did get Mt. Wilson). Attempt the same again?

I've done these peaks from both Navajo and Kilpacker so, if you don't mind one more opinion, I'll throw in my 2 or 3 cents...(I preferred Navajo, BTW):

First Trip:
Navajo Basin camp
North Buttress ascent on El Diente
Traverse to Mt Wilson
Descent back to Navajo Basin
Made an impromptu attempt for Wilson Peak, but ran out of water and headed back to camp

Did Wilson Peak the next day from Navajo Basin camp


Second time (with mtgirl - see her post):
Camped at Kilpacker Basin TH
South Slopes ascent up El Diente
Traverse to Mt Wilson
Descent down to Kilpacker Basin

Drove around to ROA TH
Ascended Wilson Peak from there


Given what you said about your climbing abilities and conditioning, here is my humble opinion:

First and foremost, these are not peaks to be rushed and require much focus. With that being said....

If you are making good time and the weather is perfect, go for all 3 (bring a water filter). Either from a high camp in Navajo Basin or doing the car shuttle from Kilpacker to ROA TH. There are a some bail options into Kilpacker (but not many) along the traverse, if needed or you can bail after Mt Wilson into Navajo or Kilpacker if the weather is turning.


If you are breaking this into 2 trips
I preferred the Navajo Basin side to Kilpacker for El Diente/Mt Wilson duo. The North Buttress route up El Diente was fairly solid and somewhat fun, but care still needs to be taken (we did encounter some loose rocks, but not many). We followed the route description on this site and it was spot on. I avoided the slabs by going to the right, up an easy class 3 section...I don't like slabs.

When down climbing Mt Wilson into Navajo Basin, it was as loose and steep as they all say. I descended a different gully than the standard route to avoid being in anyone's fall line or having anyone below me and it worked out ok, just very time consuming. And once you are off the loose stuff, you are on a splendid trail.

The routes from Kilpacker, both up El Diente and the descent off Mt Wilson into Kilpacker are the safest options, I agree 100%. I liked the South Slopes route up El Diente and you can avoid down climbing the crux on Mt Wilson, if desired, and descend a class 2+, loose, gully into Kilpacker Basin. This descent gully was less steep and shorter than MW's descent gullies into Navajo Basin and it had fewer people heading down that way.

However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

So granted, the trade off is safety vs. sanity, which seems like safety should always win. However, I (personally) felt that the North Buttress was a "relatively" safe ascent option (for El Diente) and that the descent off Mt Wilson although steeper and longer into Navajo, was also relatively safe (with care) and worth the trade off for the nice trail at the bottom.

As for the traverse, I too vote for the higher traverse over the lower one, but have never done the lower traverse myself. There were many people on the traverse the last time I did it and I would rather be up high if worried about rockfall. I'm sure either one works fine though.

As for which TH for Wilson Peak...not a lot of preference. Found both to be very similar, in enjoyment, scenery, and difficulty. However, you do get to play in the mining car if you come from Navajo.

As I said, this is just my opinion based on my experience.

Have a great trip. I loved these 3 peaks! Yes, even El Diente!

I did El Diente via the North Buttress from Navajo Lake this past Saturday, followed by the traverse to Mt. Wilson and descent back to Navajo Basin. I had done the North Couloir route two summers ago and swore I would never go up that route again unless it was full of snow. The rockfall in that couloir was scary, but the North Buttress route was pretty solid, route finding was not that difficult, and it's not any harder than the traverse. It's also an easy and pretty hike from Navajo Lake to the start (maybe 1.5 miles). While the descent from Mt. Wilson wasn't all that much fun, I didn't find it any looser than most of the peaks in the San Juans.

I've also done Wilson Peak from ROA (2 summers ago). The hike from the TH to the saddle was not very enjoyable (lots of scree and talus), but the rest of the climb was fun and not all that difficult. If I had to do all three of the peaks on one weekend, I'd probably camp at Navajo Lake and take one day to do El Diente (N. Buttress) and traverse to Mt. Wilson, then do Wilson Peak the next day. The hike/climb from Navajo Lake to the ROA saddle is prettier and shorter than coming from the ROA TH.

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:
However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

I didn't quite follow you here- is El Diente from Kilpacker the side with all the talus?

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:I've done these peaks from both Navajo and Kilpacker so, if you don't mind one more opinion, I'll throw in my 2 or 3 cents...(I preferred Navajo, BTW):

First Trip:
Navajo Basin camp
North Buttress ascent on El Diente
Traverse to Mt Wilson
Descent back to Navajo Basin
Made an impromptu attempt for Wilson Peak, but ran out of water and headed back to camp

Did Wilson Peak the next day from Navajo Basin camp


Second time (with mtgirl - see her post):
Camped at Kilpacker Basin TH
South Slopes ascent up El Diente
Traverse to Mt Wilson
Descent down to Kilpacker Basin

Drove around to ROA TH
Ascended Wilson Peak from there


Given what you said about your climbing abilities and conditioning, here is my humble opinion:

First and foremost, these are not peaks to be rushed and require much focus. With that being said....

