Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

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KingHenryJames3rd
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Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by KingHenryJames3rd »

I'm trying to plan my trip to do the traverse this summer. I was hoping some of you could provide some opinions on what you think is the best way to approach it. Haven't decided if I'm backpacking in or not. My original thought was to do it in a day from Kilpacker and do as described in the description doing El Diente first. Wondering if anyone else has done it this way but maybe after the fact had wished you did a different approach or the traverse in reverse order of description. Let me know your thoughts!
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by CoHi591 »

We did it the way you're planning to, and I am glad we did. It was a lot of fun that way. Nothing stood out to make me think that it would be that much harder the other way, but there were a few areas that were a lot of fun to climb up.

Can't speak to the descent though. We dropped down the other side of Mt Wilson into Navajo Basin to grab Wilson Peak too. I get the impression that every way off Mt Wilson is going to be a little tedious.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by bigredmachine »

CoHi591 wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:22 am We did it the way you're planning to, and I am glad we did. It was a lot of fun that way. Nothing stood out to make me think that it would be that much harder the other way, but there were a few areas that were a lot of fun to climb up.

Can't speak to the descent though. We dropped down the other side of Mt Wilson into Navajo Basin to grab Wilson Peak too. I get the impression that every way off Mt Wilson is going to be a little tedious.
The decent off Mt Wilson back towards Kilpacker is not bad (easy class 3). I don’t recall the route finding too difficult either, but I’d still study some tr’s just to make sure you know where to go. FYI, It is ALOT of talus hopping from there back down to the actual trail, which isn’t too far above the ED turnoff.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by Wildernessjane »

CoHi591 wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:22 am We dropped down the other side of Mt Wilson into Navajo Basin to grab Wilson Peak too. I get the impression that every way off Mt Wilson is going to be a little tedious.
If you need to get Wilson Peak too then consider doing the North Buttress on El Diente and then the traverse to Mount Wilson. The biggest downside to that route is the descent off Mount Wilson back into Navajo Basin and it’s seemingly never ending boulder-hopping. With good weather and if you are fast, you could get Wilson Peak from that side the same day. I’ve done the traverse from Rock of Ages in a day and also from a camp in Navajo Basin.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by Ptglhs »

Wilson from kilpacker much easier than the standard route. I thought it was difficult Class 2. I had a harder time with Blanca than I did with Wilson from kilpacker. The talus hopping is tedious but not difficult. El Diente from kilpacker is a solid class 3. The northern options are class 3 with snow, or a pretty miserable class 4 without, or the north buttress.

The Traverse involves going over the Crux of the standard route of Wilson though. Class 4 with a fair bit of air beneath you. I don't think there's a way to keep the Traverse below class 4. Other individuals with more experience are welcome to correct me.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by Geckser »

As long as you drop back into Killpacker I think you will be fine. I did not descend that way but found it pretty trivial to climb up. I have heard the descent from El Diente back into Navajo Basin can be pretty grim, so I would avoid that if at all possible.

When we did it we ascended El Diente from Killpacker, did the traverse, descended from Mt.Wilson into Navajo Basin, climbed Wilson Peak and then went back to the trailhead. By far the worst part of the day was descending Mt.Wilson into Navajo. If you can skip descending into Navajo Basin, you will be living the good life.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by CoHi591 »

Geckser wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:08 pm When we did it we ascended El Diente from Killpacker, did the traverse, descended from Mt.Wilson into Navajo Basin, climbed Wilson Peak and then went back to the trailhead. By far the worst part of the day was descending Mt.Wilson into Navajo. If you can skip descending into Navajo Basin, you will be living the good life.
That's how I did it and tbh the descent from Mt Wilson to Navajo was probably one of the most unpleasant experiences on all the 14ers for. Worst than descending Snowmass W slopes. But I don't think OP is trying to loop Wilson Peak in, so yeah up El D and down Wilson both from/to Kilpacker will be a good day.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by Geckser »

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Last edited by Geckser on Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by Geckser »

CoHi591 wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:30 pm

That's how I did it and tbh the descent from Mt Wilson to Navajo was probably one of the most unpleasant experiences on all the 14ers for. Worst than descending Snowmass W slopes. But I don't think OP is trying to loop Wilson Peak in, so yeah up El D and down Wilson both from/to Kilpacker will be a good day.
I 100% agree, it was terrible and terribly loose. After doing that I checked the route on 14ers.com and saw the rockfall hazard was only considerable so I complained about it to Mr.Middlebrook and he moved it up to high quickly and efficiently. Not something I would normally whinge about, but the rockfall up there is incredibly serious. If you get off the proper trail for even a second you can really send down some sizeable chunks of rock.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by terrysrunning »

El Diente from Kilpacker was a nice route and I enjoyed it completely. Both the routes from the other side sound miserable in comparison.
Descending Wilson into Kilpacker was, as mentioned, tedious. I wore gloves, as I usually do descending that kind of junk, and was glad I did and it all seemed pretty easy and routefinding straightforward and even if you missed some cairns, you basically know where you're going and you'll end up in the right place I think.
The downside of that descent would be if you had anyone above you. There were a couple guys coming behind me, and I made sure to go pretty fast to get some space between us, because there's a lot of loose rocks someone could easily rain down on you from above. The route itself was annoying but not troublesome.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by RETEP 1 »

I started from ROA, did Wilson and then Mt-El D traverse as an out and back…it wasn’t too bad either direction in my opinion.
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Re: Mt. Wilson -> El Diente Traverse

Post by oorg »

We did that route last August. Climbing up to El Diente from Kilpacker was a lot of fun, as was the traverse. We got slightly off route and I was following 2 partners who were ahead of me slightly below the ridge. One step sent the whole ground shaking beneath my feet as I heard rocks beneath me falling and shifting. It happened so fast, but I was half expecting the whole side of the mountain to give way beneath my feet. The shifting rocks finally stopped after a couple seconds, but it perked us all up. Anyhow, after that little scare, the rest of the traverse went as planned and we descended Mt. Wilson back into Kilpacker Basin. The slopes were steep and loose and generally unpleasant. Rocks from above can really get moving, so be careful of people below you and aware of people above you. An older gentleman twisted his ankle pretty badly coming down and we stopped to offer my hiking poles as support (which they gladly accepted). There was plenty of talus hopping to get back to the established trail. I'd love to go do El Diente again, but I'll happily avoid doing Mt. Wilson again.

Cory
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