Jagged Mountain

Route: Sunlight Creek approach
Posted On: 10/7/2024, By: pshugrue
Info: Backpacked to Sunlight Creek from Vallecito. North face of Jagged is iced over and wont be melting this year, despite how mostly bare the San Juans look. We had spikes, a rope, and cams, and it felt too dangerous to even attempt a summit. Got rained off it a month ago. Will be back next year for #100. 

Route: from Leviathan Lake
Posted On: 9/2/2024, By: 9patrickmurphy
Info: I was concerned about climbing this route from what I had read on this site, so here's my two cents: for someone with plenty of experience scrambling with exposure, this route is a piece of cake to climb up and down completely ropeless. We climbed this at the tail end of a week-long trip grabbing many peaks around Balsam Lake and Lake Silex. Our intention was only to climb Leviathan Peak and Vallecito Mountain this day, so we camped at the west end of Leviathan Lake. After making quick work of the first two peaks, Jagged looked so close, I was feeling excellent, the weather looked great, and my partner (who had climbed it before) assured me we could get it done without issue. I thought crux 1 felt like class 4, and it seems there are many ways to get up it; we took a ledgy line on climber's right. It took some meandering on very steep grass ledges to find crux 2, which was the only tricky routefinding we encountered. Crux 2 was a difficult move, but I found it easy enough with my back to the wall and walking my feet up as though I were in a chimney. Crux 3 is an airy chimney with kitty litter at the top, and is probably only class 4. The 4th crux at the chockstone chimney was a breeze if you've ever stemmed up a chimney, though my height (5'10") seemed to give me a slight advantage over my partner. I figured I'd be nervous downclimbing everything, but somehow the entire mountain was much easier and quicker going down than going up. This climb was a blast and was way easier than I expected. I now agree with my friends who have told me a rope is unnecessary, as there was no crux on the route I felt terrifically uncomfortable downclimbing. edit to add: We descended down Leviathan Creek, which I had heard very little about except from one friend who described it as "pleasant". I can't agree, it was quite the bushwhack. Getting around the lake was no easy feat, and there are a lot of cliffs and very steep terrain to negotiate the first few hundred feet below the lake. Then it was a bushwhack through lots of tall grass. We did eventually find a trail that got better and better as we went lower, but we would still lose it frequently. At points it had switchbacks or was hewn into talus slopes, suggesting that this was purposefully constructed at some point. At flat terrain closer to Vallecito Creek though, we lost it and just started bushwhacking to the creek. So, this route goes, but it was not easy or pleasant in our experience. We were wondering if all the rain the mountains have been getting has made the vegetation more lush and therefore the bushwhack more difficult, but who's to say. 

Route: Noname Basin approach
Posted On: 9/1/2024, By: rleclair
Info: From Needleton, the approach to Noname Creek is a mixture of a hiking on a well-established trail with some minor route-finding to mix things up a bit. Crossing Noname Creek, there's a reasonably good trail to a cairn pile that marks the beginning of the Noname Basin approach. We were using HikerGuy's GPX route for navigation in Gaia GPS most of the time. For ~2 miles or so, there is a good trail that stays well north of Noname Creek. Never cross Noname Creek. Minor downfall. But then the sufferfest begins. The remainder of the route to Jagged Cabin is a jumble pile of downed trees not only in the avalanche debris area but outside of the avy area as well. The trail comes and goes but following the GPX route we were able to find our way somewhat easily. Be prepared for a lot of climbing up/down over fallen trees. From Jagged Cabin, route does get better leading to the camping sites at the end of the meadow area. From camp and ascending towards the saddle is a nightmarish number of downed trees yet again to treeline then the difficulty eases a bit as far a tree jumping calisthenics goes. From the saddle to the beginning of the climb (crux 1) is a side traversing trail. Summer conditions. 

Route: Vallecito > Sunlight
Posted On: 8/18/2024, By: ablocki
Info: A few notes from Jagged. Major highlight - it looks like someone cleaned all gear off the route. Despite many other trip reports citing plenty of rappel stations and anchors along the standard route, the only pieces I could find were the two bolts on the summit for the full rap to Crux 2 and a slashed piece of 8mm cord. Literally nothing else and we definitely looked on the way down. Vallecito trail is in great shape to the Sunlight turnoff. Recent tree clearing meant zero serious downed trees on the trail for the full 13 miles. Crossings seemed obvious and weren't more than knee-high. Sunlight drainage trail is...there. Use a GPX (I used zootloopz's and supranihilest's) and be patient if you get lost and it will show itself. Only spot we got lost going up and coming down was the yellow circle area from Nathan_Hale's 2021 report. Keep pushing there and you'll find the switchbacks We were able to keep cruxes 1 and 2 to class 4 or easier with some help from supranihilest and kempenjn. On crux 1, supra mentions coming to a platform where the harder climbing starts and talks about Roach's slabby class 4 option. I think we found this C4 route just left of the platform. The attached photo shows the crescent-shaped rock that we used to find the start in blue and Roach's easier C4 ramp in red. On crux 2, VeraUndertow and kempenjn's route to the right also kept things well below class 5. On the way up, we used the area marked in blue (a tight squeeze with a pack) and on the way down, we used the area marked in yellow. Both of these felt like class 3-4 at most. We brought rope, protection, and webbing, but with these tricks we ended up never using any of it. Crux 3 had one or two C5 moves and the chimney scoot wasn't as bad as I feared. Thank you ALL for your wonderful trip reports over the years that make a trip like this so much easier! 

