El Diente Peak

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 7/8/2021, By: kdrhodes1
Info: Camped at Navajo Lake on Saturday (7/3), and climbed El Diente from the South Slopes (7/4). This route required some backtracking to get to Kilpacker, but we decided it was a safer route than either the North Slopes or North Buttress (we didn't bring ice axes). We did talk to a couple of guys the following day who had attempted from the North and turned back around 13,900 due to unstable rock, so we were happy we took the long route. Lots of loose rock on the South slopes as well, but it's manageable to avoid the worst of the scree if you choose your path wisely. We then did the traverse, which was a lot of fun, but took quite a bit of time (maybe 3+ hours). There are lots of variations to make the route easier or more difficult, and we used the pics from the .com frequently for route finding, although it's basically a “choose your own adventure”. We did put on spikes for one short snow crossing near the end of the traverse, although you could probably find an alternate route to avoid it. We also went left on the summit block, which isn't bad at all. From Mt Wilson, we then descended via the North Slopes. This route was fine, felt pretty stable, a cake walk compared to the traverse (albeit a long suffer-fest of a cake walk). There were a few snow patches, but not much left for glissading. Overall, a very long day starting at Navajo Lake and then going Kilpacker to the South Slopes and then over- but we all agreed that we were very happy with our route choices, given conditions and recent reports! After camping at the lake again, we then climbed Wilson Peak on Monday, 7/5. This was a breeze after our previous day. The only snow to cross is just above the lake before you really start climbing. This route has some really fun scrambling! Probably one of my favorite 14ers in terms of fun scramble sections. A few areas look intimidating, but the rock is solid when you need it to be. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2021, By: quinnwolf
Info: Summer conditions. Some minor snowfields that can be avoided with some route finding. The final gully immediately below the summit is filled in with snow and should not be touched without proper snow gear (at least an ice axe), but there is a short fun scramble (class 3, not too exposed, mostly solid rock) to the left that takes you above the snowfield. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/26/2021, By: mijo912
Info: Camped at Kilpacker TH on 06/23 and it had rained throughout the night. Started at 0315 on 06/24 and the skies parted like the Red Sea as we hiked in the magnificent orange moonlight. Summited El Diente via South Slopes and did the traverse over to Mt. Wilson. Descended Mt. Wilson's SW slopes back to Kilpacker basin and back to TH. Summer condition for nearly the entire route. Very minimal snow to navigate with a majority in the final gully up to the summit ridge of Mt. Wilson (easily avoidable). More snow to deal with on the SW of slopes of Mt. Wilson when descending. Carried ice axe and crampons but did not use either. Trekking poles were sufficient as the snow was soft enough mid morning. Did some glissading when descending SW slopes of Mt. Wilson. The weather held out until I was 2/3 complete with the traverse, then the storms started to form (1045). Spent 3 minutes on the summit and then had to boogie. Didn't get any actual precipitation until I was descending (1120). Fantastic day and glad to have these ones in the book! Stay safe out there. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2021, By: NatDog
Info: There were only a few minor snow crossings before the turnoff for the Mt. Wilson trail. We wore crampons to ascend the snow slopes from ~12,700' to the red rock rib at 13,500'. There was some snow from here to the base of the gully leading up to the saddle, but none of it was problematic. The traverse of the north side of the ridge just below the summit was covered in steeply-sloping snow, which partner and I did not feel comfortable traversing even with crampons and ice axes. We instead went straight for the ridge line, which was a surprisingly fun and mostly-solid scramble the rest of the way to the summit. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: Tweedie
Info: I backpacked into Navajo Lake and camped Saturday for an early start Sunday on El Diente. I took a chance and left my snowshoes in the car based on other Conditions reports I had read. I did not miss them at all on the whole climb. I left the lake at 530am and entered the couloir at 645. The snow was perfect for the climb. There was signs of a couple of wet slides pervious days. At the top of the couloir I took off my crampons and never put them back on for the rest of the climb. The South side of the ridge under the organ pipes had a number of snow crossings but the snow was soft enough and they were not that steep, I could cross with kicking steps with my boots. The snow in the chute before crossing to the north was really soft and I had to work around the south side of the chute. At the crossing to the north side of the ridge the path looked snow covered and the snow was steeply sloped, definitely would want the crampons back, but then they would off/on multiple times. I decided to climb along the top of the ridge on some