Wetterhorn Peak Trip Report 07/17/2016

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Wetterhorn Peak - 14,021 feet Uncompahgre Peak - 14,318 feet
Date Posted	07/17/2016
Date Climbed	07/17/2016
Author	Psemin42

Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre Weekend
With a journey out to Grand Junction for a week of work coming up I was able to persuade my friend to leave the Friday before and make a sweeping loop to snag 2 peaks down in the San Juans before heading to GJ. We planned on doing Wetterhorn on Saturday and follow it up with Uncompahgre on Sunday. I didn't really feel like putting the extra miles on my Jeep so we decided to rent an SUV. The two 4-wheel drive roads to the two trailheads are actually pretty rough so we chose the category "4-Runner or similar"...they stuck us with a Hundai Sante Fe...absolutely no resemblance of a 4-Runner. This thing had the lowest clearance possible for these roads, we passed a Jeep Wrangler about a mile into the road for Uncompahgre and he just looked at me and asked dryly "you sure you want to do this?". But we made it without any issue...take that Wrangler guy! We awoke and hit the trail on Saturday a few minutes past 6, with the lower mileage and elevation gain there was no reason to make a pre-sunrise start. There is a really nice trail that leads you all the way up to Wetterhorn's Southeast ridge. It splits twice from two other trails without a sign specifically saying "Wetterhorn" so you just have to know the route. Once you reach the ridge you tackle a steeper dirt trail before hopping on rock for the rest of the hike. First full views of Wetterhorn When you reach the first section you need to either get over or go under and around a rock rib before going up the farthest gully. You can see where you need to go the whole time so you can pick whatever line you feel fit. The easiest route is to descend slightly and go under the rib or you can go up and over the rib with some Class 3 and maybe a low Class 4 move, the mountain is your canvas so paint your own route. Looking down the first gully Once you reach the top of the gully you run into the two notchs and you can see the summit. Like the route description says take the farthest right notch and descend a flat rock to where you will start the final summit pitch. This was the first Class 3 and definitely the most exposed route that my friend had ever done and she made it without too much of a problem! The rock is super solid and really fun with no tricky moves, I would give it low Class 3 with the exposure being the thing that gives people the most trouble. Like I told her, confidence and patience are key to learning how to climb harder terrain. There is a flat ledge towards the top that you can take a quick break on or you can just bomb it to the top. There is a little less opportunity to make your own line like the previous section but you can get a little creative if you feel like it. Coming up the exposed Class 3 summit pitch Once up this face, the landscape opens up to a great summit view of Matterhorn and Uncompahgre to the East and Sneffels to the West. Matterhorn in the foreground with Uncompahgre center back Like all climbing, especially exposed climbing, going down is the more mentally challenging portion but all the foot and hand holds are solid and I only had to front face on a section or two. Overall this mountain is pretty cool and gives you some fun climbing without making you walk a marathon to get there. The snow climb up the face looks like a great challenge in the future! We grabbed some food in Lake City, I would recommend trying Climb Elevated Eatery, it was pretty solid! After that we hopped back in the car and made our way to Uncompahgre where we head a run in with the Wrangler guy and took a freaking Sante Fe across a few stream crossings...should put that in their next commercial. There are some great camping spots closer to the trailhead with access to the creek for a nice ice bath. Similar to Wetterhorn, if you can make it up the 4-wheel drive roads both of these mountains offer a low mileage and elevation gain route option. Without the Class 3 section to worry about we slept in and hopped on the trail a little before 7. There is nicely maintained trail that will take you all the way to the small Class 2 scrambling section. Unlike Wetterhorn, you can see Uncompahgre's massive summit the whole way and any trail split offs are specifically marked. Pretty much the whole route up Uncompahgre It's a straight forward approach that also gives you a view of Point 13,158, which looks like it could offer some exciting terrain if you take the saddle between it and Uncompahgre. Point 13,158 from the saddle of Uncompahgre Once you switchback on the East face you will switch over to the West side and take some Class 2 or easy Class 3 (do what pleases you) scrambling to the easy final summit stretch. Coming down the Class 2+ on Uncompahgre The views from this summit are pretty awesome and it gives you a little bit more respect for Wetterhorn as the summit portion looks gnarly. If you want to venture over to the North side of the summit the look down will surely make your stomach squirm and up your anxiety level! Slightly exposed summit setting The descent down is just as straightforward as the ascent and with a good pace you can add this summit to your list within 4 hours of leaving the trailhead. 37 down, 21 to go! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre Weekend

With a journey out to Grand Junction for a week of work coming up I was able to persuade my friend to leave the Friday before and make a sweeping loop to snag 2 peaks down in the San Juans before heading to GJ. We planned on doing Wetterhorn on Saturday and follow it up with Uncompahgre on Sunday. I didn't really feel like putting the extra miles on my Jeep so we decided to rent an SUV. The two 4-wheel drive roads to the two trailheads are actually pretty rough so we chose the category "4-Runner or similar"...they stuck us with a Hundai Sante Fe...absolutely no resemblance of a 4-Runner. This thing had the lowest clearance possible for these roads, we passed a Jeep Wrangler about a mile into the road for Uncompahgre and he just looked at me and asked dryly "you sure you want to do this?". But we made it without any issue...take that Wrangler guy!

