Since there are very few trip reports for the La Plata mountain range near Durango, I figured I would add one.

Mt. Moss via Tomahawk Basin - 7/5/14
Starting Elevation = 9,900'
Peak Elevation = 13,192'
Elevation Gain = 3,292'
Mileage (RT) = Slightly less than 6 miles

Getting there:
We hiked Mt. Moss via the Tomahawk Basin, which you access from the La Plata Canyon road. If you're coming from Durango, head west on 160 towards Hesperus and take a right at the Kennebec Cafe and drive into the canyon. The asphalt turns to a dirt road accessible by 2WD vehicles. After the Boren Creek crossing, the road starts to get boney and I wouldn't suggest driving a 2WD vehicle past this point. Continuing on the bumpy dirt road, you'll pass Lewis Creek campground on your right. Continue about another mile until you pass a slightly hidden 4WD road that is a 120-degree turn uphill on your left. There are a few spots on the right where you can pull off and park. Or you can continue another 200 yards and park near an unmarked campground area on the right. There's plenty of room for multiple vehicles here.

The hike:
You'll start by following the 4X4 road up a gentle climb through the trees. Follow this road for a little while, until you come to a fork in the road. I believe you can go either left or right here and it'll take you to above an old mining mill. Left is the quicker route. The left route will end at the base of an orange hill below the mill. There are a few small trails that go up this steep loose hill.

The Old Mill

Continue on the 4x4 road, up a few switchbacks until you reach a switchback at the base of another orange colored hill. You'll see a narrow trail up some loose steeper terrain. We missed this trail and ended up following the 4x4 road up to the north and had to cross a side slope of talus, which slowed us down a bit.

Talus Fun! Mt. Moss in the background on the right. You gain the ridge connecting Babcock and Mt. Moss on the backside of Tomahawk Basin.

Either trail you follow, you have to head west towards the waterfall (seen in the picture above) and ascend up around it to the right. I scrambled up a gully to the far right, while Ross made his way up the green gully in the center of the above picture.

Once you get above the waterfall, the Babcock peaks will grab your attention. They are much more impressive from Tomahawk basin, compared to going up the Boren Creek drainage to the south.

Babcock Peaks and some Rocky Mountain Columbine wildflowers

Panorama of the Babcock Peaks.

Eventually you'll get to the base of the Babcock-Moss ridge and you'll have to choose your route up to one of the notches to gain the ridge. A few trip reports I've read suggest heading for the southern most notch (on the left) where there is a little more grass for easier hiking. We chose to go up the middle and gain the ridge to the right of taller spire in the middle of the picture below.

Babcock-Moss Ridge

Our ascent up the steep slope.

Once we gained the ridge, we had to negotiate a few spires on some class 2 terrain.

A nice look at the ridgeline up to the top of Mt. Moss.

There was one class 3 move just past the large rock formation on the above picture on the right. This is where a steep rocky gully enters the ridgeline (which we would later descend). We went around the rock formation to the right (east), but went up and around the gully. The picture below shows this area, but you can't really see the gully down to the left. I think you can go around the rock formation to the left (west) too, but it looked loose and steep. Plus there was a marmot down there staring at me and I wanted no part of him.

Once we got around this obstacle, it was class 2 up larger talus and some dirt along the west side of the ridge. You gain the ridge in another 100 yards. At this point, the east side of the ridge drops off straight down into Tomahawk Basin, so you continue to stay on the west side of the ridge. (Note, the rock on the west side of the ridge is very...mossy and slippery.)

Looking back to Babcock after regaining the ridge crest.

The home stretch to Mt. Moss's summit.

Panorama from Mt. Moss, looking west. Left to right, Hesperus, Lavender, Centennial.

We were planning on climbing up Lavender but the forecast called for thunderstorms by 11 in the area and it was already 9:15. We already had one run-in with a lightning storm while trying to climb Babcock a month ago, so we played it safe and headed back without summiting Lavender.

Ross at the summit, with Babcock, the knife ridge and Spiller peak in the background (left to right).

Me enjoying some delicious Krave Jerky at the summit of Mt. Moss, with Hesperus and Lavender in the background. Mmm mmm.

On the descent, we decided to test out the steep rock gully, which was the first exit off of the ridgeline heading down. It was full of loose scree but also some solid hand holds. A fun and quick descent.

Right as we got back to the car, it started to hail on us. The clouds looked ominous. We made the right call.

Looking back at La Plata Canyon from Kennebec Café.

Fun hike. Like everything in the La Plata Canyon, it's a steep uphill to the ridgelines, but not a lot of mileage round trip.