ElD-Wilson and Wilson Peak via Kilpacker

[DanGran]

Hey! So I'd really like to try and make it up ElD, Wilson, and Wilson Peak in one day (Sunday the 21st of August hopefully, weather permitting). After doing a bit of research on these forums, it seems as though my best bet might be to head up the south slopes of ElD, take the traverse across (really looking forward to this bit!), head down the north slopes of Wilson and climb Wilson Peak, then follow the Navajo Lake Approach until it intersects with Kilpacker. Important note! I'll be driving a Subaru Legacy , so a nice 2wd road with easy access to a trailhead is pretty much mandatory. Elsewhere on these forums, I saw an estimated round trip distance of about 17-18 miles and estimated time of about 12-14 hours for the route I'm considering. Would others agree with these estimates, and if you've done all three peaks in a single day trip, is this the path to take? Any info on sections worth paying attention to would be appreciated as well. Also, I'm planning on going solo this time around, but it'd be great to see some other people up and about somewhere along the route... I especially hate hiking through the forest by myself in the darkness of the early morning. I'm a bit paranoid sometimes; my tragic downfall. But, what's a couple of hours of mind-unhinging fear in order to have a fun-filled day of mountains later?! I digress... Thanks in advance for helping me plan!

[climbnowworklater]

This may not help if you're solo, but we did all 3 in a day by shuttling cars. We parked one car at ROA and then drove to Kilpacker and camped. The next morning, we ascended El D, traversed to W, then over to W, then out to ROA. I thought this was a stellar way to get all 3 peaks done in one push. We hiked a fast pace and it took me 12.5 hours and my buddy 13.5 hours.
Here is my short TR with GPX:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripmine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck and be safe.
Jon

[Bombay2Boulder]

This can totally be done, I hang around the Kilpacker Basin at least once a year, the trail is really good through the forest with minimal elevation gain until you hit the basin, the route up El Diente thru Kilpacker is fairly stable. About the car, Kilpacker has a couple of dips in the road like 50ft from the TH sign, but careful driving will get you across though. Enjoy the region, it is really beautiful! The directions on the site are fairly straight forward. Just make sure you follow the turn-off. If you pay attention to elevation you will have no troubles finding the turn-off.

[Phill the Thrill]

I have not done these together in a single day, but I would estimate something closer to 20 miles total, and I don't know about you but I doubt I could complete that in 14 hrs., including breaks, etc. Too much for me in a single day. Personally, I would backpack to Navajo Lake and climb all three from there. It's a great spot to spend a couple nights anyway. Or, El Diente/Wilson from Kilpacker then drive around to Rock of Ages trail for Wilson Peak.

[Jeremy_Kreis]

I just did Kilpacker - Traverse - Wilson Peak - Rock of Ages, and my gps clocked it at 15.5 miles. ROA is mostly a road of loose rock. I would just go back down Navajo Lake after Wilson Peak. It would also save you the hour it takes to circle back to Kilpacker from ROA.

[derekesq]

As for the trip to the Kilpacker trailhead, I got there in a Chrysler 200 coming from 145/Telluride, a couple years ago. Unless conditions changed, go slow and you should be fine. After the big U bend/curve about 4 miles in, look back and about halfway down the cliff there is a van that went over, quite some time ago, stuck in cliff.

[bdloftin77]

Yep, that sounds like a good plan. The Kilpacker rd isn't too bad. After the turnoff to the TH from the dirt road that continues toward the Navajo TH, there were some dips/puddles as another mentioned. Made it up to the TH just fine in my 2wd Toyota Echo sedan.

Depending on the weather... You should probably get an early start and hike in the dark for this route. It'd be worth it. How fast of a hiker are you? If you're moderate/fast, 14-15 hours might be accurate. (maybe 1k-1.5k ft/hr?) If you consider yourself pretty fast (1.5k-2k ft/hr), it's doable in 10-12 hours probably. My guess would be 11-12ish for myself with no big breaks included, but enjoy hiking at 1500-1800 ft/hr. (made it up Shavano in 2 hours flat, or ~2250 ft/hr)

If Jeremy Kreis' gps is correct for ending at ROA... Wilson Peak to ROA TH is 5 mi, and Wilson Peak to Kilpacker/Navajo TH is about 8 mi. So add 3 to 15.5.. about 18.5 mi total.

Have fun!

Oh also... if it rained a ton the night before, expect to get SUPER wet from plants encroaching on the trail. (pants, shoes, socks..)

[DanGran]

Thanks for all the replies and advice! Sounds like it'll be a great day!

You should probably get an early start and hike in the dark for this route. It'd be worth it. How fast of a hiker are you? If you're moderate/fast, 14-15 hours might be accurate. (maybe 1k-1.5k ft/hr?) If you consider yourself pretty fast (1.5k-2k ft/hr), it's doable in 10-12 hours probably.

Haha alright... I guess hiking in the dark is worth it. I do love being as high as possible for sunrise... I'd say I comfortably do about 1.6k ft/hr going up. I normally go down trails closer to 2.1k ft/hr (although I like to take a bit more time on technical bits, especially when going down). I'm probably looking at a good 12-13 hours or so, I imagine, taking into account the fact that I normally like to stay on summits for a while.

[spiderman]

Don't be afraid of walking in those woods in the dark. Been there, done that. Nothing in that area that will hurt a full grown man. Be more worried about the rockfall on those rotten mountains, especially on the Wilson side of the traverse.

[RWinters]

Spider-Man
Been in Kilpacker twice...both times I've seen a mountain lion. The first time it was checking out a heard of elk in the upper basin. The second time one darted on the road in front of our car near the trailhead. Just sayin'

[spiderman]

Definitely are mountain lions and bears in that area. Fortunately the number of attacks against humans are very few. The chance of dying in rockfall, or driving to the TH, is probably 3+ orders of magnitude higher for a full grown man. Glad we don't have grizzlies in this state. I was in Glacier NP last weekend and followed fresh grizzly/black bear/wolverine tracks to the top of Cleveland Peak; they feast on grubs, moths, and ladybugs on the summit. There sure are some big predators up there. Fortunately the Montana grizzlies are mostly vegetarian... I have heard that Alaska is the place to truly fear bear encounters.

[GA_peach]

Was there last weekend but took two days to do everything.
Don't underestimate the traverse, it has some tough spots. I followed a group and we had one that got her toes smashed pretty bad past the gendarmes when a big rock fell on her. She toughed it out and made it to the low point and then went down into the basin and back out safely.
There was another that, I think had a bigger rock go out from under her and she dove to hang on otherwise she would have been gone.
It's not a walk around the block.

Alan