Route: North Face
Posted On: 7/7/2024, By: Justin9
Info: Good to go with a single snow patch to avoid down low. Route goes as normal. No special gear required. We downclimbed all but one 20 section. Rap slings were mostly faded from the winter. 

Route: Standard North Face
Posted On: 9/11/2023, By: VeraUndertow
Info: Climbed the standard route on Jagged, route is pretty obvious in person after studying route descriptions and photos for way too long. The first pitch had many different ways up with varying amounts of wet slab and kitty litter covered grassy ledges. The kitty litter ledges above this has lots of ways to go and all were pretty similarly loose but easy enough climbing. The second pitch with the 6 foot blank block was not my favorite so I climbed around the corner to the right of it which felt almost class 4 instead. The 3rd pitch was my favorite with good positive holds on solid rock. On the south side the chimney with the chockstones was not that difficult technically or as exposed feeling, but was very physical. The chockstone was slung with neon pink webbing that looked very fresh, no rap ring, not quite sure why. The summit of Jagged feels like it's right in the heart of the Wemi and is one of the best views around, definitely worth the trip. The summit register PVC tube is missing one cap and had no paper or pen in it. I didn't protect any of the climbing on the way up and climbed in approach shoes. I rapped off a slung block that bypasses the chockstone chimney back to the south side, then rapped the third pitch which dropped me right near the second pitch rap station. I chose not to rap the second pitch since the one piece of webbing was sun faded and the second pitch where I climbed up was definitely down climbable (for me). The first pitch (lowest pitch) had good webbing and I rapped that one as well, I got off Jagged and back to the pass north of Leviathan around 11am as a rapid moving lightning and graupel storm came through. Happy to have that one done, certainly a unique peak in a beautiful area. Sorry I don't have more pictures of the climbing, I was focused on making it up and down safely. Looks like snow in the forecast so I'm not sure if there is another window this year, but hopefully there is still some good weather windows. 

Route: standard
Posted On: 8/29/2023, By: abreibart
Info: Great conditions from Beartown-Hunchback Pass-Sunlight Creek to summit. No snow. Just a lot of rain and wet rock. No summit register. The trails do have cairns and you do cross Sunlight Creek twice and multiple streams. There are a lot of down logs on the trails. FYI. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 8/23/2023, By: tjf242424
Info: Totally dry/snow free as of Aug 21. We approached from Hunchback Pass and Leviathan Creek. There is a good trail up Leviathan Creek as far as the waterfall coming off Silex. We could not find any obvious trail beyond that, but we also stayed well north of the creek, aiming for a small lake at 12,400 ft north of Leviathan Lake. There are good but exposed campsites at this lake. The route on Jagged is obvious. I led the whole thing in boots and placed only a few cams (BD 0.75 and 1 most useful, plus a few slings). We made 4 rappels with a 60m rope, essentially reversing the ascent route. I also did Leviathan and Vallecito before returning to camp (descent from Leviathan to the saddle is spicy). We drove almost all the way to Beartown in a Rivian truck, stopping about 0.75 mi before the TH. My Subaru probably could have made it to the same spot. Beyond that point, it would be best to have a Jeep or similar. 

Route: Sunlight Creek
Posted On: 8/22/2023, By: pbradley14er
Info: I did not climb Jagged, but went by it. Jagged mountain in summer conditions. What snow there is one can avoid. 

Route: Standard from Noname Basin
Posted On: 8/25/2022, By: Danger_D
Info: Will post a trip report when I get a chance, but there were a few condition updates I wanted to post first. The last condition report from 8/6 is still accurate, and the advice to not rap down the chock-stone gully is very wise. I will add that I placed a reverses nut at the top of the chockstone while I was belaying my partner up. This prevented the rope from grinding in the crack. I thought the crux of the route was the approach up Noname basin. Its beautiful and remote, but its also overgrown with a lot of deadfall from 9,900 through 10,300. Finding the trail up Noname was crucial, especially since the lower half would be heinous side-hilling bushwhack. We found a couple GPX routes online that were marginally helpful but missed the start of this no-name trail. We found the base of the trail to be at 37.66428, -107.67817 . If you are following Roach's description thats the campsite with the power poll 

