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Sep 18, 2021 — Wilson Peak is the smaller neighbor of Mount Wilson in the San Miguel Mountains. It's a Colorado 14er and despite how far it is from civilization, it's fairly popular. Many people choose to hike to the summit via the Navajo Lake Trail, but I did that much longer hike to reach Mount Wilson about a month ago and was more interested in approaching Wilson Peak via the shorter Rock of Ages Trail. Any car can make it to the trailhead, but the road is a bit rocky in parts.
I started along the old forest roads that have been converted to the now Rock of Ages Trail. The trail is well-marked with signage and it's a pretty chill grade for most of it. A bit of forest hiking led south to a talus field, but being an old road meant the talus is easy to walk across. The trail then switchbacked once and continued back north to wrap around a ridge. It descended slightly toward the base of Wilson Peak, and a bunch of old mining roads lead all over the place. It's not the prettiest nor most pristine of areas, but the hike is easy and straightforward and I made quick work getting to the steeper section ahead. The old road sort of peters away and an eroded trail continues south up the slopes. It's pretty steep, and there are multiple options for ascending. I chose the most dominant social trail system, which switchbacks a few times before traversing east to Rock of Ages Saddle.
Once at the saddle, I got a nice view of Mount Wilson and Gladstone Peak to the south, as well as down into Navajo Basin. The trail continued being obvious as it headed east and wrapped around the south side of a significant obstacle along the ridge crest. Class 2 brought me to the south side of the obstacle, and then the fun begins. Wilson Peak comes into view, but the route is a little convoluted. You can either drop a hundred feet to the east and reascend on loose talus, or traverse Class 3 solid rock heading directly north. The goal is to gain the ridgeline on Wilson Peak's southwest side. The Class 3 option is what I chose to take since it was more fun than scary, and it seemed a lot more straightforward. Once past this section, there were multiple social trails leading up to the ridge, some lower and others higher. The rock can be a bit loose, but didn't exceed Class 2. Once at the ridge, the trail sticks either to the crest or just to the right of it as it progresses to a minor false summit of Wilson Peak. Gaining this false summit is no big deal, but the crux of the route lies just ahead.
I looked at the surprisingly steep-looking crux, honestly not realizing the summit would incude some light sketchy stuff, not taking the time to research beforehand. Some slow-moving Class 2+/3 led down from the false summit into a notch before Class 3 brought me most of the way up a crack with ample solid holds to just below the summit of Wilson Peak. The final section to reach the summit requires a Class 3+ move on the left using very good holds and fun movement, or taking what seems to be the standard option (based on the amount of erosion) just to the right. This second option has more exposure and is loose, but likely only Class 2+/3. I opted for the former option, which led to easy Class 2 to the summit.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