exposed class 4 sections. I have not seen any report on this route. I'll attach a map comparing the standard route to my ridge route. The ridge was exposed on both sides and there was a small section I had to down climb 10' to the south to get around. There was one move up/down a 7-8' flat face that was a bit dicey down climbing. I should have taken a photo, but I did not. The landing was flat and safe. At one point I started down too soon and had to regain the ridge (as seen in my map) I summited at 9am, had a snack and turned around. I returned to the top of the couloir and slid down to the bottom. The snow in The Valley was still solid enough I didn't posthole. The exposed rock along the bottom was very loose and even very large rocks rolled when I stepped on them. I got back to camp around 11am after taking my time down The Valley and taking lots of pictures. The conditions were great for the climb and the information I received from this website help me know what I was going to run into along the way. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 5/30/2021, By: lkk8815
Info: From Navajo lake, went up El Diente's north buttress, traversed to Mt Wilson, then down Mt Wilson's north slopes. Trail to Navajo lake is mostly dry. There are a handful of snow patches covering the trail up high, but nothing that warrants any kind of floatation. Lake is half melted, plenty of streams flowing nearby to get water. Upper basin is still holding a good amount of snow. Opted to leave snowshoes at the lake however and didn't regret it at any point later on. El Diente's north buttress is dry enough to climb mostly on rock but there are plenty of pockets of snow and ice to make things interesting. The traverse also has a good amount of snow and ice covering the route which often caused my partner and I to opt for climbing on dry rock rather than play the crampons-on-crampons-off game every time we crossed a steep snow section. This made the actual climbing probably a good deal harder than class 4. Definitely need an ice axe, and some kind of traction if climbing on the snow. The descent off Mt Wilson's north slopes into the basin comparatively was a breeze. After the short snowy class 3ish section, we were able to pleasantly plunge step/glissade all the way back down into the basin. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2020, By: Marshall
Info: The West Ridge is quite spicy, but there is no snow. I'll probably do a trip report soon. I started at Navajo Lake TH, West Ridge up ED, traverse to Mt Wilson, Wilson's North Slopes down, then did Wilson Peak. I tried to follow Wentzl's report (thanks a lot!) on the ridge and found the time splits to be accurate. Link below. Do not take this ridge lightly. I'd recommend studying up on it as much as you can before going and giving yourself plenty of time. The traverse has a little snow, but I never threw spikes on. Wilson's North Slope has a good amount of snow. Times: 5:15 start, 7:15 trail flattens, 7:30 cross stream, 9:00 false summit, 11:45 ED, 12:30 start traverse, 2:15 Mt Wilson, 2:25 depart, 4:15 Navajo Lake trail, 4:45 ROA saddle, 5:40 Wilson Pk, 5:55 start back, watched sunset on Gladstone ridge and ate, 11:35 car. https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=19069 Photos 1-3 are West Ridge, 4 is North Slope 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 10/9/2020, By: mikec
Info: The south slopes are free of snow but the north side doesn't get the sun due to the sun now being more south in the ski. I tried the north buttress the day before but ran into snow/ice. I did summit Diente 10/01 but there is ice not snow on the north side near the summit. Plus I didn't want to go down the class 4 so I skirted around the second to last climb on the north side and broke some ice away to get around. I just wanted to write my report because people are talking about snow but it was ice. Don't mess around bring some gear. I used my ice axe and put on my crampons. I guess u could risk it because it was a flat section on the north side but ur call! It was from the snow fall on Sept 1 and it was thick probably still there.(pic north buttress) 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 9/26/2020, By: zwags0406
Info: Ascending the north slopes via the couloir is pretty unsafe right now. We didn't have any snow gear with us and the couloir didn't appear to have much snow in it so we went for it. The snow was deeper and more unstable than expected. I'm not even sure crampons would have helped very much with how soft the snow was. We got too high in the couloir to turn around by the time we realized it was too sketchy. We ended up making it up to the ridgeline after about 4-5 hours in the couloir, and be both had mild frostbite on our fingers from clawing through the snow. At this point we were too exhausted to continue to the summit and we were scared of finding more snow. We made the hard decision to descend El Diente on the south side despite our camp being at Navajo Lake. It was much better and I'd definitely recommend the south side for anyone not ready for a hard snow climb. I'm not sure the snow on the north side will melt before more snow falls, so it might be closed for the season. I heard a similar nightmare story from a pair that tried climbing the north side of Mount Wilson on the same day, so beware and be careful! 

