Mt. Wilson

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 8/22/2023, By: doeeth
Info: So I now understand why most people complete this traverse from El Diente (way more downclimbing when coming from Mt Wilson, class 3-4). The routes on El Diente are loose and challenging, and next time I would opt to ascend North Buttress or South Slopes of El Diente if doing the traverse. To summarize, I hiked up to Navajo lake on 8/19, summited Wilson Peak, slept at my campsite for awhile before starting Mt Wilson North Slopes to El Diente traverse, then South Slope descent into Kilpacker Basin. Due to a conditions/trail review that suggested using microspikes and an ice axe, I brought both (and used neither). I encountered nearly zero snow leading up Mt Wilson North slopes (as well as Wilson Peak). North Slopes of El Diente was originally my plan for descent as it leads to Navajo basin. I had intended to do the route this direction because I was under the assumption that the North slopes route has the fantastic ridge crux climb. However, any route coming from the north, east, or west on the ridge (including the traverse) will climb up, then downclimb this section. The class 4 section was fantastic quality and holds, and was my favorite part of the whole trip. Wilson Peak's summit scramble was also very fun. Anywho, the North Slopes route on El Diente looked like a few hundred feet of chossy nightmare leading to a fractured snowfield. There also was not any obvious trail leading to the base of the suggested gully. I would not recommend this route to any sound of mind human, unless you want to put on crampons after this loose choss field; the snow on North face of this massif is almost bullet proof in the AM. Perhaps in the afternoon it may be tolerable but I did not test this theory out. Doing the traverse from Mt Wilson after camping at Navajo Lake meant that I needed to either reascend to the lake to grab my gear (extra 4 miles and 1,500 feet gain likely) or carry everything with me. So my pack was roughly 20 lbs, plus I filled up 3 liters of water at the base of the North slope, of which I only drank probably .75 L during the traverse, and probably 0.5 on the descent from El Diente after deciding to throw out 1.5 L at the start of that descent. First of all, the route finding from Mt Wilson to El Diente starts out somewhat poorly, but I was able to turn on my phone (low battery) for brief periods to use the GPS map. The section where there is a class 4 chimney was tough to descend with a 20 lbs pack. Lots of loose rocks in this section, which I kicked some down. Most of the El Diente side of the traverse is straight class 2-3, with easier route finding. The final descent down South Slopes of El Diente was chossy, w loose rocks all the way until you get below treeline. I thought the Navajo Lakes trail to Mt wilson had significantly less loose rocks, or walking over huge rocks beds. I did glissade 2 sections of snowfields, with the first one remaining on route, and the second leading to some of the loosest, of route-iest bull crap class 2 and 3 I've had the displeasure of sliding down precariously. All in all, I would not take back any decisions I made on this trip. By day 2, the routes I finally chose were the best for the circumstance. It was a fantastic experience. Kilpacker basin is gorgeous, and Navajo basin ain't bad either. Also took the short trip to see Navajo falls, which is incredible. Probably one of the best waterfalls areas I'd seen in Colorado. Do not take ice axe or micro spikes unless you want to carry an extra 3.5 lbs in your pack. Camping at Navajo Lake and doing all 3 peaks as a camping trip is tough, because not all the safest routes are in the basin. This basin is also considerably colder than any location I've been to in Colorado this summer, even with a blue bird sky day. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/13/2023, By: Jesslynne8
Info: The basin is still holding a lot of snow. Microspikes and an ice axe would be helpful, but its doable without. We tried glissading down but the snow is pretty rutted out. Easy route finding if you follow the photos. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/13/2023, By: IsaacD
Info: Traverse is snow-free and in great summer condition. Fun climbing all around. We went from El Diente to Mt. Wilson and felt that the North Buttress route adequately warmed us up for the traverse. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: happyallyy
