Hiking Wilson Peak, Lizard Head Wilderness, Telluride, Colorado
I was looking to make a trip down to the San Juan Mountains in Colorado to do some hiking. We would be going midweek so I thought it would be a good opportunity to hike a fourteener I had never done before, Wilson Peak. We decided we were going to hike the southwest ridge from the Rock of Ages Trailhead. We parked at the trailhead and starting hiking around 5am in the dark. The sun started coming out when we were about 1-2 miles into the hike and it was nice to start being able to see where we were.
The trail was very straightforward and easy to follow for the first 4.25 miles. It was at that point that we put on our helmets as it was clear that the route was about to get more scramble-y. Our pace slowed materially. After the Gladstone Peak saddle, we had to traverse some steeper slabs/rocks that required both hands and feet to get through. Once we were through this tricky section, we were able to take our trekking poles back out and continue hiking on Class 2 terrain until we made it to the final summit block. When we got to the viewpoint of this summit block, the last ~200 ft of elevation gain looked pretty intimidating. I questioned if it was something I actually wanted to do. Thankfully, there were some people coming down the summit block that we got to watch and ask them about. They assured us that it was very solid and looked worse than it was. After hearing that, I didn’t have a good reason to turn us around, so we decided we would head up it and turn around if at any point we felt uncomfortable. Lo and behold, it was very solid and turned out to be easier than it looked. We ultimately made it to the summit!
Can you spot the two climbers descending?
We stopped to have a snack and enjoy the views. We didn’t linger too long because we knew that down climbing what we just climbed up was going to take some time and were ready to keep moving. We made it back down the summit block and over to the Gladstone Peak saddle without any incident. From here, we knew it would be smooth sailing so we took our helmets off and started cruising back down to the car.
Overall, I had a really fun day hiking this peak. It was a good mental and physical challenge. The route requires Class 3 scrambling in a couple of spots and I strongly agree with the rating it is given. I would only attempt to climb this peak if you are an experienced hiker that is comfortable hiking Class 3 terrain.
Stats: 9.5 miles, 3625 ft of elevation gain