We awoke and hit the trail on Saturday a few minutes past 6, with the lower mileage and elevation gain there was no reason to make a pre-sunrise start. There is a really nice trail that leads you all the way up to Wetterhorn's Southeast ridge. It splits twice from two other trails without a sign specifically saying "Wetterhorn" so you just have to know the route. Once you reach the ridge you tackle a steeper dirt trail before hopping on rock for the rest of the hike.

When you reach the first section you need to either get over or go under and around a rock rib before going up the farthest gully. You can see where you need to go the whole time so you can pick whatever line you feel fit. The easiest route is to descend slightly and go under the rib or you can go up and over the rib with some Class 3 and maybe a low Class 4 move, the mountain is your canvas so paint your own route.

Once you reach the top of the gully you run into the two notchs and you can see the summit.

Like the route description says take the farthest right notch and descend a flat rock to where you will start the final summit pitch. This was the first Class 3 and definitely the most exposed route that my friend had ever done and she made it without too much of a problem! The rock is super solid and really fun with no tricky moves, I would give it low Class 3 with the exposure being the thing that gives people the most trouble. Like I told her, confidence and patience are key to learning how to climb harder terrain. There is a flat ledge towards the top that you can take a quick break on or you can just bomb it to the top. There is a little less opportunity to make your own line like the previous section but you can get a little creative if you feel like it.

Coming up the exposed Class 3 summit pitch

Once up this face, the landscape opens up to a great summit view of Matterhorn and Uncompahgre to the East and Sneffels to the West.

Matterhorn in the foreground with Uncompahgre center back

Like all climbing, especially exposed climbing, going down is the more mentally challenging portion but all the foot and hand holds are solid and I only had to front face on a section or two. Overall this mountain is pretty cool and gives you some fun climbing without making you walk a marathon to get there. The snow climb up the face looks like a great challenge in the future!

We grabbed some food in Lake City, I would recommend trying Climb Elevated Eatery, it was pretty solid! After that we hopped back in the car and made our way to Uncompahgre where we head a run in with the Wrangler guy and took a freaking Sante Fe across a few stream crossings...should put that in their next commercial. There are some great camping spots closer to the trailhead with access to the creek for a nice ice bath. Similar to Wetterhorn, if you can make it up the 4-wheel drive roads both of these mountains offer a low mileage and elevation gain route option. Without the Class 3 section to worry about we slept in and hopped on the trail a little before 7.
There is nicely maintained trail that will take you all the way to the small Class 2 scrambling section. Unlike Wetterhorn, you can see Uncompahgre's massive summit the whole way and any trail split offs are specifically marked.

Pretty much the whole route up Uncompahgre

It's a straight forward approach that also gives you a view of Point 13,158, which looks like it could offer some exciting terrain if you take the saddle between it and Uncompahgre.

Point 13,158 from the saddle of Uncompahgre

Once you switchback on the East face you will switch over to the West side and take some Class 2 or easy Class 3 (do what pleases you) scrambling to the easy final summit stretch.

The views from this summit are pretty awesome and it gives you a little bit more respect for Wetterhorn as the summit portion looks gnarly. If you want to venture over to the North side of the summit the look down will surely make your stomach squirm and up your anxiety level!

The descent down is just as straightforward as the ascent and with a good pace you can add this summit to your list within 4 hours of leaving the trailhead. 37 down, 21 to go!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Double Oh Seven	Thanks for writing up 7/17/2016 9:28pm Heading out in a few days to check these peaks out. Thanks for sharing your trip. great pics and description of the wetterhorn route.
Daniel Joder	4WD? 7/18/2016 1:46pm Thanks for the report and the pics! I am considering these two peaks this week and was curious about the road to the THs. Sounds like my 4WD Tacoma should be fine. Although I heard there were some tight/scary spots and I am not a world-class 4WD guy--true? Or not? Thanks, again and good luck on the rest of your climbs, Psemin42!
Psemin42	4WD 7/18/2016 4:15pm Oh yeah you should be fine coming up with your Tacoma, the road is rough but you can maeuever around most of the difficult sections! Best advice would be to try and head up later in the afternoon/evening in order to minimize the chance of running into someone else on the road coming down, there are not very many safe places to make passes. But these two peaks are definitely worth the stress of driving up to them! Have a good one
_jderbique	Thanks for the beta 7/18/2016 5:43pm Looking to do Wetterhorn in the next week or so. Looks like the snow is pretty much melted up there. Thanks for sharing.
C_Smith1003	Thanks for the info 7/19/2016 12:34pm I'm heading down this weekend to check these two off...my 2012 Liberty with ATs should have no problem...sounds like some fun hiking! Congrats!

Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.

Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.

14ers.com

Social

Mobile App