Info: Climbed on 7/22/23, went up El Diente then traversed over to Mt Wilson, and back down to Kilpacker Basin. A few notes: - There are a few campsites once you make the turnoff for Kilpacker Trailhead. If all those are taken, there is another camping spot option about 3 minutes down the road. - There are a few snow fields that needed to be crossed heading up El Diente, most have decent foot steps in them. One was on a steeper slope, but spikes and poles were perfect. Other than that, the route to El Diente is in summer conditions. Lots of sections of loose rock to be aware of - The traverse to Mt Wilson was solid and is in mostly summer conditions. The cairns make it easy to follow the route, there were a few times we stayed ridge proper which made for some really fun scrambling. We came into snow at 1 or 2 points, and were able to go above or below it each time. - Watch for marmots kicking rocks. We had a marmot kick down a 20 lb rock on our group, thankfully everyone was ok - Coming down Mt Wilson to the Kilpacker Basin TH is still holding a decent amount of snow. I wish I had my ice axe for glissading opportunities, but instead made it work with my hiking pole. The lower part of the descent from Mt Wilson was the snowiest part of the route. - We started from Kilpacker Basin at 4:15am, and made it back to the parking lot around 5:30pm, with decent breaks on each of the summits. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: wanderingsteve
Info: Did the traverse from El Diente. The cairns definitely help with route finding when you're below the ridge crest. There is only one short snowfield to cross (closer to Mt. Wilson). I took out my axe there because I had it with me and it was a steep drop below, but others who were with me did not. No one used or needed traction. I and almost everyone went left right before the Mt. Wilson summit block. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: Scott Conro
Info: Snow was firm for us and felt safe with spikes and poles only. Many fields to cross beginning 100-200ft below El D turn off. Continuous snow from roughly 12.9k to about 13.7k. The photos are of the climb we made on snow that follows the website photos. Got a little more risky than we would have liked without ice axes. Would recommend doing a fairly obvious scree climb climbers right instead. The remaining 400ft or so was dry. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Did all three Wilsons and logged 18.89 miles, 8,130ft and 14h 56m on Strava. I started at 7am and ended at 10pm with perfect weather the whole day. Snow fields way up high got a little sketchy but nothing my ice axe couldn't handle. Crampons were nice for going down the north side of Mt. Wilson. Snow below 12.5k is consolidated and very nice, not so much with the high snow. El Diente and Mt. Wilson still have some snow, Wilson Pk. is dry all the way up. If you're into type 3 fun then this is the hike for you! Go get it and watch the weather carefully! 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: MMAfightingClimber
Info: The route up el diente has snow. It required some trail breaking to avoid it. The traverse is mostly dry on the first half with just a couple small snow crossings. The second half of the traverse has one bad, steep snow crossing with a huge drop off below. (Pictured). The Navajo and kilpacker basins both have a lot of snow. 100% recommend crampons and an ax 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/24/2023, By: tjvanfossen
Info: From Navajo Lake, there were a few sloped snow crossings along the trail where we needed traction the previous morning, but our afternoon steps from the previous afternoon were sufficient to boot it this time. But traction definitely required beyond the Mt Wilson "trail" split, with continuous snow to the summit block if you so choose. Crampons and axe highly recommended. No flotation needed as long as you start early. See picture for rough trace of the route we took. Overall great snow conditions for crampons with slope angle topping out in the upper 40s. Summit block is mostly dry with patches of lingering snow. There is some lingering loose snow on the lefthand side of the crux, which made going left rather tricky. I ended up switching from left to right/over partway through with a couple difficult moves. Going right/over is definitely easier if you are ~6' tall. We also found that doing this in crampons actually helped because you could better wedge your boot in the crack to get a good hold. Otherwise, pretty straightforward. There is still a lot of snow along this route.. it may never be totally snow free this year. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: winter_wisher
Info: Conditions remain similar to amichell's report from last week, in terms of both downed trees over the road and snow coverage on the trail. There was about 6-8 cm of new graupel-snow mix from an early-morning storm. Ice axe was a nice safety anchor throughout the day - highly recommended. From Rock of Ages saddle and onward, I alternated all day between snowshoes and crampons depending on the pitch and snow integrity. Crampons were great for the second half of the climb, as they easily chewed into the consolidated ice rounds that were under the new stuff. I took the (usual) left side of the crux to gain the summit, but down-climbed the other (right) side since there was better access to climbable features from the top -- don't look down! Later in the day, the snow was slushy; I observed runout from several small wet/loose slides on the hike back. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: amitchell
