Wilson Peak Trip Report 07/08/2022

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Wilson Peak - 14,021 feet
Date Posted	07/08/2022
Date Climbed	07/07/2022
Author	jmfb3

Wilson Peak: Wet, Sketchy, and Heady
This was number 41 for me. I decided against attempting all 3 because I'm lazy. Guess I'll have to go back for Wilson / El Diente - Message me if you'd like to meet up! I wanted company for this one, and brought along a partner who had never summited a 14er, but is a decent rock climber and has hiked biggish stuff around the world. We arrived at our camp spot, right by the trailhead, the night before and got our start at 5:10 AM, about 30 mins later than we planned. The Navajo Basin trail was a great way to start and end the day - It's not mellow, but it's not quite as steep as some of the trail starts I've done (Belford/Oxford, Little Bear), so you get a nice warm up and cool down. The trail continues on in a way that I think is very favorable to gaining elevation without exhausting yourself, right up until the end. Then the BUSINESS starts. The first ridge to the second is not too bad - Some loose rock, mild exposure, but easy enough. I'd call it difficult class two. From the second ridge and on (when you switch over to the north side of the mountain), expect extreme exposure and very loose rock. Right at the start of the north side, the trail is very very difficult to identify. I'm pretty convinced that a rock slide or something has destroyed what was the vague trail when the route description was first written, because there is no way that this traverse could be called class 3. It was, in my opinion, the very definition of class 4. It's important to note that Photo 9 in the route description shows that you should go between two rocks, which, when you are up there, implies you should stay high. DON'T - Go down a bit and begin your traverse, but still expect a difficult, technical, very exposed bit of climbing. My partner was having the time of her life. I was scared, making slow slow careful moves. The route finding on the way up was very difficult for us and kept the whole thing around class 3. On the way down, it was much easier to follow the trail and keep things a bit easier. But, I still can't recommend enough testing every single rock you put your weight on - I found it very loose and unpredictable. The final section (downclimb, gash, summit) looks very intimidating, and can certainly be difficult to keep below class 4, but in my opinion was faaaarrrrr less technical and exposed than the first difficult section. At this point, my partner got quite intimidated and we sat at the false summit for quite a while deciding whether to push on. It turned out to be not as bad as it looked. The way down, as I mentioned, was easier. When you get back to the Navajo Basin trail, it's a pretty nice descent - one of the most mild I've been on in recent climbs. All in all, what a tough-ass mountain. Much harder than I expected based on the route description.

Wilson Peak: Wet, Sketchy, and Heady

This was number 41 for me. I decided against attempting all 3 because I'm lazy. Guess I'll have to go back for Wilson / El Diente - Message me if you'd like to meet up!

I wanted company for this one, and brought along a partner who had never summited a 14er, but is a decent rock climber and has hiked biggish stuff around the world. We arrived at our camp spot, right by the trailhead, the night before and got our start at 5:10 AM, about 30 mins later than we planned. The Navajo Basin trail was a great way to start and end the day - It's not mellow, but it's not quite as steep as some of the trail starts I've done (Belford/Oxford, Little Bear), so you get a nice warm up and cool down. The trail continues on in a way that I think is very favorable to gaining elevation without exhausting yourself, right up until the end. Then the BUSINESS starts.

The first ridge to the second is not too bad - Some loose rock, mild exposure, but easy enough. I'd call it difficult class two.

From the second ridge and on (when you switch over to the north side of the mountain), expect extreme exposure and very loose rock. Right at the start of the north side, the trail is very very difficult to identify. I'm pretty convinced that a rock slide or something has destroyed what was the vague trail when the route description was first written, because there is no way that this traverse could be called class 3. It was, in my opinion, the very definition of class 4. It's important to note that Photo 9 in the route description shows that you should go between two rocks, which, when you are up there, implies you should stay high. DON'T - Go down a bit and begin your traverse, but still expect a difficult, technical, very exposed bit of climbing. My partner was having the time of her life. I was scared, making slow slow careful moves.

The route finding on the way up was very difficult for us and kept the whole thing around class 3. On the way down, it was much easier to follow the trail and keep things a bit easier. But, I still can't recommend enough testing every single rock you put your weight on - I found it very loose and unpredictable.

The final section (downclimb, gash, summit) looks very intimidating, and can certainly be difficult to keep below class 4, but in my opinion was faaaarrrrr less technical and exposed than the first difficult section. At this point, my partner got quite intimidated and we sat at the false summit for quite a while deciding whether to push on. It turned out to be not as bad as it looked.

The way down, as I mentioned, was easier. When you get back to the Navajo Basin trail, it's a pretty nice descent - one of the most mild I've been on in recent climbs.

All in all, what a tough-ass mountain. Much harder than I expected based on the route description.

Comments or Questions

LetsGoMets	Agreed 7/8/2022 11:45am It's funny, when I climbed the Peak last year I thought the same thing. At least class 3+ on that initial high traverse out of the Gladstone saddle and felt that exceeded the difficulty of the crux to the summit. I think on my way back down, I went under the area in question and climbed back up to the saddle just to avoid it / frankly it was faster.
mspin99	Nice Summary 7/8/2022 11:48am Thanks for putting the trip report together. I plan on going for Wilson Peak in 2 weeks, most likely solo (unless I can find someone on the site). Haven't done El Diente or Mt Wilson yet, so reach out if you are interested to team up at some point. Looks like we are at a similar point in our 14'er journeys. -Mark
randalmartin	Looking forward to it 7/8/2022 5:10pm I am finishing on Wilson Peak in 2 weeks. Looking forward to it!
tortilla	Line choice 7/9/2022 8:24am I think Mets is correct, you may have been a bit higher than you needed to be. Frankly I remember that section as a cairned class 2+ jaunt. Climbers trail to boot.
stickmann	Off route 7/10/2022 10:28am It sounds like you were off route for the 2nd ridge. The experience you described is exactly how I felt about that section while climbing it. It was all doable but definitely had a ton of exposure, loose rock, and felt class 4 for some parts. We ended up topping out by taking some 15 foot chimney to get back on the standard route and had to descend a bit to regain it. When heading back down we found the standard route and had to laugh at how much easier the day would have been if we stayed a little lower before trying to gain the ridge. The standard route for that section was basically talus hopping.
ltlFish99	i am grateful 7/11/2022 10:27pm that i am not the only one who thought that section was a little harder, and creepier than i had imagined. i believe i was off route a little also as the way i went did not match the description, in terms of difficulty
Camden7	Off route 7/12/2022 3:23pm Wilson Peak is a very complex mountain and the rock is somewhat loose, but I found it to be much easier than almost all of the other class 3 14ers, as there was minimal exposure and I never really experienced any 3rd class on it. It seems like you just went to the ridge crest too soon. Stay low and it is a class 2+ walk up. Mt. Wilson on the other hand is one of the hardest 14ers, I thought there were a couple moves of 5th.
LetsGoMets	Mount Wilson 7/13/2022 9:21am via Kilpacker never exceeded class 3 and is a great option.
JoeChambers	Same 7/14/2022 12:45pm Felt class 4 to me. You can definitely avoid it by going down and under that section and climb back up, which is what we did coming down.

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