Route: Standard - from Sunlight Creek
Posted On: 8/9/2022, By: Chicago Transplant
Info: North Side: Crux 1: 4th class route is wet, we went basically straight up the rappel at ~5.4. Placed one #5 Metolius Master Cam. Sometimes the handholds are kind of behind you. Anchor was in good shape, multiple stands of webbing. Appx 85'. Crux 2: We did an awkward chimney shimmy against the wall, no protection. 8 foot "2 move wonder" climbing but the anchor is higher up. Single webbing but in good shape, we did not double it up. Rap off that anchor is Appx 75'? Crux 3: Took the left option ~5.2, no protection. Awkward mantle at top with a grass hold for the right hand and gravel palm hold on the left. Anchor was good here as well, but I can't remember its construction. Did not check out the right option. Maybe 25-30'. In between the cruxes the ledges are more gravelly than the first time I did this peak due to more traffic over the years, this can be a positive (less wet grass after a rain) or negative (looser than grass). After the Notch: Go up left directly up (stiff 4, tricky to downclimb with blind feet), go behind a flake and down a narrow chimney to get on the ledge. Step around a bulge and to the base of the summit chimney. The new chockstone in that chimney makes this canyoneering at 13,750'. Did an elevator technique, back on the left wall, feet on the right and shimmy up until you can sit on the smaller chockstone to get over. The moves are weird, and watch your head! Not sure how to grade it honestly but aside from the crux move on pitch 1 it was the hardest thing we did all day. Rope will catch in the slot between the chockstones. One last exposed slab step around move right below the summit with thin holds, you have to downclimb this move as well to get to the anchor. Do NOT rap the chimney, instead rap to the ledge at the point before the bulge move, it will make sense when you are there - you can see a wide grass/gravel eddy in the ledge. Rope pull is clean this way and won't catch in the chockstone. Anchor was two cords and webbing, the cords are getting near the end of life and may need replacement soon. I have no pictures except for on the summit, sorry. Group of 2 so I was either climbing, belaying, or rappeling at each crux and didn't have a free hand for pics. 

Route: Leviathan
Posted On: 8/8/2022, By: dwoodward13
Info: Did not summit due to conditions. Headed up Leviathan from Vallecito Trail. There were previously cairns marking the turnoff, but they were knocked over. We built them back up, but I don't expect them to last. We also built some a little further off the Vallecito trail in the small meadow that will probably last longer. Trail gets very thin after crossing the river in a marshy area, but on the far side in the trees is pretty nice. At some point near 11.2 crossing one of the many grassy meadows (huge plants this year!) we completely lost the trail and never found it again, which was not fun in the dark. Ended up waiting in the dark for some more light to continue on. Went around the Leviathan Lake on the S side and it went fine. Standard mix of talus all the way up to the saddle where Jagged comes into view for the first time. What an incredible viewpoint. All of the rock on P1 was soaking wet, and knowing most of the grass would be as well, we bailed on the summit attempt as we were not going to be comfortable with our plan to free solo climb on the ascent. Descended Sunlight Creek for scouting purposes and there is a decent trail up until the very high basin near a lake near 12.2. IMO Sunlight is the better approach as far as navigation goes. Saw a badger high above treeline in the basin as well! 

Route: Beartown to Sunlight
Posted On: 9/22/2021, By: dcruz654
Info: Amazing conditions up there on Monday. Expect 2-3 hours from either Silverton or Creede. The 506 road is pretty gnarly the last couple miles to beartown, expect some dings. Sunlight creek trail is easy to follow except for maybe less than a quarter mile before the final headwall. However, about 40% of it is pretty over grown so you will be pushing branches and scraping lots along the way. Camp to base of jagged isn't too bad, it's just a decent amount of vert. We roped crux one and freed the rest. I placed a #2 BD (yellow) that would have taken a 3 better, and a #4 dmm torque nut (blue) in it's wide position on crux 1. Maybe two #3 BD's would have been all I needed? A negligible amount of snow on ledges above crux 1. Toping out crux 3 was a touch spicy with no hand holds. Final crux felt the easiest. Rapped crux 4,3,1. A 35 meter halved got us down each of those but just barely on crux one, we had to down climb 5'. Anchors are okay but just okay, definitely take backups just in case. Packing out was absolutely brutal, we did it after a long break at camp and got back to the TH at 9pm. 

Route: From Noname
Posted On: 9/7/2021, By: hellmanm
Info: Dry all the way. Crossing Noname Creek isn't an issue -- I kept my shoes on and my feet stayed dry. There is a TON of deadfall in Noname Basin -- stay high to the left and work your way up the basin via game trails if possible. Summer conditions on the scramble/climb. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 9/2/2021, By: Nathan Hale
Info: Completely clear of all of the snow from the prior week. The first crux had a bit of water running down it, but the route was otherwise dry.