Telluride 13ers - La Junta and Oscar

[ECF55]

Hello all. I am planning on traveling to the Telluride area this July. Heavy snow this year, but expect that a substantial portion should be melted by then. (Right?)

I have some significant hiking experience but I am not a rock climber. I'm also an East Coaster with some Sawatch time (Elbert SE Ridge) but no San Juan experience. I would like to complete a solo full day hike, get some real elevation gain, start at dawn and hit at least one 13er. I'm not looking to take any real trail exposure risk and want to keep the hike to Class 2 or easier.

The views from La Junta look really appealing, so I have been exploring a myriad of options to get there without having parking difficulties and without putting in 20 miles. My best idea at the moment is Taxi to Ophir Valley - Blixt Road - Oscars Peak - Bridal Veil Basin/Saddle - La Junta (SW ridge up and down) - Wasatch Trail - Telluride (either Bear Creek Valley or Up and Over the Ski Ridge). Screen shot included below.

I have dredged through the Telluride 13er Trip Reports and Forums. Lots of great top line hiking information.

Debra Van Winegarden also has two beautiful, excellent posts from the area:
http://debravanwinegarden.blogspot.com/ ... -road.html
http://debravanwinegarden.blogspot.com/ ... 13432.html

The consensus from seasoned Colorado hikers appears to be the following:
1. Oscar's peak is a low/no exposure scramble up scree on both its SE and N ridges and can be accomplished with no technical expertise.
2. La Junta SW Ridge is a big, steep talus pile with no signifiant exposure and can be carefully navigated both up and down. (The NW Ridge--which I do not plan to take--appears to be more technical with its three obstacles and the steep cliff to the east.)
3. The rest of the hike is standard steep hiking trail and has low-to-moderate foot traffic.

Can anyone confirm that my descriptions of Oscar and La Junta SW are accurate? Would anyone care to share a few more details from their experience of La Junta SW Ridge, both up and down? How dicey is the slope? Are there any other things I should consider?

Thank you all so much!

[TravelingMatt]

Haven't done Oscar, have done La Junta.

I did La Junta as part of a three-bagger. I started at the Bridal Veil Falls parking area on Black Bear Road to the east of Telluride. I hiked up the gated road into Bridal Veil Basin, then around 12,000 feet tacked west across tundra towards the Wasatch/La Junta col. I did Wasatch first, then went back down to the col and up La Junta. Both peaks are walkups done this way. From La Junta I continued to 13145 (often called "Jackass Point"), and mostly stayed below the ridge to the west. I recorded this trip as Class 3, but what I remember the most wasn't "climbing up rocks" type scrambling but sidehilling on steep, loose dirt that continues all the way down to the trail I picked up at Silver Lake. I mention this to say 13145 is only for people really obsessed with bagging 13ers. Perhaps consider doing Wasatch and La Junta as an out-and-back from the falls; that's still about a 3700' day.

The road up to Bridal Veil Falls is relatively easy 4x4 -- I've been up there in a Rav4 twice -- but parking is very limited, and pragmatically no more than three or four cars can fit (more than that will try). This shouldn't be a problem if you start at 6am on a weekday, though. Anything on the Ophir Pass Road uphill from the village of Ophir will require at least the same kind of vehicle, so if the plan is to get a ride there from Telluride it will still be much easier to have the driver go the much shorter distance to Bridal Veil Falls.

It is very pretty up there.

[colluvium]

I've been up La Junta maybe a half-dozen times and a few times on Oscar's peak. There is a use trail from the La Junta - Wasatch saddle to La Junta's summit. It's steep and loose in places, but class 2. I think the view from Wasatch is even better - to get there circle around to the south side of that small tarn, west up a grassy slope to attain Wasatch's NE ridge, which is blocky large talus verging on class 3 but not technical.

