UN13,417 has been given the unofficial name of Mount Soso. Located about a mile SSE of Mount Oso, this peak is a Class 2 ascent in the midst of the difficult-to-reach Rock Lake/Moon Lake group of summits in the Weminuche Wilderness. The closest vehicle access is the Beartown/Kite Lake trailhead & Hunchback Pass which is accessible only by 4WD with good clearance. In addition, there is a lengthy backpack to reach either Rock Lake or even more lengthy to reach Moon Lake, which provides a good base camp for several 13ers in this area. It's also possible to access this area by backpacking in from Vallecito Reservoir to the south, a trip of equal endeavor as coming in from Hunchback Pass. Lidar data added 4 feet of elevation.
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.
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.
This "approach" is part of a sequence of approaches that utilize the Vallecito Trail beginning near Kite Lake and above the "Beartown" site. The trailhead is located at: N37° 42' 44.57" W 107° 31' 04.97". Use the "Beartown/Kite Lake/Hunchback trailhead information for instructions on how to drive to the TH.
The trailhead is actually within the Rio Grande National Forest. The TH number is #813 on both the San Juan and older Rio Grande National Forest maps and is a part of the "Continental Divide Trail" at this location and segment. Once the trail crosses Hunchback Pass, it crosses over into San Juan National Forest and becomes #529, continuing south all the way to Vallecito Reservoir. If using Trails Illustrated #140, they identify this as the Continental Divide Trail and use the #813. Walk south from the TH and follow the easy gradient through open terrain with some willows to Hunchback Pass. The trail first sweeps SE, then makes a gradual turn SW, then west to the open, tundra-covered pass with about 900 feet of gain over just under a mile. Coordinates for the pass are: N 37° 42' 16.62" W 107° 31' 12.37". Hunchback Mountain is west along the divide and can be easily climbed by those interested in bagging all the 13ers. You can drop your pack, stroll to the summit and return in under an hour.
From Hunchback Pass, continue south heading straight down an unnamed fork of Vallecito Creek (or could perhaps be considered an unnamed fork of Nebo Creek.) The trail cuts trough plenty of willows in this section and stays on the west side of the drainage until a little before the trees. Because of the numerous willows, plan on getting pants & boots drenched if it has rained recently. Also, as a general point, the Vallecito Trail is utilized regularly by pack horse groups so you can expect to see and experience some of the typical trail damage done by horses. The trail then turns to the SE and comes to an intersection. A newer trail (#813) that does not show on the 1964 USGS map heads east up Nebo Creek, crosses the Continental Divide and goes to West Ute Lake. That is the continuation of the Continental Divide Trail. The Vallecito Trail continues south and west from this intersection. Near the trail intersection, there is a very large and good campsite on a prominent knoll above Nebo Creek on the NW side. The campsite makes a good base camp for 13ers off the CD trail including Mt. Nebo, UN13,110, UN13,230, and UN13,169, all of which can be done in a single day from the campsite. See "Camping info" for more details.
The Nebo Campsite sits near the intersection of the Vallecito Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. This camp site is not to be confused with another located about a mile farther down the trail where Nebo Creek is actually crossed. The elevation is appx. 11,400 ft. Coordinates are below. These coordinates have been field checked. The campsite is right off the main trail. Because of the beetle kill damage to the old growth trees here, the original camp area has seen some ground vegetation moving back in. There is still one, good, main tent site with fire ring as of 2018, a smaller but usable tent site just off to the NW from the fire ring and 50 yards south, there is a potential camp site located on the grassy knoll. Water may be obtained from Nebo Creek which will lie east of and downhill from the campsite.
This "approach" is part of a sequence of approaches that utilize the Vallecito Trail beginning near Kite Lake and above the "Beartown" site. The trailhead is located at: N37° 42' 44.57" W 107° 31' 04.97". Use the "Beartown/Kite Lake/Hunchback trailhead information for instructions on how to drive to the TH.
