Unnamed 13838

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 5/5/2026, By: eliyancey
Info: Snow free until ~12,400 in upper Silver Creek Basin. To gain the saddle between 13838 and Redcloud required consistent postholing occasionally up to my knees. Fresh, sugary snow that broke with every step. From there about 75% of the remaining route is snow travel with some sidehilling that wasn't too fun. Still managed to summit both; just required more time and care. We'll see what this storm tomorrow delivers to the San Juans. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 2/13/2026, By: Yikes
Info: Distance: 10.1 miles
Elevation Gain: 4921

I remember the good old days, when it was only 13,811 feet.

Lake City is painfully dry, like NO snow. There was a little more snow once you get past Lake San Cristobal, but not much.

There is a picnic area on the right immediately before Bent Creek, which made a nice place to sleep in the truck and be off the road. The bushwhacking up the ridge starts immediately from the picnic area; you don't really need to look around for some questionable starting location. The initial section of ridge is pretty steep and has lots of downed trees/branches which slow you down a bit. Several cliff bands and loose rock sections also contributed to my less than blistering pace. The snow was pretty spotty near treeline; snowshoes worked well on the way up (love my elevators for the assist), but not worth taking them on/off twenty times on the decent. I backtracked to my ascent line; the devil you know...


Not the worst bushwhack, but wondering if the extra miles taking the Williams Creek Trail might have been worth it. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 9/1/2025, By: sehessler92
Info: Both UNs are in great shape. With the colder weather moving in, a few rocks had some ice, so use caution on the crossings. We followed the trail that skirts around the first UN a little longer than necessary, which put us at the farther peak first before looping back along a more direct ridge route. Started just after 4 a.m. and returned to the cars by 10:30 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 8/26/2025, By: ncxhjhgvbi
Info: Did an out and back from Grizzly Gulch while somehow dodging the rain completely. Super cool trail from the Redcloud saddle to 13820. Out and back to 13838 felt like a slog, especially on the way back over the bumps. Stay high and left heading up 13838 for firmer ground, it was soft taking a lower line and progress was slow. Foraged some tart raspberries down low! 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 6/22/2025, By: corunner
Info: Both UN Cents are accessible from the various approaches. I went up Alpine Gulch approaching from the east. All snow fields are easily navigable with no traction needed. 

Route: From Williams Creek
Posted On: 8/9/2024, By: astranko
Info: Williams Creek Trail is in great shape, although it (unsurprisingly) doesn't precisely follow what is on the USFS 2016 map. The OSM (caltopo) sections that are there are accurate, although it's missing most of it.

Day came out to 5.4k, ~14mi to tag 13,838 and 13,820. I'd highly recommend this route as a day of good, clean, cardio fun. The good trail and easy grass lead to a quick day for the distance and vert. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 8/4/2024, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Completed from Grizzly Gulch - Summer conditions and beautiful weather... non-threatening clouds even came in to shield from the midday heat on the way down!! Rest of the hike looks deceptively hard once you first ascend the ridge connecting to Redcloud... but there's a sustained trail for 95% of the way past that point and I found the vert to be not bad at all. Whole thing took me 5:37 (fast hiking/slow running). 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: dr_j
Info: Summer conditions. The social trail is fairly clear starting from the Redcloud saddle all the way to UN 13811. The lower trail has a few sections of deadfall, and avoidable last bits of snow. It's wet with all the runoff. Flowers are starting to pop in the lower sections, and should be good for another 6 weeks or so.

Road leading to Grizzly Gulch is fine, just take it slow after the gate. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 6/17/2024, By: kashley0807
Info: Trail up to Redcloud saddle in essentially summer conditions. There were 2 small snowfields that can be avoided if desired. Remaining route summer conditions. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 9/9/2023, By: PikaSteve
Info: Beautiful day with dry conditions. Great CFI trail to 13,000 saddle with Redcloud. Well defined trail from saddle across steep talus face of point 13561 and on to just below summit. Picked an easy line up last 100 feet.
Started the day with frost and finished in shorts. Aspen still 99% green. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Full on summer. As previous poster said, some deadfall down low. Both bathrooms were closed "for maintenance". No indication of when they would reopen so, plan for that. I am assuming they'll be open by the 4th. Parking lot was full Sat and Sun (morning/day), but plenty of space Fri and Sat eves. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: mjlucarelli
Info: All snow crossings are on the standard route to Redcloud Peak, which I crossed without any gear. Once you reach the ridge between Redcloud and PT 13,561 your route is snow free all the way to 13,832. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 8/14/2022, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: Nice Class 1 trail, easy stable rock, a few easy creek crossings. To gentle grassy slopes, faint intermittent trail with some cairns to guide your way. This is a beautiful route. Wonderful views of Redcloud, Handies, Chicago Basin, and nearby San Juan Peaks. Camped at 12,600'. Didn't see an obvious trail up to the summit. Between 50' and 100' below the summit just headed up the grassy/rocky slope to the summit. Rewarded with magnificent views of the San Juans. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 7/8/2022, By: tortilla
Info: The register paper was soaked, I removed it. Register tube is intact, the lid just wasn't screwed on right. Bring paper if you wish to sign in. The wildflowers are very nice in many places along this route right now. 

Route: Combo: 13,832 + 13,811
Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: vertical_volume
Info: Summer conditions! Fun ridge run