From: ajs@hpfcla.HP.COM (Alan Silverstein)
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 86 20:34:20 MDT
Subject: Re: Trip reports on the San Juans
Newsgroups: hpnc.general

Sunday, July 27: Wilson Peak (14017'), and return home

The morning after the accident, all we knew was that Dr. Powell was in a hospital, probably in Montrose or Grand Junction. The weather was good and the other three decided to climb Wilson Peak as planned. I chose to join them, but not with great excitement.

We got a late start at 0735 from where the road was closed by snow. Wanting to be on the way to Montrose as early as possible, and feeling strong, I arranged with the others to get ahead of them and leave ASAP upon returning from the climb.

I pushed hard all the way up, making the 13000' saddle at 0905. From here, instead of dropping straight ahead into Navajo Basin as for Mount Wilson, you make a sharp left on a pretty well marked trail up the ridge east. After a time you come to the saddle on the ridge south to Gladstone Peak, and the going gets tougher. I searched up a while before dropping down a ravine a hundred feet or so. From the saddle you *must* drop to below some steep rock, unless you like suffering...

Once around the "corner" and past the steep rock ribs, the trail cuts sharply up on the SE face of Wilson Peak. It's spotty and the rock is loose, but you eventually reach the main ridge, very high up, with a great view. From here you continue east along and sometimes below the ridge on an easy trail. It passes a couple of cuts where you look down steep ravines on the NW side, usable as ascent/descent routes if you have an ice axe and don't mind exposure to falling rock.

The last leg is "interesting". You reach a false summit, then must drop perhaps 40' into a deep cut with some exposure, then climb up steeply. It's challenging, but easier than Mount Wilson's summit.

I arrived at the summit well ahead of the others at 1025 (2:50 to climb 2800'). It's a long, rounded ridge, not especially narrow, with just some cairns to mark the summit. On a gorgeous clear day like this one was, the view is tremendous, most of the San Juans lying east and south. Mount Sneffels, Wetterhorn, Uncompahgre, and the nearby thirteener called Lizard Head Peak are all easy to spot. I stayed till 1115, when the others finally arrived.

Just after the first drop off the summit, I headed alone down the ravine NW from the deep cut below the top. It was the first way down to the north, and a very direct route. I carefully descended on talus until reaching the top of a huge snowfield -- unfortunately, still hard frozen. It would have been a nice glissade, but I had to carefully descend backwards, with ice axe, on icy steps left by someone earlier in the season. Once back on lower rock slopes, the return was straightforward, if long and cross-country (no trail).

I returned to the Jeep at 1255 (1:40 to get down). With binoculars I could see the other three back at the high saddle, at least an hour behind me. So, as pre-arranged, I left when ready, unfortunately causing them to have to hike a little farther back to their vehicles.

Later, in Montrose at 1530, I discovered that Dr. Powell had not checked in to the hospital. She'd come through about midnight and gone on to Grand Junction by ambulance. A call there yielded me an unfriendly ICU nurse. She told me the lady had had a craniotomy early in the morning, was not reachable by phone or in person, and I could not contact her for at least a day.

I was pretty bummed out; I couldn't even apologize to the lady and try to make amends. So I started the long drive home, leaving El Diente for some later expedition.

I camped by the Jeep in the national forest between Buena Vista and Leadville, and drove home the next day. My first stop in town was four hours at HP, trying to get reoriented. That was not easy after two weeks of rich experience in the alternate reality of the high peaks.

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From: ajs@hpfcla.HP.COM (Alan Silverstein) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 86 20:41:17 MDT Subject: Re: Trip reports on the San Juans Newsgroups: hpnc.general

Well folks, that's it. A long two weeks in the mountains and a long series of reports. Thank you, those of you who've told me you read and enjoy them. More to come! I'm two expeditions and four peaks behind. I'll start a new basenote sometime soon.

By the way, I finally got curious enough to call the Hinsdale County sheriff in Lake City. The climber lost on Redcloud and Sunshine did not die of a heart attack as I thought. Rather, he got disoriented, and probably cold, and fell off an 800' cliff on the SE side of Sunshine. He was found Monday afternoon (two days later) by the military chopper from Fort Carson. So the moral isn't, "carry enough water to avoid damaging your body", but "be careful route-finding in bad weather".

Boy, do I have a story to tell about that -- on Culebra Peak, two days ago, I found myself in a similar situation. But that must wait for a future report.