If you really want a full day and with elevation gain, why not just leave from town? Baked in Telluride opens at 5:30. Grab coffee and breakfast and head up the Bear Creek trail from Pine St., then to the Wasatch trail, to the east fork of the Wasatch trail, which will take you to the saddle below Oscar's. That'd be 4800' to Wasatch, about as good as it gets in that area.

Another foot on the resort yesterday - there's a good chance snow will be holding in the high basins well into July this year.

[ECF55]

Thank you both for the information. Appreciate it.

Still quite a few options to iron out.

Agree on the preference to start the hike closer to Telluride. The only reason to head down to Ophir would be for its steep, efficient climb up to the ridge (compared to the much more gradual climb along the Black Bear Road).

I also go back and forth between Wasatch and La Junta. Both look amazing. Both seem similar in challenge, with the consensus that La Junta is slightly more straightforward. Does everyone agree that the Wasatch summit view edges the other peak out?

[ECF55]

And we'll see how stubborn the snow will be by July. Not clear if I'll need a Plan B.

[colluvium]

The views of the range are similar, mostly unobstructed, but from Wasatch you'll also have a view of town.

For a steeper, more efficient climb from Telluride you also have the options of the La Junta basin trail, which ascends from Bear Creek to the La Junta - Wasatch saddle, or the Ballard trail (4000 ft in 3.3 miles) then walk the ridge to La Junta, dropping west below cliffs when necessary (class 2). see
https://www.telluridemountainclub.org/t ... rails-map/
many options, all of them good.

The hike up from the Ophir side will be a bit of a slog on open, mostly barren, south-facing slope.

[ECF55]

Thanks, colluvium. Really appreciate the suggestions.

Definitely agree on the La Junta Basin trail--that was my original plan up as it take you right to the Wasatch-La Junta saddle. Just concerned with staying on that trail and not having any slip ups. Some reports note sections of the trail that cross collapsed ravines and also a Bear Creek ford. Would feel much better about that option if I weren't doing this alone, so I seem relegated to the mostly barren, (more melted) south-facing slope of Blixt Road.

[ECF55]

Bump.

The winter definitely lingered longer than expected (and the San Juans got clobbered), but the spring melt appears to be happening.

Has anyone done any Telluride trail exploration recently? How’s the snow melt progressing on Blixt Trail, Wasatch Connector, or Bear Creek Trail? 13k should melt out before the 14ers, but are we still weeks out? Thanks.

[cottonmountaineering]

The melt is about 3 weeks behind of schedule statewide - with the San Juans probably being a month or a month and a week behind. I would expect most of the 4wd roads being only partially accessible due to avalanche debris

https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/st ... e_snow.pdf - San Juans having a late melt

https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/st ... tate19.gif - current conditions are similar to mid may in a normal year

[ECF55]

Thanks, cotton.

I definitely check the SNOWTEL charts every week. The slope of that line is recently steep, so the melt is obviously starting. And there is a melt progression from lower to higher elevations as the temperatures rise. (The flip side of course is that the majority of the snow sits at those higher elevations.)

My issue is that I just don’t have a good feel for what 13 inches of water equivalent means at the 11k, 12k and 13k altitude levels. For rule of thumb, would we need to get to <5 inches / <3 inches / <1 inch for the passes to really open up? Thanks.

[ECF55]

I just spoke with the Norwood Ranger District (970-327-4261). Nothing too surprising to convey, but the ranger stated that the Ophir Pass Road is closed, the Blixt Trail is still snowed in, and there is a lot of melting that has to occur before that area becomes accessible. Avalanche infill was "just crazy this year". She recommended to check back in in two weeks as the melt is happening.

Other reports in/around Telluride include an update on the big avalanche in the Bear Creek Valley. Looks like a large swath of trees were bulldozed and snow is still melting out in the valley.
https://www.telluridenews.com/news/arti ... 63ae6.html

Anyone ventured out onto these Telluride trails or tried to climb higher than 12k elevation?

[colluvium]

I'll be there early next week and can post an update on conditions in that area.