El Diente Peak

I decided to take advantage of the long 4th of July holiday weekend and backpack into the Kilpacker Basin southwest of Telluride and try to climb two 14ers—El Diente Peak and Mt. Wilson. I drove down Friday and made my way to the Kilpacker Basin trailhead. The access road was actually pretty nice, as long as you didn't meet someone going the other way. Very few places were wide enough for two cars to pass. The hike to Kilpacker Basin was very nice; only three miles without a lot of elevation gain. After crossing the creek I got my first view of El Diente —spanish for 'The Tooth.' The view from my campsite was even better as I could see the waterfall and hear the soothing sounds from the creek below.

The next morning I hit the trail early to climb El Diente Peak. The first several miles of the trail continue up the valley gaining almost 2000 feet and staying high on the side to get around several headwalls—cliffs that wrap from side to side—and hike all the way past the peak. Then the trail starts switch-backing up the talus slope, snaking back and forth between several cliff bands. Past the lower cliffs the trail turns up a steep gully to just below the ridge. From there the route is a scramble along the base of the cliffs to another gully that gives access to the saddle on the ridge.

I crested the ridge only to discover that the other side (Navajo Lake) was socked in with low clouds and heavy rain over the far ridge. It was very surprising to see rain this early – 10:00 a.m. – normally any storms develop in the afternoon this time of year. Wilson Peak, where I was two weeks ago, was hidden in the clouds. The rain appeared to be heading up the valley and not across to where I was watching. I continued my way across the back side of the ridge and just as I approached the notch to begin the final pitch to the top it started raining and then hailing. I was less than 100 feet below the summit. I wasn't happy having to turn around at that point, but it was the smart decision. The clap of thunder increased my motivation to descend.

When I had descended the tallus to the valley I met three hikers who had summited El Diente Peak much earlier in the day and were trying to traverse the ridge over to Mt. Wilson. While on the traverse the storm made their ice axes buzz, so they had to abandon the ridge. Unfortunately for them, the only way off the ridge where they were was on the Kilpacker side, and they were camped on the Navajo Lake side. They had to hike all the way down Kilpacker Creek and then back up to Navajo Lake, another six miles. The rain stopped for a while, then another rain storm occured while I was hiking back to camp, a third while I was recovering back at camp, and then a fourth during dinner. A second rain storm on the same day is very rare in Colorado, four is unheard of. I decided the weather was iffy enought to not even try to climb Mt. Wilson tomorrow and just hike out instead.

Pictures

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