El Diente Peak

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 6/30/2013, By: KTC88
Info: Hiked from Navajo Lake, climbed the North Buttress of El Diente, then traversed to Mt. Wilson and descended the standard route back to Navajo Lake. No need for traction or ice axe (I climbed in trail runners and never took microspikes or axe off my pack). Any remaining patches of snow are easily avoided. Clouds formed late morning, with a short rainstorm mid-afternoon. Bring insect repellant - the warm temps have the bugs out in force. Not much snow remaining in the North Couloir up El Diente. Recommend the N. Buttress route if you are comfortable with Class 3/4 routes. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2013, By: Dan_Suitor
Info: Creek was full. Take the second log to the right (up-climber’s right). It’s easier than the first log. Only a few snow fields to cross. Some snow in the chimney, but not bad. I brought, but did not use the Crampons, Axe nor Microspikes. Earlier in the day some of the snow was iced over and took care to cross. Hiking poles helped with this. The gray gulley is NOT the one filled with snow, but the one to the left of it. It is actually gray/green in color. 

Route: view of north slopes, comment on south slopes
Posted On: 11/4/2012, By: Jyak
Info: We climbed Wilson Peak via Rock of Ages on 11/3/12 and got this shot of Mount Wilson and El Diente. If our climb on Wilson Peak is of any indication, I imagine Kilpacker approach and the south slopes of El Diente are pretty dry and that the final climb up the ridge to El Diente's summit is (since you keep mostly just to the north side of the ridge) rather mixed. You can check out my conditions report on Wilson Peak for more details. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 9/11/2012, By: mountain hiker
Info: El Diente North Buttress + traverse to Mt Wilson + Mt Wilson standard route All dry. Saw several rock falls in different gullies/couloirs on the north side of El Diente-Wilson ridge. The final pitch of El Diente North Buttress route also has rock fall harzard. Be careful if some one is climbing above you! 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 8/27/2012, By: miztflip
Info: My wife and I were camping in Navajo Basin on 08/26/2012 awaiting a climb of Mt Wilson the next morning. Just before dark a huge rockslide started at the top of the North Slopes route and swept the entire route from top to bottom. No details on the condition of the route afterwards but it was tons of debris that fell for over two minutes and left a dust plume rising above the mountain. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2012, By: slowhead
Info: Hillhag & Slowhead finished the 14ers on July 2, 2012, with El Diente as the last. The Kilpacker route is in perfect condition, no ice or snow, of course. We found on the descent that, while we had to come down the grey gully (beneath the organ pipes), we did not have to cross the grey talus field. There is a nicely cairned zigzagging path, pretty well-defined, to the right (west) of the grey talus. Had we found that on the way up (where it would be to the LEFT of the grey talus), we would have avoided some rock-hopping and scree. Anyway, the mountain is in great shape, and we‘ve completed all the 14ers, in eight years. Not bad for some old folks. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/21/2012, By: Nelson
Info: Climbed El Diente today via Kilpacker. I had crampons and ax but they were unnecessary. The snow on the north side is pretty much melted out. The fastest easiest way to the summit is the standard route. I went up on the ridge and came down the standard. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/3/2012, By: Nelson
Info: I went up via Kilpacker yesterday. From the TH to the ridge the route was in great shape. From 12,600 to the organs pipes there is a fair amount of snow. Traction is necessary. There is some snow under the organ pipes which slowed me down but was not really a problem. Once you swing around to the north face there is a lot of snow. The problem now is that, with the warming, it is very soft. I was trying to stay in old tracks and started postholing immediately. I felt this this snow was a high avalanche risk. A short slide will take you over cliffs. There was also some rockfall with the warming. These conditions were unacceptable for me and I turned around 150 ft. from the summit. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/25/2011, By: phlakin
Info: South side was completely clear of snow today. When we got to top, we weren‘t surprised to see north side was snowed in. We had to climb the ridge to get to the top. Exposure increases, as does difficulty. We avoided most of the snow that was on the ridge, but there are places where it is unavoidable. We took cramps and axes but did not need them. Hope this helps someone who‘s planning to climb before it‘s too late. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/27/2011, By: Rcizzle
Info: Talus, talus, and talus. Nothing out of the ordinary. The San Juans have been POUNDED with moisture recently making El Diente and Mt. Wilson real slick and slippery. I did traverse to Mt. Wilson and drop of the west face back to Kilpacker. I have some pictures and beta if you are interested and I‘ll try to fill curious climbing brethren in with some info if so desired. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 8/8/2011, By: Swamp Fox