From the Nebo Creek campsite and the trail junction of the Continental Divide Trail #813 and the Vallecito Trail #529, head south, then SW down the Vallecito Trail. The trail swings to the west through forest, staying above Nebo Creek and then makes an abrupt turn back to the north to cross the unnamed fork of Vallecito Creek that originates near Hunchback Pass. Watch carefully for this minor crossing. Then, the trail continues down and generally west to SW. Along this next stretch there is one small campsite we've noticed on the south side of the trail that has some slope and could accommodate one tent. This is what we would call a "do-in-a-pinch" type of site. Continue down trail to the WSW to a switchback that will drop you to Nebo Creek (which by this point has been joined by the aforementioned unnamed fork and now carries a lot more water). Just below this switchback, there is a not-too-noticeable trail that heads off to the SW which we believe to be an alternate route into Stormy Gulch. When you arrive at the crossing of Nebo Creek, we have usually found this crossing to be a little difficult and somewhat intimidating. The water is swift and nearby the stream heads over the beginning of a waterfall. Sometimes there are logs you can walk across and other times, there's little help. You may have to wade. You can also explore upstream where you may find a better crossing place with rocks that allow hopping over the stream. In our July, 2018 visit, the water was so low, crossing anywhere was easy. Before crossing, if you follow the stream up, there are some good campsites with as many as four possible tent sites. Beyond the last tent site there is a picturesque waterfall.
After crossing Nebo Creek, continue downhill, through a series of switchbacks and at 1.25 miles from the Nebo campsite, you should come to an open meadow on the right (west) side of the trail and see a secondary trail heading over to a crossing of Vallecito Creek, below where Trinity Creek comes in. This meadow area is often used as a camp spot by various groups, though it tends to be a little lumpy. From this location climbers can reach The Guardian, Mt. Silex, Storm King, and Peaks Seven, Eight and Nine as day hikes/climbs by heading up Stormy Gulch. But if you're willing to lug your pack back uphill, read about other higher elevation campsites under the "approach" for those peaks. If hiking back up to the Nebo Creek camp or back over Hunchback Pass to the trailhead, this section from Trinity Creek back to Nebo Creek is the steepest part of the return hike gaining about 1,000 feet in elevation. It is also possible to hike all the way up Trinity Creek and cross the ridge that separates the Trinity Basin from the Vestal Basin and access the Vestal Creek summits.
An easily identifiable trail turns west off the main Vallecito Trail and leads over to where you can cross Vallecito Creek, downstream from where Trinity Creek comes in. This trail leads across an open meadow that is frequently used as a camp location. See approximate coordinates below. The trail that leads west across the meadow can be rather faint. The best campsite will be a few yards north of that trail (see field checked coordinates), and there's another campsite in some younger trees 50 yards south of the trail.
The 1.75 mile walk from the Trinity Creek camp to the crossing of Rock Creek is an easy, quick jaunt down the trail that will take under an hour with only about 400 feet in elevation loss. Though the trail starts out in forest, it crosses plenty of open valley terrain before re-entering forest for some broad switchbacks that make the final drop to the Rock Creek crossing. As of 2018, because of all the beetle-kill damage, the undergrowth is becoming quite lush in places and at a few points, the trail becomes a little obscured. Some of the delphinium along here grows as much as 5 feet tall! We have never found any useful logs at Rock Creek to cross on here, so be prepared to wade, and at the crossing point, the stream widens out so the wade is long, but usually not challenging. If heading up to Rock Lake, you will not need to make the crossing. The Rock Lake Trail stays on the north side of Rock Creek. Vallecito Creek from the Trinity Creek intersection and heading downstream begins to offer attractive pools and stream fishing opportunities.
The Rock Creek trail #655 provides access to Rock Lake, a seemingly popular destination for horse-pack groups. From a possible base camp location near Rock Lake, the following 13ers can be accessed, most of which are found on the Columbine Pass and Emerald Lake quads: UN13,302, Irving Peak, Peters Peak, UN13,222, UN13,220, Mount Oso, UN13,417, UN13,310, and UN13,340.