Route: Mt. Wilson and El Diente Traverse
Posted On: 9/18/2020, By: zootloopz
Info: The south side of the traverse is basically snow free - patchy snow but mostly avoidable. The north side is clogged with up to ~36" of snow. This is split literally perfectly along the traverse ridge. Went up from kilpacker on the south slope routes - Diente is great up until the last 0.25 miles when you turn onto the north side of the peak - where there is some legitimate snow/ice - but it is doable with microspikes. The traverse is definitely far from perfect - the crux wall from Photo 22 is perfectly fine, but there is patchy snow on the narrows which takes a bit longer to navigate, and there is a second crux to the route with the snow - Photo 26 with the steep downclimb on the north side of the traverse - it is very steep and covered with fresh untouched snow - we went off route to the right at this point on a narrow ledge which connects back to the gully leading up to Mt. Wilson. Be prepared to choose multiple times between going off route a bit to stay on the south side or choosing snow travel. Microspikes and poles required. The descent from Wilson south slopes is also completely snow covered down to 13k. Overall time: 11.5 hours. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/6/2020, By: alpinenut
Info: You did not need traction to deal with the snow that was up there on Sat. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/6/2020, By: James2015
Info: Pretty straightforward -- beautiful day which made a late start possible. Route made sense, basically following the weak points in the cliff bands, although I found it hard to match up the route pics with the terrain (maybe because there's a fair amount of snow in pics?). Regardless, knowing the general directions of the route it was easy to see where to go up, maybe only point that made me think a bit was when you zag back up a grey-green gulch section (it seemed like people were sometimes going too far south into red rock area). There was a little snow/ice on the north side of the ridge (final 100 yards) that made it slick in places, but not bad. It is a talus-fest, which got old on the way down. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 9/2/2020, By: henryclimber
Info: The route had a light dusting of snow from overnight. It was not an issue until after crossing to the north side of the ridge. The last small gully close to the summit was a risky challenge since I couldn't asses the stability of the loose rocks under the snow. I used a hiking pole to dust off some snow here and there and carefully crossed over. Other hikers on the route decided not to take the risk which I think was wiser. Think about this and plan ahead unless the next few days are sunny. 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: SummitStormer
Info: Absolutely North Buttress is the route to take on El Diente. It was an absolutely enjoyable climb to the top. Top 5 route of my 50+ 14er routes! The entire route is Class 2 and Class 3, there were no Class 4 moves that the 6 of us could remember. There is a 40 foot section of looser rock, but otherwise solid all the way to the top It did take 4.25 hours. **Note: go RIGHT on Photo #14. The class 3 slabs and the chimneys are avoidable, if you choose. You will quickly stall out if you do not go right: Our group ascended the chimney (Photo #16) which is more 3rd class and stalled out at the next section of chimney options which was estimated at 5.6 or 5.8. Much easier to simply go right. We did the traverse to Mount Wilson and did not descend El Diente via the North Buttress route, and would not recommend it to descend. We did hear 3 rockfalls on the slopes and were thankful we were not in the gully 

Route: North Buttress
Posted On: 8/10/2020, By: little_castaldo
Info: I do believe we made the right choice in picking the buttress to ascend El Diente. The buttress itself was...85% solid. There are loose rocks and boulders, but we managed to get to the top without pulling or kicking any rocks down. However, there were several close calls that might have been very serious. We made sure to climb one at a time, or side-by-side. It took us about 4 hours from Navajo Lake (much longer than anticipated). A couple was ascending the North slopes at the same time, and we heard several rockfalls, which they confirmed at the summit. The next day, as we were hiking up to Wilson Peak, we saw two parties ascend the North slope of El Diente, and there were at least two major rockfalls lasting 1-2 minutes.