Mt. Oso

Route: Rock lake
Posted On: 9/5/2024, By: tdawg012
Info: Beware of mama bear and 3 cubs near summit. I am not joking! They were about 400 ft below summit when I saw them. 

Route: From Pine River
Posted On: 8/17/2024, By: desertdog
Info: We met at the Pine River TH at 3pm and knocked off 8 miles of the approach that afternoon. That went easy and the trail is great. Seeing Emerald Lake was worth the price of admission for this long approach. At the north end of Emerald the trail is a little hard to follow. Pay attention. We got off it and lost some time. After Emerald Lake the trail is wet and muddy in places. Theres water running down it in short sections. I would steer clear of this trail in wet weather as the water flow on the trail would really slow you down. As for Oso it was loose, but not hard. There are two gullys that will get you up on the ridge. Choose the one close to Osos summit, not the one at the saddle with Soso. This will allow you to avoid the Gendarmes on the ridge. No surprise that there are great views of the Wemi from the summit! Better than hiking in from Beartown? Maybe. Its longer but you get that view of Emerald Lake and Ive had my fill of the Beartown drive (for now). 

Route: Pine River/Emerald Lake Approach
Posted On: 6/7/2024, By: Tweedie
Info: Hiked from Pine River CG up the Pine and Lake Creek to the north side of Emerald Lake. The the next day climbed up to Moon Lake with hopes of Mt Oso. Creek crossings were okay, started to hit snow below Moon Lake. Moon Lake was frozen, except the edges. solid snow from Moon to Oso. Climbed up the upper basing below Oso, but snow was getting soft around 9am and the couloir and ridge would have been really soft for a slide or tons of post holing. turned around and went back to fish Emerald Lake. 

Route: Rock Creek
Posted On: 8/25/2023, By: CarpeDM
Info: Given the large number of trees affected by beetle-kill in the Weminuche, I've been concerned about the danger of wildfires. But a less dramatic, less catastrophic, but maybe more irritating consequence is all the deadfall across the trails. The approach up Rock Creek for Mt Oso is a prime example. At one point, I counted 9 downed trees to climb over in a stretch of about 100 feet. (That was definitely the worst stretch, though.) Many or most have reasonably good work-arounds, some don't, but they're all still annoying for a backpacker -- especially when you can see how good the actual trail is. The deadfall issue largely goes away above about 11,200 on the Rock Creek trail. Good campsite options aren't that plentiful until probably AT LEAST 11,400, but you really want to get to at least 11,500/11,600, and even higher if you can. Below that, any open flat spots tend to be marshy and/or have a wall of willows guarding water access. Strong hikers going light may be able to camp at the Vallecito/Rock Creek junction, but to me that reduces the chances of success and adding secondary objectives more than I'd personally be comfortable with. I initially had a moment's trouble locating the trail around Rock Lake, but once over to the east side of the lake where it starts to ascend, it's a great trail up to the pass that's above Rock Lake to the south. There looks to be a "little bump" just above and west of this pass, but the actual terrain looks nothing like the gently rounded bump on the topo. It's not difficult to navigate, though. I headed southwest over this bump to close the distance between it and the talus gully that leads to Oso's SSE ridge. In getting up the talus gully, I crossed some steep grass near the top -- and then easily avoided a belt of snow as well just before the ridge. This steep grass and talus was a bit daunting on the way down given that the on-and-off rain and hail made it pretty slippery. Once at the ridge, I remembered that it was supposedly better/more solid -- and in fact seemed to be -- to contour west to the next rib to the west and then up (compared with just going straight up the ridge). 