Over the years, the Rock Creek crossing has never seen the development of any really nice campsites. The flattest with the fewest rocks is right off the trail, on the north side of Rock Creek, where the Rock Creek/Lake trail turns off. See coordinates below.
From Rock Lake, the following summits can be easily reached: Peter's Peak, UN13,222, and UN13,220. Mt. Oso can be easily reached from either Rock or Moon Lakes. From Moon Lake, UN13,310, UN13,340, UN13,417 and Irving Peak are most easily accessible. UN13,302, which barely makes it onto the SE corner of the Storm King quad, can be accessed from a couple miles up the Rock Creek Trail. Read the route description regarding that summit for more detail. We have hiked on this trail twice - once in 1994 and then again in 2004.
From the Vallecito Trail, the Rock Creek/Lake trail heads ESE, on the north side of Rock Creek, gaining some 900 feet in elevation steadily but not too steeply the first mile and a quarter. It then enters an open valley at about 11,100 ft. still following on the north side of the creek and staying close to but not in the trees. Through this open valley section, the elevation gain is gentle. The trail is well-established and frequently used by pack horse groups. The first meadow section ends soon followed by a longer meadow stretch. Rock Creek meanders its way through this meadow with a few "tree islands" in the middle of the meadow toward its upper end. Granite rocks along the valley floor have been planed off by long-past glacial action leaving large slabs exposed. There are many camping opportunities along the meadow stretches, though we saw few established camps and those we saw were used primarily by the pack horse groups. One of the "tree islands" had a good campsite. Buffalo Peak makes a dramatic, sharp-pointed appearance towards the head of the valley and dominates the view. In 1994, there was a trail fork at 11,480 feet just before a crossing of Rock Creek. Stay right for Rock Lake and cross the creek if that fork is still there. The more recent Trails Illustrated map shows this fork higher up and closer to Rock Lake now. Finish the hike and last elevation gain to Rock Lake on fairly gentle switchbacks. A little before exiting the trees in this switchback section, there was a tree-covered ridge sloping back down toward the valley on the left side of the trail and on the south side of Rock Creek that offered some very attractive campsites. (This is about 10 - 15 minutes walking below the lake.) This would be the last opportunity for tree camping before the lake.
Rock Lake is a beautiful and large alpine lake that sits nestled in a bowl at the foot of Peters Peak. It is surrounded by willows and grassy meadows which may obscure the trail. The best camping is back down the trail as we described.
Rock Lake is a beautiful and large alpine lake that sits nestled in a bowl at the foot of Peters Peak. It is surrounded by willows and grassy meadows which may obscure the trail. The trail to Moon Lake continues on the east side of Rock Lake and passes a small tarn at 12,100 ft., then continues climbing more steeply on short switchbacks through some talus bringing you to a pass at 12,420 ft. We found that section to be cairned. The trail then goes west gaining a little more elevation before beginning a descent to Half Moon Lake, trapped in a rocky crater below. The descent to Half Moon Lake is steep. Keep that in mind for the hike back out. The remainder of the two mile hike from Rock to Moon Lakes is relatively easy. At Moon Lake, a level, grassy peninsula that juts out into the lake some makes a fantastic campsite with a few low trees. This makes a great base camp for the summits of Irving, UN13,417, UN13,310 and UN13,340, and perhaps Mt. Oso as well.
This route description uses Moon Lake as a base camp and start point for this ascent, therefore the mileage and elevation gain estimates are measured from Moon Lake. We also sequence Irving Peak with UN13,417 (Soso). If not climbing Soso, or any other summit, you'll have an additional 750 feet of elevation gain on the return.
From the suggested Moon Lake campsite, head back on the trail on the east side of the lake, then depart the trail at the north shore and head west to begin a steep hike due west up the valley filled with willows and taller vegetation. After about 400 feet of elevation gain, things level out some in the large basin east of Mt. Oso. Head for the saddle on the ridge between Mt. Oso and UN13,417 (Soso). There are two low points on that saddle. We chose the one to the south figuring it to be the easiest. There is a rather unique geologic feature here. Two very distinct types of rock meet each other. The lighter colored quartzite so common to this area forms a very distinct line as it meets a darker metamorphic rock. The saddle is the dividing point between these two rock types. This division can be observed all through this area.
