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El Diente Peak

Peak Condition Updates  
5/27/2022
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 5/28/2022, By: -wren-
Info: Pick your poison. I pieced together tongues of snow and short bare patches from around 12,6 to 13,8 and on the way down I was on dry terrain for most of the way. You will still definitely be on some snow and it is steep enough that I would reccomend axe and pons. The last bit of scrambling has some icy spots but nothing that really hinders movement. Approach has bits of snow but nothing worth flotation. Planned on the grand slam but I was on El Diente too late to feel safe descending Wilson's North Slopes (still 100% a snow climb) after 2 more hours of sun - it was getting hammered already just before 8 AM. South side of rock of ages saddle looked very dry, as did the traverse to Wilson and the scrambling on gladstone and wilson pk. It was HOT by 10 AM below treeline. Not warm, like shirtless in running shorts hot. 
10/5/2021
Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 10/7/2021, By: Will_E
Info: Did the Wilson-El Diente traverse Tuesday from Kilpacker. A lot more snow than I expected, particularly up high. I went up Wilson first via the SW slopes, then across the traverse to El Diente. Did a variation at the end of El Diente that went south of the summit and up a gully, the north side had more snow. I took microspikes with, but never ended up using them. 
14
10/4/2021
Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 10/9/2021, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Wilson Peak on Monday October 4 and had a good look at the north side of the mountain. 
2
9/26/2021
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/27/2021, By: mtgoatmike
Info: The route descriptions, once above treeline, are pretty accurate. There is snow along the route on the north side, just prior to the summit. Traction would have been nice, but is doable without. The snow has a fall line towards a dramatic drop, but there are stable rocks on your left (when climbing up) to hold on to for support. 
9/25/2021
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/27/2021, By: cklaiber
Info: Went for the traverse from Kilpacker basin starting with El Diente. The whole south slopes route to the summit was in summer conditions although there is some snow on the North side of the mountain lingering from a week or so back. I did happen to leave a jacket/ hoody on the summit of El Diente (green and maroon Melanzana hoodie that has some sentimental value to me) I would really love to get it back if anyone happened to grab it! Will buy you beer or dinner!! We stayed high on the traverse and again avoided all snow to the summit of Mt. Wilson. Overall a beautiful day with excellent conditions for the whole day. There was virtually no wind either which made for some pleasant time on the summits. Would've been a perfect day in the mountains spent with good company if it wasn't for my bone-headed mistake of leaving my jacket behind. I am thankful this mistake in the alpine did not prove to be more costly. 
1
9/25/2021
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/25/2021, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Day tripped El Diente and Wilson from Kilpacker without a traverse between them. El D is summer conditions until you cross to the North side of the mountain, where snow is lingering in the gullies. It's enough snow to be a little sketchy in some no-slip areas. I packed spikes just in case something was lingering on the N side and was glad I did, though a few people were managing without. I skipped the final gully and climbed the class 3 direct to the summit ridge and over to the summit. Summit register is broken. 
1
8/22/2021
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/22/2021, By: Pika_wanderer
Info: All remaining patches of ice and snow are completely avoidable on this route, as of today. Heard and witnessed significant rockfall on this route today- not sure if this is normal or due to recent heavy precipitation. Regardless, extra care must be taken on any route of this mountain... 
8/21/2021
Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 8/22/2021, By: MountainBuhn
Info: Dubious weather most of the morning. Low hanging dark clouds and some rain from 7am on. We still went for it. Largest concern was north facing section. 2 inches of snow has turned into ice, so tread carefully on the final 100 to El Diente and between the narrows and final crux on the traverse heading to Wilson. Traverse Mostly dry still. Got hammered with sleet on the way down from Wilson. Downclimb from Mt Wilson to Kilpacker might be the worst downclimb I've ever done outside of challenger. Loose, mini fridge and bigger boulders. Challenging day, but rewarding. 
5
8/18/2021
Route: Kilpacker Approach
Posted On: 8/20/2021, By: ericd01
Info: A spectacular way to see the Uncompahgre-San Juan range even with clouds. 5-mile 2WD forest road up to Kilpacker TH. Summit ascent is 6.3-miles and took 4.5-hrs. 1/2 of trail is meandering in potentially wet green vegetation, the other 1/2 is well cairned talus fields. Gulley below organ pipe rocks was loose rock & collapsed cairns until on the solid tooth. Combined with a traverse, the additional 2-hr, 1-mile section over to Mt Wilson has similar ridge exposure loose around small gendarmes and a solid narrow knife edge. No snow, leather gloves & comfy shoes worked well. A 7-mile descent, 4 hours back to parking lot. 
