Wetterhorn Peak, Colorado

July 2008

Wetterhorn Peak, Colorado

14,015 feet

Wetterhorn Peak is a fun class three 14er in southwestern Colorado's San Juan Range.  The San Juans is one of our favorite places to climb in Colorado due to the spectacular scenery and the great Jeep roads to enjoy.  On this adventure, we did a last minute "road trip" to climb Wetterhorn, drove Jeep roads over Engineer Pass, then spent the next day with friends climbing the Grand Turk and Sultan Mountain.  We had been training hard over the last seven months and it really paid off.  Unfortunately, Scout didn't get to go on this trip, but we'll return in September to climb some more peaks and he'll get to go then.



The first two hours of our climb was in the dark (so no photos).  But after the sun came up, we found ourselves in the shadows of Matterhorn Peak (13,590).  Here, Alan sorts out camera gear while the Matterhorn looms above.



Jackie heads across the frozen snow towards the the southeast standard route of Wetterhorn.



A tiny dot of Jackie heads up the southeast ridge.  At the end of the ridge is where the class 3 scrambling (and the fun) begins.



A "class 3" route means that hands are required at times for balance and stability.  Once off the ridge, scrambling (class 3) is required the rest of the way to the summit.



Very near the summit, Jackie ascends the crux of the mountain...a 150-foot scramble with some pretty good exposure.



Speaking of exposure, Alan looks out over the valley with about a 1000-foot sheer drop below.



On the summit in perfect weather with the mighty San Juan range behind us.  We made the 3300 foot ascent in about three hours.



Alan heads down the mountain with the valley below.  Our total day was about six hours.



After getting back to the trailhead and breaking camp, we hopped in the Jeep for a three-hour drive over Engineer Pass and down to the little town of Silverton.



The next day found us hiking with friends up Grand Turk and Sultan Mountain, two 13,000-foot mountains west of Silverton.  Here, Alan heads up the Sultan ridge.  Photo by Kevin Timm



Wildflowers abound as we take a break during the climb. The Grenadier range, with Vestal Peak, Arrow Peak, and the Trinity mountains are in the background.



The final push up Sultan Mountain.



A panorama of Grand Turk with the Grenadier range of the San Juans behind. This is why we like to climb mountains...for views like this. A quick trip to the mountains paid off.  Although the weather forecast was iffy, we got lucky and managed to get four summits in two days.  A very successful adventure.


Check out www.SummitPost.org or www.14ers.com for information on climbing these great mountains.

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