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Wilson Peak
West Ridge Class 3
from: Silver Pick Trailhead
7 or maybe 8 miles, 3650 feet
Hiking Partner: Daniel Bayer
This was a fun weekend!!!!! I've always liked Telluride and I was eager to get down there and enjoy some fantastic fall scenary so I left Monument on Saturday even though I knew I wouldn't be hiking until Monday. I car camped at the Sunshine Campground pulling into the campground in the dark and not knowing that I camped at a spot that was going to have a fantastic view of Wilson Peak in the morning. Sunday morning around 7 AM I looked out of the car window to see quaking, yellow aspen leaves framing a glorious view of Wilson Peak. I quickly put on shoes and my fleece jacket over my PJs and went out to take pictures. At least seven others were taking pictures too and I wasn't the only one wearing PJs. I spent Sunday in and around Telluride doing some shopping and sightseeing on the free gondola. I kept in touch with Dan by cell phone and it looked like he was going to arrive late. I checked out the TH which was easy to find. A very good dirt road goes to it and a 2 wheel drive passenger car wouldn't have any trouble driving up to it. I ate supper in Telluride and carbo loaded on linguini with marinara sauce and meatballs. I got back to the TH at around 8 PM expecting to see Dan's new silver Toyota truck but there was the same old blue Toyota truck with the cab on back that I had seen up there earlier in the day. I parked near him. There are many places to park off to the left of the gate and back into the trees. Around 10 PM, the owners of the old blue Toyota truck arrived wearing headlamps. They sure were hiking late!!! They threw their gear in the back of the truck and drove away. Dan passed them going down while he was driving up. He arrived sometime after 10:30 PM I think and settled in quickly. All day Sunday, the sky was completely clear. It was a bluebird day but it was very windy. Monday was suppose to be a repeat but without the wind.
I was up at 7 AM Monday morning trying to make some noise with the hope of waking Dan. It worked and we both took our time getting ready for the hike. No need to hurry, it was a fantastic bluebird day!!! The wind was gone too! We started from the gate at 8:35 AM. This route follows the road through beautiful aspen groves ( bright yellow) and spruce trees and continues up above treeline. We passed the " stop " sign ( bent and written on ) near the small house off to the right. We didn't see anyone patroling the area with a shotgun. There weren't any Dobermans or German Shepperds running loose on the property. We didn't see surveilance cameras, trip wires, land mines, booby traps or snipers. The two of us were completely alone. We continued up the road to the ruins of the rock houses and up into the basin. On the way, we saw a lot of rusted cables and cans. We left the road too soon in one spot, hoping to cut some time off of our hike by traversing up some loose talus. That was a mistake we didn't repeat on the way back. Besides adding more time to the hike, the scramble up the talus wore us out. However, after a short break, the not so distant view of the Rock of Ages Saddle, spured us on. Once on the saddle the views were spectacular!!!! There was Gladstone Peak, Mount Wilson the traverse and El Diente. We skirted around to the back side of Wilson Peak and followed a good trail up to the first notch. After this notch, the third class scrambling or climbing started. It was fun!!! The rock was mostly solid but solid is a relative term. We reached the false summit sooner than we thought and down climbed a short distance to gain the route going up just left of the ridgeline. This was really fun climbing!!!! It was much shorter than we thought it would be. In no time at all the two of us were walking on to the summit!!! The time, 1 PM. It was as Dan said, a "bombproof bluebird day"!!! Not a cloud in the sky, warm, no wind, we could see forever!!! We easily spotted Sneffels, Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre. Dan pointed out Eolus, Vestal and Jagged and a few others in that area that I didn't recognize. We rested, ate lunch, took pictures, called people on our cell phones, signed the register and compeletely enjoyed sharing the summit with each other. ( Thanks for the cheese and the quicky digital photography lesson.) Down below the aspens were mostly yellow mixed with some orange and some green. We drank it all in and finally decided that it was just too much beauty for us to handle. We were overwhelmed and couldn't take it anymore. We started down at 2:45 PM. On our way down, we could see where we had made our mistake in the talus field and took a much better route by staying on the switchback. We also found a better trail through the center of the basin. There are many different trails. You have to pick the one that works best for you. We arrived back at the cars at 5:10 PM under beautiful blue skies and crisp mountain air. We said our goodbyes and drove down to 145. Dan went right into Telluride and I went left to the Dallas Divide and Ridgeway and Montrose and home. Dan planned to hike something today but I had to be home. Thank you Dan for a wonderful hike. It was a magical autumn day!!! ( As always, pictures will follow on Webshots as soon as I get time to post them.) |
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