LoJ: #411 (Pre-LiDAR #390) / 13,288' "P 2" Formerly UN 13302
N 37° 37' 33.66", W 107° 30' 48.95"
(Not Field Checked)
Peak Summary
With 3,600 feet of straight up gain, UN13,302 (P 2) is a Class 3, strenuous ascent from Vallecito Creek, near the crossing to Sunlight Creek in the heart of the Weminuche Wilderness. Closest vehicle access is to drive into Beartown (old ghost town site) below Kite Lake and hike in from the trailhead north of Hunchback Pass. 4WD is required for that approach and a backpack. Otherwise, you can also backpack in from Needleton, up Chicago Basin, over Columbine Pass, down Johnson Creek to Vallecito Creek, then pack upstream to the start of this route. You can also approach from Vallecito Reservoir and backpack up Vallecito Creek to the start of this route. Lidar measurements demoted this summit by 14 feet and dropped it into the Top 500.
P 2 West Couloir to North Ridge Route
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Bear Creek/Hunchback Pass/Kite Lake TH
WARNING: This trail head approach REQUIRES 4WD with good ground clearance. The drive as described below from Silverton may take up to 2.5 hours.
From the Town of Silverton, and where the main road splits at the NE end of town, drive 4.2 miles NE up along the Animas River on blue-signed County Road 2 to Howardsville. Turn right onto FR589 up Cunningham Gulch and stay right at the turn for the "Old Mine Tour" (4.4 miles) but do take the left fork toward Stony Pass (FR737) at 5.9miles. Once on the Stony Pass Road, expect 4W conditions. The road climbs steeply to the pass. Abundant wildflowers as you approach the pass may delay you. Once across the pass, the road becomes FR520 and eventually leads to Rio Grande Reservoir, but you will not drive that far. The road eventually descends down the valley to a low water crossing of Pole Creek. There are several primitive campsites on both sides of the Pole Creek crossing. Watch out for the steep embankment climb out on the east side if the road is wet from rains. You could easily slip off the edge. After the crossing, continue south for under a mile to another fork where you'll turn right (west). Another long, low water crossing is found here across the Rio Grande River. This crossing is usually more shallow than the Pole Creek, but the closer you are to runoff season, the more difficult these crossings will be.
It is also possible to come into this area from either Creede or Lake City over Slumgullion and Spring Pass to Rio Grande Reservoir. From state highway 149 either about 20.5 miles from Creede or 32 miles from Lake City, turn west onto FS520 and drive all the way to the reservoir on the well-signed, graded dirt road. Passenger cars can make it all the way to the "Lost Trail Campground" at the far west end of the reservoir. Beyond that point, FR520 continues west and crosses some rugged sections before connecting with the other section of FR520 coming down from Stony Pass and the low-water crossing of the Rio Grande. We have never driven in all the way on this section and from those we know who have, they have complained about one particularly difficult stretch.
From the Rio Grande crossing, continue up what is now, the Beartown Road for a slow 4 miles (mainly because of potholes) to the former location of Beartown. (There's really nothing left to see there, but just before the road crosses Bear Creek, beyond the old townsite, there is some good camping. The road goes all the way to Kite Lake at about 12,100 ft., but the Hunchback Pass trailhead is about 1/2 mile below the lake. There's a trail sign there and some very limited parking is available. Road Notes as of 2018: About half the distance toward Beartown, the road crosses an unnamed creek and at that spot, there are some difficult mud/potholes that have really been dug out. Longer bed vehicles may have some difficulty getting through. Take it slow. Closer to Beartown, the road passes through a fence line. At that point, the road conditions will begin to deteriorate and become more rocky as it begins to gain some elevation.
