Pico Aislado

Route: From Cottonwood Creek
Posted On: 3/1/2025, By: Will_E
Info: Nice conditions on Pico and 13,028' yesterday with Blazintoes, she put together a great route from Cottonwood Creek. Cottonwood creek was mostly dry to start, then well trenched. We put snowshoes on when we broke off the trail towards 13,028. Tough trenching to get to a steep slope leading to the lake, the snow wasn't fantastic, on descent we found a better way down on the opposite side of the lake. We kept snowshoes on well past the (unnamed?) lake, then used crampons and axe to get up the BlazinWill_E couloir. Once on the ridge no traction needed. Descending 13,028 wasn't difficult, and plenty of dry rock to get up Pico's gully. Fantastic day, wind was light and temps were warm. 

Route: Deadman Approach West Gully
Posted On: 9/27/2024, By: desertdog
Info: All dry on this route. Trail is pretty easy to follow. Last mile into the basin is a bushwhack. North aspects in the Sangres are holding snow. 

Route: From Milwaukee
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: Veory
Info: I caught some pics of two climbers on Milwaukee while I was on the summit of Pico around noon. Everything summer conditions. Picking the right gully made things pretty simple, mostly class 3 with a few crux sections. Went back over Milwaukee and tagged Marble. Crazy good views the whole day. That ledge on Milwaukee was pretty cool. Didn't find the class 3 ledges and climbed some seriously exposed class 4, but I did find them on the way down. 

Route: Southeast Gullies from Milwaukee Peak
Posted On: 6/17/2024, By: supranihilest
Info: I agree with Furthermore's disappointment in this scramble - not as nice as its reputation, I think, though it's not awful. Pico does look quite daunting from Milwaukee but routes become obvious when you get close enough. Scramble the ridge over to Pico which goes at Class 3 or 4 if staying ridge direct, Class 2 or 2+ if dropping a fair amount to avoid harder scrambling. As you near Pico the face opens up and a couple of parallel gullies lead the way. We went up the left gully. Both are reached before one crosses a huge rib that blocks view farther west. Our gully went at steep, sustained Class 3 with a few moves of Class 4 thrown in here and there. While the scrambling itself is generally solid there's lots of rubble covering everything, as the route is quite ledgy. There's also some snow and much water to contend with. You could possibly keep the gully to purely Class 3 with immaculate route finding, but overall it's not worth trying to minimize difficulty. The last 100 or so feet to the summit is much easier. The easiest descent route follows the west ridge to a wide, west-facing gully - the closer gully that opens to the south is much steeper. 

Route: Cottonwood to Deadman
Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: blazintoes
Info: Cottonwood Creek trail is nonexistent, overgrown and steep up to the murky lake. Then a steep loose slog up to the 13er but a fun brief scramble to the ridge. Overhyped class 2+ climb to the summit. Brad and I traveled to the future and were here to say the powerball is 62. Well split the winnings with you 50/50 I descended via Deadmans. The first time I heard about this drainage was from ChicagoTransplant. The second from ScottLoves RMNP and Hollenbeck. The Third from my friend Steve and Ross Boss. Kyle wrote a good TR recently. Also if Steve tells me something is good I know I wont die. Im so happy I climbed down this way. Thanks guys! Descending from the summit is not an option. I went all the way back to the saddle at 12,600. The south ridge also looked like a good option. The descent is pretty chill all the way to Deadman. The upper portion of the trail through the aspens is easy to follow. The middle section has a bit of downed aspen trees. You stay 200 above the creek and follow this 3.5 miles to a split point at 8,600. I stayed high as I was tired of climbing over downed trees. Good option. Once on the road it is very sandy all the way to the Liberty Gate TH. Based on my experience and the reputation of this peak I think the safest and easiest way to day trip Pico is via Deadman although loops are fun. Bring a bike and leave it at Liberty Gate. 

Route: from Saddle with Point 13,020
Posted On: 9/18/2021, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: It's beyond me why this isn't the standard route on Pico. It is Class 2 (maybe Class 2+ on the final 0.1 on the summit ridge) and, aside from the long slog over from the Tijeras/Music saddle to the 13,020/Pico saddle, there is nothing sketchy about it. It completely avoids the Milwaukee-Pico ridge that has been the source of a fatality this season and is a beautiful route through a forgotten basin. One can follow a few game trails here and there to save a little time getting over to the 13,020/Pico saddle. From the saddle, head up the obvious gully on the south slopes of Pico. On the left side of that gully, there is stable rock and even grass until very nearly to the top of the gully. At the top, Pico's summit comes into view and you traverse on fairly good terrain for a short distance to the summit. Return to the saddle the same way you came. I was pretty spent by the time I did this, as I'd already gone to Milwaukee Peak view the southwest slopes route. Prior to returning back over Tijeras/Music saddle to Lower Sand Creek Lake, I wanted to get my full money's worth and clean out these 13ers, so I went ahead and did Pico Aislado too. Glad I did, and I was pleasantly surprised how nice this route was! However, do save a bit of energy to climb back up and over the Tijeras/Music saddle if that's where you came from -- it's 1,000 vertical feet of climbing, about half of that on very steep grass as you approach the saddle. 

Route: Via Milwaukee
Posted On: 7/30/2021, By: tdawg012
Info: Sobering thinking of the hiker who fell off this only two months ago. No snow, clear day. There appear to be various (challenging) ways up on the south face. I could have traversed further west before going up but got lazy. After what felt like climbing a vertical ladder for 200ish feet, my route put me on ridge about 100ft east of the summit. Exposed class 4, would be spooky if wet.. 

Route: From Milwaukee
Posted On: 6/22/2020, By: Shattuck311
Info: Summer conditions 

Route: From Milwaukee Peak
Posted On: 6/20/2020, By: Mtnman200
Info: Summer conditions; what little snow there is can easily be avoided. 

Route: Milwaukee->Pico Aislado->13020 A from Sand Lakes
Posted On: 9/13/2019, By: JasonKline
Info: Dry for now, but that might not last long. The descent north from 13020 A is steep, loose talus. 

Route: From Cottonwood
Posted On: 5/11/2018, By: illusion7il
Info: No snow till treeline, then a few drifts and crossings. Followed ridge proper to Milwaukee which also had very little snow. The descent off Milwaukee to the pass was difficult as the easier routes were blocked by loose sugary snow.