If you are making good time and the weather is perfect, go for all 3 (bring a water filter). Either from a high camp in Navajo Basin or doing the car shuttle from Kilpacker to ROA TH. There are a some bail options into Kilpacker (but not many) along the traverse, if needed or you can bail after Mt Wilson into Navajo or Kilpacker if the weather is turning.


If you are breaking this into 2 trips
I preferred the Navajo Basin side to Kilpacker for El Diente/Mt Wilson duo. The North Buttress route up El Diente was fairly solid and somewhat fun, but care still needs to be taken (we did encounter some loose rocks, but not many). We followed the route description on this site and it was spot on. I avoided the slabs by going to the right, up an easy class 3 section...I don't like slabs.

When down climbing Mt Wilson into Navajo Basin, it was as loose and steep as they all say. I descended a different gully than the standard route to avoid being in anyone's fall line or having anyone below me and it worked out ok, just very time consuming. And once you are off the loose stuff, you are on a splendid trail.

The routes from Kilpacker, both up El Diente and the descent off Mt Wilson into Kilpacker are the safest options, I agree 100%. I liked the South Slopes route up El Diente and you can avoid down climbing the crux on Mt Wilson, if desired, and descend a class 2+, loose, gully into Kilpacker Basin. This descent gully was less steep and shorter than MW's descent gullies into Navajo Basin and it had fewer people heading down that way.

However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

So granted, the trade off is safety vs. sanity, which seems like safety should always win. However, I (personally) felt that the North Buttress was a "relatively" safe ascent option (for El Diente) and that the descent off Mt Wilson although steeper and longer into Navajo, was also relatively safe (with care) and worth the trade off for the nice trail at the bottom.

As for the traverse, I too vote for the higher traverse over the lower one, but have never done the lower traverse myself. There were many people on the traverse the last time I did it and I would rather be up high if worried about rockfall. I'm sure either one works fine though.

As for which TH for Wilson Peak...not a lot of preference. Found both to be very similar, in enjoyment, scenery, and difficulty. However, you do get to play in the mining car if you come from Navajo.

As I said, this is just my opinion based on my experience.

Have a great trip. I loved these 3 peaks! Yes, even El Diente!

I appreciate your 2.5 cents(on average)! This is the first post that didn't make me feel like I was crazy for wanting to climb the group. I think I've pretty well made my decision on the route I'll take.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

So what did you decide? I'm also doing these in August and am perplexed as to which way to do it. We're camping two nights and my preference would be safety.

If there is snow in the couloir, I would highly recommend climbing El Diente via North Slopes from Navaho. I climbed it the last week of June last year and really enjoyed it. crampons and ice axe with a tight leash (last pitch was mixed ice- rock) are a must. the rocks on the side were very unstable so make sure you stay in snow. El Diente is a great mountain but once I got closer to Mt Wilson the rocks were very loose. It is very important to test every single hold, have a helmet and be alert of falling stuff everywhere. I thought that Mt wilson had much worse rockfall than the Bells or Little Bear hour glass. I descended Mt Wilson via rotten snow but it was much safer than loose rocks on the side. Snow is always much safer.

Kevo wrote:

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:
However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

I didn't quite follow you here- is El Diente from Kilpacker the side with all the talus?

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the Kilpacker side has the miles and miles of talus. However, if you are just doing El Diente, there is a decent trail through the talus to the South Slopes and lots of cairns to guide you. And the descent of El Diente into Kilpacker, via the South Slopes is not bad (and is the best descent option off El Diente). The horrible talus I was referring to starts after you descend the gully off Mt Wilson into Kilpacker. There is no trail at that point, but just an endless sea of frustrating talus.

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:

Kevo wrote:

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:
However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

I didn't quite follow you here- is El Diente from Kilpacker the side with all the talus?

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the Kilpacker side has the miles and miles of talus. However, if you are just doing El Diente, there is a decent trail through the talus to the South Slopes and lots of cairns to guide you. And a descent of El Diente into Kilpacker, via the South Slopes would not be terrible. The horrible talus I was referring to starts after you descend the gully off Mt Wilson into Kilpacker. There is no trail at that point, but just an endless sea of frustrating talus.

Confirmed

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:

Kevo wrote:

IHikeLikeAGirl wrote:
However, I loathed, absolutely LOATHED hiking out on the miles and miles of endless, wobbly, ankle twisting, knock-you-on-your-butt, cuss-like-a-sailor, talus. It was maddening and never seemed to end.

I didn't quite follow you here- is El Diente from Kilpacker the side with all the talus?

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, the Kilpacker side has the miles and miles of talus. However, if you are just doing El Diente, there is a decent trail through the talus to the South Slopes and lots of cairns to guide you. And a descent of El Diente into Kilpacker, via the South Slopes would not be terrible. The horrible talus I was referring to starts after you descend the gully off Mt Wilson into Kilpacker. There is no trail at that point, but just an endless sea of frustrating talus.

Thanks for the clarification and all the beta!