Follow the color-differentiated boulder rubble to the saddle, then descend west on the other side. This elevation loss will be over smaller, broken rock and some small scree that helps expedite descent. After about 600 feet of descending, begin to contour across the broad valley and more tundra toward a steep valley that leads to a col between the north ridge of Irving Peak and Pt. 13,006. The hike across the valley is easy, and there's a good chance of spotting elk. Their trails are numerous here. As you ascend to the col, things become increasingly steep on mostly tundra with multitudes of wildflowers. The tundra eventually gives way to more rock and wet soil or mud as we found it. We chose to head for what appeared to be the easiest break in the ridge above. About 20 feet from the head of what had become a couloir, it became so steep, it left us a little puzzled for a while as to how to get through. There was no firm footing. This final obstacle was overcome basically by a lunging-scramble, grabbing for any handhold possible until we reached the head and stable ground. A short piece of rope or webbing helped one member of our group get up here.
Once at this col/saddle, it remains a Class 2 hike south to the summit. We found ourselves initially on a level portion of the north ridge. Shortly thereafter, the ridge begins to steepen as you head for the summit. There remained a few large, rocky obstacles to scramble around, but nothing difficult. From the summit, views either east, south or west drop off precipitously. You have a fine view of Irving Lake and of the Vallecito drainage, over 4,000 feet far below. Return as you came, or combine Irving with UN13,417 on the return as we did. It would also be possible to include Mt. Oso on this day for stronger individuals or groups.
UN13,417, also called Mount Soso for its proximity to Mount Oso, can be sequenced with Irving Peak for a comfortable day climb. It could also be combined with Mount Oso for a triple play for stronger climbers. The elevation gain and mileage estimates provided here are based an a start location from the summit of Irving Peak. After ascending Mount Soso, you'll still have about 1.75 miles to go to get back to the Moon Lake campsite, but no additional elevation gain of significance.
From the summit of Irving Peak, retreat back down the north ridge, heading off that ridge at the col where the steep couloir allowed access from the valley below (see our suggested route for Irving). Walk back east, contouring through the valley, utilizing game trails and head for a very small pond showing on the USGS map at just below the 12,200 ft. contour line. To this point, you should be close to the route you took to climb Irving if using our directions. In the vicinity of the small pond, cross the stream and head SE, beginning an ascent in the direction of the south ridge of Soso, and aiming to intercept that ridge at a level area at 13,200 ft. Walk up the west facing slopes on a combination of rocks and tundra by following a series of shallow couloirs and tundra-covered benches. After 800 feet of gain, with a few boulder stretches thrown in, you should come out at the level area at 13,200 ft. From this flatter section of ridge covered in small brown rock, make a left turn and head for the summit, only a little over 200 vertical feet and a quarter mile away.
To descend back to Moon Lake, you could head north off the summit back to the saddle between Soso and Oso, turn right and follow the drainage back to Moon Lake. But "The Guide to the Colorado Mountains" mentions a "touch of 4th class" on this ridge ascent/descent, so take that into consideration. For descent, we used the more-or-less east ridge, which goes at Class 2 or 2+. Staying directly on the ridge will bring several large, rocky obstacles. Staying on the south side of the ridge still has some hazards with a sidehill descent that requires some careful work through many rocks and short drops. After about 500 feet of descending, head more to the north, crossing the east ridge at a flatter section and begin a descent into the basin west of Moon Lake. There will be some more talus and then you'll have to work your way down through a series of tundra benches and cliffs for a few hundred feet before getting down to the lower part of the basin. From there, turn east and head down to Moon Lake by either a route you've previously used or whatever works amid willows, marshy areas, lush vegetation and wildflowers.