Route: Pine River to Lake Fork to Moon Lake
Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: blazintoes
Info: Took the long way in and camped at Moon Lake because Stony Pass is still snowy according to the SJ Trail group. Many creek and willow crossings. Launched Saturday morning around Moon Lake and up the Oso/SoSo saddle. Crampons and ax needed. One of us chose the class 5 ridge proper and two descended and traversed on choss to the summit. Ammo box on the summit. Beautiful weather for monsoon season that seems delayed. We continued to SoSo and needed our axes for one transition otherwise excellent scrambling conditions to the top. We descended SoSos east ridge and had a few glissades. One continued to the remaining 13ers nearby and two continued to Rock Lake. Great remote peaks, great weather, great company and one curious camp marmot. No gear was harmed, just nibbled. 

Route: Rock Lake
Posted On: 8/8/2022, By: dwoodward13
Info: From a camp at the Vallecito/Rock Creek Junction. Rock Creek Trail is extremely wet but does have minimal deadfall. Expect wet feet no matter boots or trail runners. There is a nice trail heading up Half Moon Pass from Rock Lake although it isn't on some maps. Some loose rock on the backside of the 2nd saddle but not super terrible. Outstanding views. Incredibly moving summit register. 

Route: Rock Lake Approach from Beartown
Posted On: 7/19/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: We began at Beartown and hiked over Hunchback Pass to the Vallecito Creek trail, past Nebo Creek, to Rock Creek, and up Rock Creek to about a quarter mile below the lake. There's a small camping area for 2-3 tents on a flat-ish pad above a couple of switchbacks, basically the first ones you encounter several miles up Rock Creek. There's also camping at the lake, just be mindful of keeping the area clean of trash and human waste and impact. NOTE: Since this was ascended a while ago and I'm just now getting back to internet, I've put today's date for visibility, since there hasn't otherwise been recent updates for the peak. I'll backdate this CR in a couple of days. 

Route: Southwest Ridge from Rock Lake/Point 13,060 C
Posted On: 7/19/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: From Point 13,060 C we descended south on nice grassy slopes towards the Mount Oso/"Mount SoSo" saddle. We spied another talus gully to the north of that, higher up on the ridge, and ascended that instead. It was basically the same exact thing, just nearer to us. There was a small snowfield at the top which was easily avoided. From there we ascended up more talus and crappy rock, some of it Class 3 scrambling and loose, to the broad summit plateau/ridge area. The scrambling can be avoided at about Class 2+ if desired, it's just loose junk like almost everything in this area. The summit plateau is a broad talus field that's easy but tedious to the summit. On the way down we avoided the scrambling by simply descending loose talus (appropriate spacing and/or a helmet is recommended), then went to the Oso/"SoSo" saddle instead of descending the gully we had come up. This was a bit further but easier and safer than descending the steeper ascent gully. There was some scrambling and route finding high up in the basin hugging below the ridge and over some ribs to the saddle, but nothing bad, probably Class 3 or so. We went down the saddle to the east and then back up the grassy slopes towards 13,060 C to the pass, then onward to Point 13,140 C and "Weminuche Peak". Photos: 1) "Mount SoSo" on the left and Mount Oso on the right. The gully we ascended is left of Oso and capped with snow. 2) Traversing around after climbing the gully. 3, 4, and 5) Typical scrambling on the ridge. 5 (Garrett M.)) Summit plateau. 6) Talus we descended instead of the loose scramble. 7) Traversing around to the Oso/"SoSo" saddle. NOTE: Since this was ascended a while ago and I'm just now getting back to internet, I've put today's date for visibility, since there hasn't otherwise been recent updates for the peak. I'll backdate this CR in a couple of days. 

Route: Moon Lake
Posted On: 6/29/2020, By: Shattuck311
Info: Some small snow patches that are all avoidable. Basically summer conditions. Beautiful up there right now! 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 8/31/2018, By: illusion7il
Info: I took the pine river trail 6 miles to the emerald lake trail 10 miles to moon lake. There were just a few down trees across the trail. With the approach trails being mostly smooth and low grade, this made for relatively quick travel. I was able to locate a couple social trails through the basin and then went up a steep scree slope where i joined the standard ridge route. Have a great holiday weekend everyone. 

Route: south ridge/slopes
Posted On: 8/12/2012, By: rijaca
Info: Clear and dry.