LoJ: #416 (Pre-LiDAR #397) / 13,279' "P 3" Formerly UN 13,300 D
Range ›
San Juan Range
Quadrangle ›
Columbine Pass
Summit Location ›
N 37° 37' 31.48", W 107° 30' 10.88
(Not Field Checked)
N 37° 37' 31.48", W 107° 30' 10.88
(Not Field Checked)
Neighboring Peaks ›
"P 2" [Formerly UN 13302]
Peters Peak
"P 2" [Formerly UN 13302]
Peters Peak
Peak Summary
Note: LoJ provides a name of P 3 for this summit as does Roach. G&M identifies this as UN 13300 D.
P 3 is a rocky summit with an unpleasant approach in the heart of the Weminuche Wilderness. It is a Class 3 scramble at a minimum with some exposure and may possibly deserve a Class 4 rating. The closest trailhead is the Bear Creek/Kite Lake access from Stony Pass or Rio Grande Reservoir. 4WD/high clearance required for this. In addition, a significant backpack trip is likely. Most peakbaggers will want to combine this summit with numerous other 13ers in the area of Rock Lake, hence a multi-day backpack. Lidar measurements dropped this summit down into the Top 500, losing 21 feet of elevation.
"P 3" 13,279 South Ridge Route
Class 4
Backpack + Medium Day
RT From Bear Creek/Hunchback Pass/Kite Lake:
26.8mi / 8,075'
RT From
Rock Lake:
7 mi / 3,275'
From Rock Lake:
3.50 mi / 3,275' (One-Way)
-
-
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: 2004Both UN 13,288 - P 2 and UN 13,279 - P 3 may be climbed from a shared saddle. The access is from the Rock Creek trail. There is no "easy" way to access this saddle and no trail to utilize other than game. We have one ascent route we used and then a different descent route that could also be used for ascending to the basin in between the two summits. The first starting point is where we came out on our descent. It was 1.5 mile from the Rock Creek/Vallecito Trail intersection, at the beginning of the first open meadow at about 11,060 ft. The second staring point is about .45 mile farther up the Rock Creek trail at the 11,200 ft. contour.
For the first starting point, as you arrive in the open meadow you can see somewhat up in the direction of the basin between P 2 and P 3 by looking south. To gain that basin, you'll need to head south and cross Rock Creek. There are willows to contend with. There's also a large open rock slab area that may expedite reaching the creek. (See Google Earth.) Once across, there will be yet more willows and then you'll enter the forest and begin the steep, uphill thrash through the trees to reach the basin. We found numerous game trails, weaving through the trees and working around hidden cliffs, one of which proved to be more consistently used, hence easier to follow. Google Earth reveals plenty of downed trees but does not show the numerous cliffs we encountered. There will be about 700 feet of gain to get above the trees and into the lower end of the basin. Once out of the trees, you can begin to chart your own course to the saddle, but our path took us by two small tarns - one noted on the USGS map at 12,023 ft. and another smaller one above that, reached by contouring up and around a hillside. To that point, much of your work will still involve tundra, but beyond the second tarn, the basin is a rock-filled glacier. Just chart the best path you can to the saddle at the head of the basin. No matter how you go, it will be a tedious, boulder-hopping hike with many a rock tumbling away below you. If you arrive at the saddle without injury, offer thanks, but the battle is not over.
The second starting point, about .45 mile more up valley, also crosses Rock Creek. Careful search can yield a line of trees to take you over the creek without getting too bogged down in willows. This second crossing is near the west end of the second, much longer meadow. Once across the creek, head SE, staying below bands of cliffs, angling your way up to shelf through the trees. Follow the shelf SE just below a cliff band, and cross a creek that drains the much larger unnamed lake at the foot of P 3. Swing upward through the cliffs at a narrow cleft, scramble up a very steep and loose slope for about 200 feet until it begins to moderate. Though the terrain is less steep, it's still almost all a field of rock to the unnamed lake. Beyond the lake, gain a low ridge/saddle and P 2 will come into view. Enter the vast boulder field and head toward the saddle, joining the other approach route.
From the saddle, follow the west ridge of the peak eastward where it will join the south ridge coming from PT. 13,180. From here, head north. Sounds easy, but it's not. Our own notes about this ridge are sketchy and described by us as "the rock was never forgiving and we struggled against it all the way. It was all a pile of steep, loose boulders and rubble and all of quartzite." As we approached the summit we found a difficult assortment of choppy cliffs, boulders and blocks that thwarted our progress to the summit. On LoJ, "Furthermore" (aka Derek Wolfe) gives a more detailed account, citing two false summits, 3rd class terrain, a "knife edge" near the first false summit on solid rock & exposed, and a brief 4th class spot to navigate marked with an old piece of webbing (not ours). Neither we nor "Furthermore" used rope for this. Since he approached from the south (the saddle between P 3 and Pt. 13,180) and we approached from along the west ridge, we may have avoided the so-called "knife edge." He describes the 4th class section as the "crux" but not too exposed. See the link below to his report. We may have intersected the ridge beyond these obstacles because we made no note of any 4th class section.
https://www.listsofjohn.com/tr?Id=1419&pkid=492
Again, if you arrive without injury, offer thanks, then begin your descent, most likely by the same path as your ascent. Overall, the first approach we offer is probably the best and easiest, though there's really nothing easy about it.
It was also mentioned that from the saddle west of P 3, you can also ascend P 2. So here's a description of that. It should be noted that "Furthermore's" report link above also discusses this same approach. From the saddle between the two summits, walk west along the ridge, hiking (or tripping) over the endless piles of quartzite rock. This type of rock is abundant in this part of the Weminuche and we find it more difficult to handle. 500 feet of gain will bring you to the false, south summit. If you don't think it's been too bad to here - just wait until you see what's next. The small false summit had a little tundra, but what lies beyond is not comforting. The flat summit gives way to a knife edge ridge. On the east side, it drops off on highly tilting slabs of solid quartzite rock for 150 feet or more. You'll be standing at the head of a split couloir. On the other side of the knife edge, it drops away very steeply for several hundred feet in a broken array of rocks, small ledges and scree in multiple, deep gullies. Pick your poison. At this point, we admit to turning back. We did not feel we could navigate the slabs without rope & protection and with an approaching storm, we did not want to be caught in the steep terrain on the west side, which also appeared dangerous if wet. As for staying directly on the knife edge, after about 50 feet, it rose abruptly about 10 - 12 feet and was only about a foot wide at that point. It too appeared to be best approached with rope & protection. Furthermore apparently navigated his way past by a significant descent into the gullies first, then a chilling upclimb. See his report. But we also have vague reports from both Jack Dais and Jennifer Roach of having done the peak this way several years before and they did not recall the knife edge we describe here. Go figure. If you can make it past the knife edge, then the summit is attainable, but still a rocky scramble.
Additional BETA
Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful. -
Warning!
Climbing peaks can be dangerous! By using this site and the information contained herein, you're agreeing to use common sense, good judgement, and to not hold us liable nor sue us for any reason. Legal Notice & Terms of Use.