Info: Only 3 small snowfields remain in the basin and below the watermarked cliffs, but can be avoided. Axe and crampons are not necessary. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 7/26/2011, By: Mountain Woman
Info: RE: Wilson‘s Trifecta. I wish to warn others of the caution necessary in climbing here at this time. I ascended El Diente from the North Slopes approach from approximately 0600-0830. It had stable hard-packed snow which necessitated use of crampons and ice axe. Also, the coulior could be carefully (but dangerously) diagonally climbed to the left, where the most stable rock lay; however, this rock did not have the best grip at some points and was a dangerous choice. Two others and I were sure to call out falling rock and small hard ice/pack snow pieces. A helmet was sufficient to provide protection from these. From the top of the coulior to the summit of El Diente, I felt a false sense of security from the seemingly hard,secure rock and did as much Class 4 climbing as I could. Retrospectively, these areas had a few rocks I encountered that were slightly loose (I didn‘t test them long enough to determine exactly how loose they were as I was reaching for stable rock, of course). These were rocks which were large and appeared well attached/connected to major other ones. I maintained 3 points of contact at all times. All hard rock continued with similar conditions across the traverse (we made to the Saddle before making an unplanned descent due to weather). What is unsafe is (a) the rock which would probably normally be stable being loosened by water (my assumption) and (b), on the "emergency" descent we took, the unstable dirt/mud/rock slides which could result in a fall and subsequent sequalae or a crush injury (we did a Class 3-4 descent on the north side of the Saddle). It is hence my opinion, that it would be safest currently to ascend these peaks as an earlier spring climb. For those who are curious, we camped at Lake Navajo the night of the 24th, ascended on the 25th, spent the night in a rain storm, then hiked out this am (the 26th) with the mountains still covered in clouds. In one area on the trails we saw about 10 feet long of an area 1/2 foot deep of large hail. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/22/2011, By: dmccool
Info: We summitted El Diente from Kilpacker on Wednesday, 7/20. The approach is dry. Above the waterfall, there are a few snow fields, but nothing too difficult to cross. Definitely bring an ice ax for the upper route - even micro spikes/crampons wouldn‘t be a bad idea. Also, the route is very loose. We summitted both Wilson Peak and Mt. Wilson from Navajo Lake on Thursday, 7/21. The trail to the upper basin crosses a couple snowfields, but at a very low angle. Wilson Peak is dry. I can‘t recall crossing any snow from the Rock of Ages Saddle to the summit. Mt. Wilson has many snow fields - some are very steep. When looking at the standard route, you see that you cross at least 3 snow gullies. All 3 have snow still, but you might be able to avoid the first 2 by either crossing below it or taking small rock bands between the snow. The snow gullies you encounter as you angle up high toward the notch (climber‘s right of the summit) cannot be avoided and make for a pretty steep snow climb - 40+ degrees I would say. An ice ax is a must and micro spikes/crampons would provide much needed safety up high. I cannot post pictures as I am still living out of my truck. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 7/5/2011, By: Monster5
Info: Packed in Saturday. On Sunday, climbed the buttress, traversed to Mt Wilson, then descended straight down the face due to weather. Attempted Wilson Peak immediately after but the weather patterns shifted and I turned around at the Gladstone saddle. Returned to WP in the morning. Navajo Approach: Mostly dry with some wet spots. Plenty of dry camp sites around the lake. North Buttress: Basically snow free until the last hundred feet. Nice, solid scramble. Numerous lines and options. Last 100‘ has two parts - a softer, low-angle snow knife edge/traverse followed by a shady, moderately steep couloir (top of the Luttrell?). I used an axe and crampons on trail-runners for the snow. Traverse to Mt Wilson: Mostly dry. Ice axes were used for comfort a few times. Again, plenty of scramble options. Met jbchalk and his wife, Kristin, on the El D summit and had an awesome time traversing with them. Had to wait for a lull in the storm to reach the summit. Descent off Mt Wilson: Standard route looked mostly dry with a few couloir crossings. A few groups were on it. I went straight down the gully from the summit. It was steep and soft enough to warrant facing in for most of it. Speedy descent route. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2011, By: jbchalk
Info: Climbed ED Sunday, July 3, with my wife via Kilpacker & the South Slopes. Axe & Microspikes worked fairly well up the below the organ Pipes. Class 4 direct ridge variation to ED‘s summit was dry and fun. Met Monster5 on ED‘s summit. Traverse to Mt. Wilson was mostly dry...a few areas where minimally an axe is necessary to cross a few snowfields. The coxcomb crux before Mt. Wilson is dry, however. Class 4 Mt. Wilson summit pitch is dry as well. Descended the southwest couloir from Mt. Wilson back into Kilpacker and out. A few conditions pics below.