Jun 05, 2018 — I fell in love with the La Sal Mountains after hiking Mt. Tukuhnikivatz last year, so I planned a traverse of the northern section of the range. Unfortunately, I couldn't coordinate a two-car shuttle, so I worked to figure out a reasonable route to traverse the major peaks, but to make the day into an epic loop rather than a point-to-point. Fortunately, there is a trail system that allows this route to be possible! The traverse is incredible, and summits La Sal Peak, Castle Mountain, Mt. Waas, Green Mountain, Pilot Mountain, Manns Peak, and Mt. Tomasaki, as well as a few bumps along the ridgeline that keep the leg pump going.
Starting from the Warner Lake day use area, take the easily-followed Miner's Basin Trail up to the saddle below Gold Knob, only to descend into Miner's Basin, losing almost all the elevation you just worked to gain. Once in Miner's Basin, check out the historic cabins, and then attempt to locate the the proper old mining roads to gain the saddle beneath Horse Mountain: yet another bit of elevation gain that will be lost shortly after (ugh). Continue along the old mining road that leads to the cirque beneath Mt. Waas and Castle Mountain, then locate the saddle of those two peaks and ascend awful, extremely steep Class 2 dirt and scree. This was the only section of the day that felt a bit contrived, but I had to get to the ridgeline somehow.
Once on the La Sal ridgeline, bag Castle Mountain, and then La Sal Peak, which feels rough because you're going north when the range heads south. You could skip these two peaks, but I wanted to get the whole range. From La Sal Peak, head back south, bypassing Castle Mountain, back to the saddle of Castle and Waas. A social trail leads up the scree via switchbacks to the summit of Mt. Waas. Continue along the ridge to Green Mountain, then Pilot Mountain, and onward to Manns Peak. The ridgeline is obvious. From Manns Peak, you can descend the ridge on a social trail to get to Burro Pass, but this would mean skipping Mt. Tamasaki. You got this far, so might as well finish the whole ridgeline. Mt. Tamasaki is steep and feels like a perfect ending to the day. Bushwhack down any number of slopes from the summit to the start of the Burro Pass Trail. I chose to head back to the base of Tamasaki and stay just to the left of the treeline. You may be tempted to cheat by staying high to get closer to Burro Pass as not to loose extra elevation gain, but the bushwhacking looked fairly rough and my route avoided almost all of it. Follow the Burro Pass Trail through gorgeous greenery back to Warner Campground.
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