Page Type: | Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon: | 37.85666°N / 108.00116°W |
County: | Dolores&San Miguel |
Elevation: | 13540 ft / 4127 m |
Unnamed 13540 B Peak is located in San Juan Mountains near the historic town of Telluride. The peak combines well with Fowler Peak. And if you feel energetic, you can add Boskoff Peak. Why unnamed? Colorado has so many 13ers (mountains > 13,000 feet) and many are unnamed. There are 584 ranked 13ers in Colorado! The peak is not well seen from the distance since it is hiding behind a 14er Wilson Peak.
Why 13540 B? because there is Unnamed 13540 A also located in the San Juan Mountains.
Colorado Rank: 226 (tricentennial peak)
Class: 2
Parent Lineage: Wilson Peak
Wilderness: Lizard Head
Nearby Peaks:
From Ridgway, take CO 62 towards Telluride. Drive Dallas Divide and into Placerville, turn left onto CO 145. Drive 6.5 miles and turn onto well signed Silver Pick Road. This is easy 4 WD road, high clearance 2 WD should be fine. Drive 4 miles to an intersection and bear right onto FR 622 (all turns are marked; this is the standard winter closure). Drive 2.2 miles and bear right onto FR 645. Cross a small stream and continue to Rock of Ages Trailhead at 10,300 feet.
We could see an old road here and there between the snow, but we chose to directly ascend on easy snow slopes, maybe 35 degrees steep, it got a little steeper near the saddle. I was happy for so much snow covering the talus and scree. We continued to ascend all the way to the saddle between Fowler Peak and UN 13540. Since our objective was to summit both peaks, we went first onto Fowler Peak, returned back to the saddle and went up the easy west ridge to the summit of 13540. The summit offered great views. There was a cairn and summit register. We retraced out way back to the saddle and returned the same way back.
I also read a report about summiting UN 13540 from Rock of Ages saddle. This would be a great option later in the summer when "school bus basin" is snow free, or if you wish to combine 13540 with Wilson Peak. Per reports this east ridge route from Rock of Ages saddle is class 3.
The best time to climb this peak is when the "school bus basin" is still covered with snow - early summer. This avoid ascending loose and nasty scree and talus. Obviously you can climb at any time, winter and early spring pose a high avalanche danger.
You can sleep at the parking lot - Silver Pick Trailhead. There are several primitive campsites along the road to the parking road as well. Developed campgrounds - the closest one would be at Wood Lake, for more information click here.