3
7/27/2021
Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/28/2021, By: toxqan
Info: Hiked into Kilpacker basin on the afternoon of 7/26 and set up camp after the creek crossing. The hike in was rather muddy and wet. Even after the rain stopped lingering rain on plants in the meadows soaked my pants. Started up the south slopes of El Diente at 3:45am. The majority of the route was straightforward and dry, but there some of gullys near the top were a bit wet and loose. Topped out on El Diente around 7am and began the traverse shortly after. The traverse itself is dry. The first third of it takes you under some really loose looking towers so be careful. About halfway across I did hear some rock fall in the vicinity of El Diente's south slopes which heightened my awareness. The rest of the traverse was as described, with the last third as spicy as expected. I would note that there are cairns on the class 4 crux that can be followed to avoid dicey areas. Topped out on Mt. Wilson around 10am and started descending the southwest slopes after resting. The portion of the descent above 13k was rather nasty, wet and loose. I found it hard to avoid dislodging rocks. Portions of the trail were eroded as well. Picking my way through the talus and scree down to the turnoff for El Diente was tedious. On the plus side I was able to glissade a few lower angle snow patches lower down. These could probably be avoided if desired. The rest of the hike back to camp was uneventful with some light rain. Made it back to camp about three hours after summiting Mt. Wilson and back to the trailhead 1.5 hours after packing up camp. All in all, a successful and enjoyable outing that certainly would have benefited from dryer conditions. 
3
7/10/2021
Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 7/12/2021, By: donovanrice
Info: Did North Buttress up El Diente, then the traverse to Mt Wilson, then down North Slopes of Mt Wilson. Camped at Navajo Lake the night before and after. You could also camp in the upper Navajo Basin, but it would be exposed. Really refreshing water in the basin! North Buttress was really enjoyable, with solid rock virtually the entire route. We took the alternate route proposed by KeithK at the top, and it was really intuitive and solid. Only snow we encountered was during the traverse right before the final gully to Mt Wilson. Looks like you could maneuver around it, though the 3 of us crossed it just fine without traction (1 had ice axe, 1 had whippet, and 1 had no self arrest device). Descending North Slope of Mt Wilson was tedious with loose rocks, but no mandatory snow crossings. The next day, we hiked up the Rock of Ages saddle in attempt to summit Wilson Peak, but we turned around out of sheer exhaustion from the day before. Better safe than sorry, and the peak will always be there in the future! 
7/7/2021
Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 7/8/2021, By: Wentzl
Info: Cougar's report from 7/6 is accurate. Just posting here to add photos for anyone who wants them. My first time on this route. Very fun! 
4 6
7/6/2021
Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 7/7/2021, By: cougar
Info: Summer conditions, no snow or ice 
4
7/4/2021
Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/8/2021, By: kdrhodes1
Info: Camped at Navajo Lake on Saturday (7/3), and climbed El Diente from the South Slopes (7/4). This route required some backtracking to get to Kilpacker, but we decided it was a safer route than either the North Slopes or North Buttress (we didn't bring ice axes). We did talk to a couple of guys the following day who had attempted from the North and turned back around 13,900 due to unstable rock, so we were happy we took the long route. Lots of loose rock on the South slopes as well, but it's manageable to avoid the worst of the scree if you choose your path wisely. We then did the traverse, which was a lot of fun, but took quite a bit of time (maybe 3+ hours). There are lots of variations to make the route easier or more difficult, and we used the pics from the .com frequently for route finding, although it's basically a “choose your own adventure”. We did put on spikes for one short snow crossing near the end of the traverse, although you could probably find an alternate route to avoid it. We also went left on the summit block, which isn't bad at all. From Mt Wilson, we then descended via the North Slopes. This route was fine, felt pretty stable, a cake walk compared to the traverse (albeit a long suffer-fest of a cake walk). There were a few snow patches, but not much left for glissading. Overall, a very long day starting at Navajo Lake and then going Kilpacker to the South Slopes and then over- but we all agreed that we were very happy with our route choices, given conditions and recent reports! After camping at the lake again, we then climbed Wilson Peak on Monday, 7/5. This was a breeze after our previous day. The only snow to cross is just above the lake before you really start climbing. This route has some really fun scrambling! Probably one of my favorite 14ers in terms of fun scramble sections. A few areas look intimidating, but the rock is solid when you need it to be. 
12
7/2/2021
Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2021, By: quinnwolf
Info: Summer conditions. Some minor snowfields that can be avoided with some route finding. The final gully immediately below the summit is filled in with snow and should not be touched without proper snow gear (at least an ice axe), but there is a short fun scramble (class 3, not too exposed, mostly solid rock) to the left that takes you above the snowfield.