Info: Hiked in from rock of ages. The road is closed from about a mile out due to deadfall. Snow starts as soon as you get past the TH. It is patchy and post holey, very frustrating. Continuous snow starts a bit above treeline. I needed to wear crampons to make it up and across the compact icy bits. No flotation needed at any point, though I still recommend bringing it in case you end up on a warmer day. Getting up the Eldiente standard couloir was pretty simple, a good snow climb. The ridge itself was intense. Getting to Eldiente summit was a maze of snow climbing, ridge scrambling, and tricky moves. Lots of crampons on, crampons off. The traverse isnt too bad, I honestly thought the extra snow was quite helpful. It offers bail points and makes it simple to get across the steeper more monotonous sections. The summit pitch on Wilson was pretty dry, although some lingering ice made me feel better going to the right of the crux instead of the easier left side. Definite class 5 move, but really not too bad. Wanted to get W peak as well, but the ridge left me pretty gassed, so I'll have to go back sometime soon. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2023, By: runningbuff
Info: Did the El Diente-Mt. Wilson traverse yesterday from Rock of Ages. Went up El Diente North Slopes and skiied a variation of Mt. Wilson North Slopes. Rock of Ages becomes pretty much continuous snow after 2 miles. I was very grateful for crampons going up the El Diente couloir and across the traverse. Summitted El Diente at 8:30 so the couloir was pretty icy most of the way but the top had some really nice corn. The traverse was not the greatest with snow in some annoying places. Im not sure how it is class 4, I definitely had class 5 moves in there but Im also horrible at route finding so that could be why. Snow didnt help. In all, the traverse took me 3 hours. Skiing Mt. Wilson North Slopes was decent, but the snow was very wet/slushy towards the bottom. Climbing back to Rock of Ages was rough after all that and flotation was definitely required at that point in the afternoon. 

Route: East face up, Boxcar couloir ski descent
Posted On: 5/29/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Last time I skied Boxcar, the snow was frozen, so I've been meaning to go back and re-ski it in nicer conditions. Well, this time it was too soft! Partner and I launched from Cross Mtn TH around 4.30-45am. I totally forgot that South-East lines require such early starts, duh! We made a fairly quick work of the traverse to Slate Creek drainage. We skinned to about 13.5k via the East slopes gully. Views of Lizard Head, Ice lakes and Gladstone were fantastic. For the last 500 ft, we found an old booter, which really helped and we topped out around 10am. We started skiing around 10.30am, and we're surprised how quickly the snow has softened up (it was still fairly icy around 9.30 am). The snow in Boxcar was quite soft, with a runnel forming towards the bottom. We enjoyed the turns on the headwall, and then were very pleased to discover the snow in the trees stayed firm. The approach trail was skiable except the last 0.5 mile before the TH. We got back to the cars around 1pm. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 2/22/2023, By: Chrisfish25
Info: I went in from rock of ages. Up the Mt Wilson north slopes. The final scramble to the summit wasn't horrible. Although there was a good bit of snow. From there I traversed over to El Diente. The traverse had a ton of snow & was a lot of work to get across. It took me 4.5 hours. Staying ridge proper the entire way would've been a better solution to how much work I put in. I carried a 30 m rope in case I needed to rappel. I didn't. But had I stayed ridge proper I would've. I skied the north face of el Diente down & back over rock of ages & out. Great day up high. 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/19/2022, By: carlycaprio
Info: We attempted the traverse from Navajo Lake via North routes but there was way too much snow. We didn't bring traction or an ice axe and everyone we spoke to said they wouldn't attempt it either. Instead we packed over to the south side (Kilpacker approach). There was no snow on this side as the sun hits daily. Steep and sometimes tricky route finding but there are trail markers that make it easier. There is a 300 foot final pitch on El Diente where you cross to the north side of the ridge. There was snow and ice but good handholds on the rock. We got through it without traction but I don't recommend it. I really wished we had brought our snow gear. The traverse is clear of snow except on a few sections where you cross to the north side of the ridge. Doable without traction but sketchy. The traverse is well marked with carrins if you can spot them. Try to follow those with your beta from the route description. We saw someone drop too low and have to climb back up the ridge crest. The class 2 gully up to Mt Wilson has snow and it's steep.. we stuck to the left side with good hand holds. The crux class 4 move on the final pitch to Mt. Wilson has no snow. We went slow and moved carefully through the class 3 & 4 sections and we made it! Would definitely recommend the south slope routes this time of year & to bring snow gear!