This is a video trip report of our hike of Colorado 14er El Diente Peak (14,175') on Thursday July 11th, 2024.

The hike was roughly 12 miles with 4,400' of elevation gain. This hike takes place in Southwest Colorado near the town of Telluride in the Lizard Head Wilderness. There are 3 Fourteeners in the area which includes Wilson Peak, Mt. Wilson, and El Diente Peak. This video is shot on my I Phone as I was having camera issues, yet it does showcase the route and terrain pretty well. I hiked El Diente with my buddy Dom, who has been in many of my past videos. You can find his YouTube channel âª@thedomrouteâ¬

We started the hike at the Kilpacker Trailhead with 5 other cars in the lot. There are a few dispersed campsites near the trailhead with open views of surrounding mountains. You start the hike through some meadows with El Diente in the distance. You quickly enter the forest and steadily gain elevation. There will be a sign a few miles in where we went right at the El Diente sign. Our route took us up into the basin on the Southside of the Peak where we climbed the South Ridge. You exit the forest with stunning views of the basin, a large waterfall, and unfortunately the long slog through the talus field. This talus slope is no joke as you can see the route leading up into the upper basin. The footing here is wobbly and tough on the feet.

Once into the upper basin around 12,200' you are faced with the start of the South Ridge Route. The route from the bottom looks pretty dicey, and attention is needed for route finding. I would highly recommend downloading the 14ers app, studying the route, and most importantly, downloading the route pictures onto your phone for offline use. You ascend the loose South slopes zig zagging around some cliffs and rock bands. Once up to the top of the scree slope, you head left at some cliff faces with black water marks. You then turn right heading North up the Green Gully which is solid class 3 climbing. From there the climbing is class 3/4 as you gain the ridge, then crossing over to the North side. There is a quick drop down on the Northside and then a small climb up a notch. Once through the notch the summit is nearly in view. There was snow in the gully to the summit, so we stayed left and climbed over solid rock.

The summit views were incredible, and I enjoyed a Rare Trait IPA from Cerebral our of Denver. Dom enjoyed a Pale Ale from Basecamp Beerworks out of Grand Junction, CO. We enjoyed the summit for a bit with no other climbers around. The descent backdown was slow with much loose rocks, and gullies.

The weather held up perfectly as we dropped back down into the basin, cooling our heads off with a nice snowmelt trickle. We drank a La Cumbre Acclimated Pale Ale on the way back down. Back to the car we enjoyed the afternoon and headed home stopping by Pomona Brewing in Montrose, CO.

This was a fantastic hike, and my most difficult 14er to date by technical standards. It was great to have a friend on the hike as we complimented each others route finding and navigation perfectly.

I hope you enjoy the video! Safe Trails!