The West Needles group accessed from Andrews Lake has lingered on my list for several more summers than I expected, and I finally prioritized them this year, in a week during which I had to take my son to Durango and pick him up six days later. The weather was clear and the mountains did not disappoint.

Upon reaching Andrews Lake, I realized I did not have my wallet, so a full vehicle search ensued - nothing. So I drove back to my camp at Little Molas lake and the wallet was in the tent. This delay contributed to a "bright and late" 8 am start, but the hot, dry weather spell favored me.

12er Engineer Mountain is ubiquitous from many vantages in this area, and it made an appearance early on my hike up the trail.

Strava showed 4.6 miles for me when I reached Crater Lake. On the descent, it would show something like 5.8 from the lake. The official distance is like 5.5. Regardless of the mileage, it is beautiful, and I took a couple minutes to admire the reflection of North Twilight in the mirror of those waters.

The trail continues around the east side of the lake and proceeds to the saddle lying between N Twilight and N3 (both at significant distances away). This would be the point of my return from West Needle, but I wanted to hit the Twilights first, so I backtracked a bit, just past a very small pond. Not finding any other trail splitting off, I simply veered southwest, winding between the low willows.

Soon enough, my first objective loomed into sight. Ahead, I saw the convoluted east ridge of North Twilight.

Nearing the base, I considered my options. My first inclination, and the most aesthetic, would be to follow the ridge. Another option would be to make an ascending traverse to the low point south of it, where the grass meets the dirt.

I opted for the first choice, and was surprised to find a climber's trail.

The trail certainly aided my way, and I still had to pause for breath several times. Also, I regretted my choice of long pants over shorts, as the temperature had climbed more quickly than I. After gaining the top, the "real business" was in order:

This section was much tamer than the photo might suggest. While I would not suggest the Twilight group as an introduction to scrambling, neither the technical difficulty nor the looseness of the rock posed any surprises/troubles for those with several scramble routes in the SJs or Elks under their belts. Moving deliberately, it took me 23 minutes or so reach the summit of N Twilight from this spot, and I classified all the moves as class 2 or 3.

Just below the summit of North Twilight, I looked left (south) and studied the next peak, Twilight. It appeared to be bit rougher than its northern neighbor.

Atop North Twilight, I took in the views. In mid-morning, peering into the Weminuche meant staring into the sun, so I contented myself with the scenery to the northwest.

I did not linger long - just enough for a few bites and sips of water - and then made my way down the peak and across the small basin to engage the north ridge of Twilight Peak. As I neared the next section of scrambling, I admired a tarn lying downslope to the west.

All throughout this day, I observed columbines blooming in the shadows of the rocks, and I found my first such cluster as I engaged the ridge proper to Twilight.

The rock quality remained good by SJ standards, and the terrain alternated between class two and class three, so I made unimpeded progress up the ridge. Until, abruptly, this:

The photo is a bit of an illusion: the point of the slab does not touch the other side of the ridge and I think the span between was 5-6 feet. I did not get a close of a look, because the slab overhangs the gap and I didn't want to venture too far out on it. From this point, I backtracked and downclimbed to the right. Bypassing this gap did not require a significant loss of elevation or time.

The rest of the way continued to vary between easy class 3 moves over blocks and class two walking over looser stuff.

It took me about 50 minutes to reach the summit of Twilight after setting out from N Twilight. A light, refreshing breeze stirred the summit, soothing the skin beneath the abundant sunshine.I relaxed for a few minutes on the summit and appreciated the expansive views in all directions.

Moving onward, a short, easy stroll took me to the summit of S Twilight, where I assessed the final peak of the day, West Needle.

The view of it did not impress me; it appeared to be less solid than the Twilights had been. I anticipated a junky climb, and a tedious approach over junky talus to reach it.

Sighing and descending into the basin, I also noted my return route at the left, a saddle on the north side of the 12er between S Twilight and W Needle. In the photo below, this saddle is the gap at left, and I reached W Needle at the lower right edge of the heart-like formation across the valley, just right of center.

This portion was nothing to gush poetic about, but also thankfully better than advertised.

Getting to this spot went faster than I had expected. Further up, the rock rib provided some decent leverage to pull myself up the steep talus.

I reached the ridge line, and before I could contemplate the climb up the the ridge to the summit, the view south to the Needle Mountains captured my eyes.

Thankfully, just as with the approach, the climb up W Needle exceeded my expectations. It held the most sustained class 3 scrambling of any of the peaks this day; the Twilights had involved a great deal more walking.

I took time to relax on W Needle, since no clouds threatened the horizons. I let my eyes dance along rugged profiles of the peaks in the Weminuche and recalled my pack trips into there, to Ruby Basin, Chicago Basin, Leviathan Basin, Vestal Basin. After about a half hour, I decided it was time to complete the loop back to Crater Lake.

Above: the mountain goats' putting green, with the Animas Group (Animas, Thirteen, Monitor) left of center and Pigeon center-right.

I had initially planned to return the way I had come, down the ridge, but, of course, I found my feet deviating course. There is just something about not going the same way back as out. Anyhow, it involved picking my way down ledges and small gullies to arrive at the basin below a little lower than my traverse to W Needle, and worked out pretty well.

Below is how the way ahead appeared when I got down from the mountain. I kept to the grass and charted a line above the round knoll, to then go up the pinkish area of the slope to the near side of the pointed cleft on the ridge.

From the saddle, the descent eastward afforded expansive views. At far left, I glimpsed N2/South Snowdon, which I would venture to the next day, and far far to the right loomed the Grenadiers. Seeking to avoid the giant rock glacier down low, I found a trail on the left side that made for quick passage.

Further down, I Iikely stayed too high. I followed the green line splitting the rock at left, when it would have probably been easier to drop farther down, to the slop beneath the buttress and above the line of trees just left of center.

This choice meant more class 3 scrambling.

Twenty minutes later, a glance backward provided this review:

And again, I stubbornly resisted unneeded elevation loss, which did not necessarily save any time. But the travel was fun and the time passed pleasantly. I found one obligatory class 4 move to negotiate a small rock band and chuckled to myself as I observed this to be my most difficult maneuver of the day - here, and not on one of the peaks. (The picture below is not of this spot; just more high ledge traversing.)

At 3:20, just over an hour from when I began this long descent, I found a game trail and began the ascent to the pass west of N3, where I had stood about six hours ago. Before starting uphill, I glanced back a final time to the saddle across and above the broken ground I had just covered.

That saddle on the map is so close to N3 that when I planned this day, I had considered a detour to include that peak. Trees cluster tightly on that slope, though, so I decided to forego a journey to N3 and instead dropped on the trail to Crater Lake. I saw only two pairs of people at the lake, but passed five parties on their way up as I hiked back to Andrews Lake.

Reaching Andrews Lake at 5:30, I marveled at the view of the ramparts that guard the southeastern flanks of the Grand Turk, at the contrast of the lush green vegetation with the sheer rock above. My legs felt suitably tired, and I l felt glad of my choice to break my visit of Andrews Lake into two days, instead of pushing for all five ranked thirteeners in one day. Snowdon and N2 would make for a fine venture the following day, and I found it fulfilling to spend two days in the splendid area, instead of rushing through it a single push.