Helen and I broke up the drive to the farthest 14ers from Denver by laying over in Crested Butte on Friday night. After a beautiful drive past Telluride, we set off on the Navajo Lake trail about 10am. A few clouds were already gathering as we started the 5 mile approach.
The wild flowers were out in full bloom and Helen commented that we were hiking through a floral arrangement.
After two hours we reached Navajo Lake just as it started sprinkling.
After crossing the West Dolores River as it exits the lake we found a secluded camp site and settled in for the afternoon.
Early the next morning we left our campsite and followed the rocky trail further up Navajo Basin. Looking back, we could see the first sun rays hitting Dolores Peak across the valley.
Once up in the upper basin we had a good view of our route up El Diente, the first of 3 14ers we planned to hike this weekend. The north slope route ascends a steep gully with a mix of snow and rock depending on season. We’d have a couple hundred feet to climb before hitting the remaining snow.
Once at the start of the snow we both put on our crampons and ice axes and started kicking steps up the gully.
As the slope angle steepened Helen decided she’d feel more comfortable on the dry rocks to the left of the snow. I stuck with the snow, even climbing through a few icy sections that I’d maybe rate at AI1. The route Helen took ascended slab rocks covered with loose stones. Despite her best effort she occasionally knocked some rocks down the gully. We were glad we weren’t here with a larger group where the chance of knocking rocks on one another would be even higher.
Eventually the snow ran out and both of us had to ascend about two hundred feet of loose rock to the ridge crest. Once there we could look right and see our first objective: El Diente.
We dropped over the other side of the ridge and followed some rock cairns past the vertical rocks known as the “organ pipes” then crossed back to the north side of the ridge.
Following some gullies we soon reached the summit.
Our day was hardly over, so we only stood still for about 15 minutes then we doubled back the way we’d come.
Instead of regaining the ridge crest to the snow gully we ascended, we kept traversing east across the slope and made our way toward Mount Wilson.
Most of the route was class 3 scrambling, but by keeping to a higher level around some gendarmes we found a couple short class 4 moves. Just past the large gendarme we were re-ascending to the ridge crest when Helen’s knee contacted a sharp rock and gained two deep cuts.
Having just completed a Wilderness First Aid course a week ago, I was probably too eager to begin irrigating the wound and applying a bandage. Luckily the cuts were clean and stopped bleeding fairly quickly.
Moving on, we scrambled up to the catwalk – an exposed sidewalk on the ridge crest.
As we came to the end of the catwalk we saw another group of five climbers heading our way. We all meet at a large gap on the ridge and shared information on what we’d passed. As we tackled the next ridge feature I looked back and caught them all spread out on the catwalk.
As we neared the summit of Mount Wilson we knew we had the hardest part of the route waiting for us. There’s a block guarding the summit that requires a couple class 4 moves to surmount.
However, after all the scrambling we’d done today and the solid nature of the rock, Helen cruised right past this section. Once we reached the summit she looked confused and wanted to know where the hard part had been.
We’d been worried about the dark clouds building up since about the catwalk, so we didn’t linger on the summit. We quickly began our descent down a loose path back into Navajo Basin.
We’d descended at least a thousand feet off the summit when the hail started. The loose rocks weren’t any more fun to descend once wet.
In intermittent hail, rain and sun we descended back to Navajo Lake.
Late in the afternoon the sky finally cleared for a couple hours and we enjoyed a dinner with a view.
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