As the road begins climbing more steeply toward Kite Lake and the Hunchback trailhead, after crossing Bear Creek, it becomes quite a bit more rocky in that stretch as well. For a long section, the road is deeply entrenched in the middle because of runoff and the trench tends to fill with loose rocks. If you have driven in here to do the Ute Ridge group of summits, camp in the vicinity of where the road crosses Bear Creek just past the old Beartown site. See coordinates below. From that creek crossing, it's not quite .3 mile to the trailhead for Ute Ridge, which is a jeep track that turns off to the left and drops down to cross another lesser fork of Bear Creek. Park somewhere along this track if heading for Ute Ridge. On the Caltopo map, this trail is called the "Bear Town Trail" and designated FR869. On trails Illustrated Map #140, it does not appear to have a designation. Coordinates for this road & trailhead are: N 37° 42' 54.53" W 107° 30' 35.00". You can find a good camp spot here as well. You can also find some additional camp spots within a few hundred yards of the Hunchback Pass trailhead. One of those spots goes off to the south to an old mining area.
Camping
You can find some very limited camping spots in the immediate vicinity of the Hunchback trailhead. There's one particularly good spot back down the road a fairly short distance on the south side. There's also some good camping back toward the Beartown site. See coordinates provided.
Campsite Locations
Beartown Campsite › N 37° 43' 05.02", W 107° 30' 35.47"
Route Description
Year Climbed: 2005This route description will begin from a campsite located near the crossing point of Vallecito Creek to access Sunlight Creek. For the backpack approach, you need to read the approaches from the trailhead that takes you over Hunchback Pass, down to Nebo Creek, across Rock Creek and then to the campsite at the Sunlight crossing. If climbing other 13ers in this area, you may want to consider climbing UN13,121 first (up the Sunlight drainage) because the view from its summit offers a great chance to scout out the route to P 2.
There is a pronounced avalanche chute/gully that sweeps down from the ridge just north of the P 2 summit. The bottom of this gully is a little difficult to locate because of trees at the lower end. It will be just a little south of the crossing site for Sunlight Creek and the campsites near there. These coordinates should help you identify the start: N 37° 37' 42.47" W 107° 32' 19.15". You'll need to walk from Vallecito Creek, back across the Vallecito trail to locate this start on the east side of the trail. Hike into the trees aiming for the chute/gully. The lowest point at which the trees open up in the chute is: N 37° 37' 37.79" W 107° 32' 10.53". You will encounter a lot of debris in the chute itself, so stay on the north side in the forest and head up for several hundred feet following game trails where they assist. Eventually you'll come to a section of the chute that widens out where you may want to enter it. There will still be fallen and uprooted trees, but fewer and more manageable now. A low ridge in the middle of the chute helps deflect debris to either side and you can hike more easily on the ridge crest through small aspens.
Looking up the chute, you'll see a tighter section with a likely waterfall (except later in the season). Exit the chute below that waterfall on the left and then re-enter the chute above it. The going is steep but mostly secure. Higher up, the chute appears to divide into two gullies with an island of trees in the middle. That's about 11,400 ft. We decided to follow the apparent path of least resistance by heading up the left fork, lured by greenish, tundra slopes amid the increasing rubble. Having scouted this route out from UN13,121 the previous day, we knew the right fork had snow and might not only require ice axe, but crampons or micro spikes, which we had not brought.
The two chutes/gullies become clearly divided by a rock rib. Continue in the left chute where after a few more hundred feet, you'll lose all tundra and will be hiking on steep boulder rubble. Higher up, this left hand chute begins to fragment into several minor gullies, defined by the angle of the metamorphic rock ledges. Several times we worked our way left somewhat in order to gain a higher ledge or ramp, but always working our way east and south, in the direction of the summit. As you near the north summit ridge, you'll find yourself scrambling at times to search out a route amid the ribs and boulders. This is where you'll most likely encounter some 3rd class work, which is not too exposed or insecure. Finally, gain the summit ridge and walk south over broken rubble and boulders to the summit, not too far away. There's some more minor scrambling, but no more serious obstacles.
The summit offers an expansive view of the numerous peaks all about. The most stunning view will be to the west, up the Sunlight drainage where the view of Jagged will mesmerize you. P 2 has a false summit to the south. Coming from that direction offers an interesting problem. Read about that approach on UN13,300 D (P3). To descend, you're best off just heading back the way you came for a knee-bashing descent back to the Sunlight/Vallecito camp.
Additional BETA
Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful. -
