Tag: west willow creek trailhead

PT 13030

RT Length:  7.36 miles

Elevation Gain: 1920’

I started from the West Willow Creek 4WD trailhead at 11550’.  If you don’t have 4WD, park below, just before the road turns to 4WD.  This will add 3 miles and 500’ of elevation total to the hike.

Here are some pictures of the 4WD road in

There are a few dispersed campsites here, and a parking area for about 5 vehicles.

I was on the trail at 5am.  The trail actually continues following the 4WD road, and if you have gotten this far, you can do the next few miles on the dirt road.  I chose to hike in, to get some extra mileage.  I followed 4WD road 505.1 west for 1.5 miles as it climbed into the upper basin.

At the top f the pass I could see PT 13030.  At about 12500’ I left the road and headed for the ridge, staying at about 12,500’ of elevation.

Here’s an overall look at the route I took to the ridge.  CalTopo will tell you there’s a road here.  There isn’t.

And some step-by-step pictures

There’s a small game trail that will lead you up the saddle

Once on the saddle I turned left and followed it south to the rocky area

If you plan on rock scrambling, now is the time to put on your helmet.  I continued southwest up the ridge, following a tundra and rock filled slope

Then I went left, below this large boulder, keeping it class 2

From here you have two options.  You can either gain the ridge for a quick class 3 scramble to the summit, or stay about 20 feet below the ridge to the left, and keep it class 2+.  Here’s looking at the route to the ridge for the class 3 scramble, which is stable but narrow and airy.

And here’s the class 2+ option, heading southwest, and then gaining the ridge

Once on the ridge, it was a quick walk to the summit

I summited PT 13030 at 7am

PT 13030:

I took the class 3 ridge option on the way in, and decided to take the class 2+ option on the way out.  Here’s the route I took back

There are two rocks placed as if they had been a cairn at one point, indicating where to descend from the ridge to keep it class 2.  It’s not obvious, and might not even be a true cairn at all, but it’s a good place to descend.

Then it was back to navigating around the large boulders

And heading back down to the ridge

Here’s an overall look at the route out of the basin

This is the route I took

And some step-by-step pictures. Once I was on the ridge there was a faint game trail to follow much of the way back to the road.  Unlike you’ll see on CalTopo, there is no road here. I stayed above the willows but below the rock rubble.

Ahead of me I could see two roads in the distance.  I was aiming for the closer dirt road

Back on 4WD dirt road 505.1, I followed it east back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 8:30am, making this a 7.36 mile hike with 1920’ of elevation gain in 3 hours 30 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

13115, 13005, and Baldy Lejos – 13,118

RT Length:  10.19 miles

Elevation Gain: 2879’

I started from the West Willow Creek 4WD trailhead at 11550’.  If you don’t have 4WD, park below, just before the road turns to 4WD.  This will add 3 miles and 500’ of elevation total to the hike.

Here are some pictures of the 4WD road in

There are a few dispersed campsites here, and a parking area for about 5 vehicles.

I was on the trail at 5am.  The West Willow Creek trail starts at the north end of the parking area, and follows West Willow Creek north on a class 1 trail for 1.4 miles, to Sa Luis Pass and the Colorado Trail.

After hiking for .4 miles, I came to a junction and turned left

Then continued towards San Luis Pass.

At Sal Luis Pass I turned left, and followed the Colorado Trail west.

This was still a clearly defined trail

I could now clearly see PT 13115.  This is the route I took to get there.  I would advise summiting from the southeast, as the north side is very chossy.

I left the Colorado Trail, and hiked on class 2 tundra and rocks to the summit

I summited PT 13115 at 6:30am.  Also, this is where my camera officially died, so it’s selfies at summits until I get a new one.

PT 13115:

To the northwest I could see my other two summits for the day, PT 13005 and Baldy Lejos

I descended the north side of PT 13115 on some loose rocks, and headed over to the point ahead of me.  Note:  this isn’t ranked, but it does have a summit cairn.  It was a class 2 hike to get to the top, but there’s a game trail to the left that will take you around this point.

I crossed the Colorado Trail and headed on over

To my left I could see a game trail below that would get me to my next objective, so I descended this point to the west and picked up the game trail

Following the ridge northwest, following a faint game trail, this is the route I took to the next point on the ridge

I ascended a small gully, then ascended the ridge

It was an easy tundra walk to the summit of 13005

I summited unranked PT 13005 at 7:45am

PT 13005:

To the north was Baldy Lejos. 

This is the class 2 route I used to avoid the ridge

Most of this was on easy tundra

From the top of the small, grassy gully, I could see Baldy Lejos

I followed the ridge to get there

I summited Baldy Lejos at 8:15am

Baldy Lejos:

Now to head back to the trailhead.  I took a slightly different route on my way back, to avoid the extra elevation gain.  I headed back down the ridge to the grassy gully

Instead of re-ascending PT 13005, I stayed on the grassy slope to the left to gain the ridge.  There are some game trails here.

Back on the ridge, I followed it south and then dropped down to the left to descend

I could now see PT 13115, but did not want to re-ascend the unnecessary point, so I skirted it to the right on a game trail

I could now see PT 13115 and the Colorado Trail.  I headed back to the Colorado Trail

I followed the Colorado Trail back to San Luis Pass

And at San Luis Pass turned right onto the West Willow Creek Trail

And followed West Willow Creek trail back to the trailhead.

I made it back to the trailhead at 10am, making this a 10.19 mile hike with 2879’ of elevation gain in 5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!