El Diente Peak

No, you do not need to secure a pre-booked wilderness permit or reservation to camp in the Lizard Head Wilderness. Unlike neighboring Navajo Basin, there are no designated campsite restrictions or site regulations in the Kilpacker Basin yet. You are free to utilize traditional dispersed backpacking campsites, provided you follow standard wilderness rules by pitching your tent at least 100 feet away from streams, lakes, and developed trails.

The legendary El Diente to Mount Wilson Traverse is a serious, high-consequence Class 4 mountaineering route with exposure, loose rock, and complex route-finding. To tackle it safely, approaching the traverse from the south via the Kilpacker Basin is generally considered the easiest and most efficient method. Starting from Kilpacker offers a shorter, less fatiguing approach day and allows you to ascend El Diente's standard South Slopes first before tracking across the ridge. Then, descending Mt. Wilson's Southwest Slopes route.

Bagging all three summits in a single day creates a massive, grueling endurance day. If you choose to attempt it, the most efficient method is to start at the Navajo Lake or Rock of Ages trailhead and ascend El Diente Peak's North Slopes route first, then traverse across the ridge crest to Mount Wilson, and hit Wilson Peak on your way back out. To do this safely, you should aim for early summer so you can climb the unstable North Slopes of El Diente when the couloir is filled with consolidated snow, avoiding severe summer rockfall hazards.

The naming duplication dates back to the historical 1874 Hayden Geological Survey. Topographer A.D. Wilson climbed the highest point in the local cluster, which was officially named Mount Wilson (14,246 feet) in his honor. Later, when surveyors realized there was a completely separate, highly prominent independent 14er horn sitting just two miles directly north, they named it Wilson Peak (14,017 feet) after him as well. To round out the group, the adjacent jagged tooth was aptly given the Spanish name El Diente ("The Tooth").