Southwest Ridge from Sunlight Creek

Overview

Peak Six is a remote Needle Mountains summit a short way from Jagged Mountain. This route is Class 2 and passes a beautiful, rarely visited lake. You can also reach it from Noname Creek with Peaks Four and Five, but that means riding the Durango and Silverton train; check the railroad's current schedule and reserve ahead. This is deep in the Weminuche Wilderness, so plan a multi-day backpack and follow wilderness rules on camping, fires and group size.

From the Sunlight Creek camp you climb to the basin north of Jagged, cross a pass just north of Jagged, and drop down a scree couloir. Then you contour northwest to the lake below Peaks Five and Six, walk its west shore, and climb to the Five-Six saddle and up the ridge on fair rubble. The two summit points are close in height; visit both.

The round trip is about 28.7 miles with 9,325 feet of gain from the trailhead. The camp is about 11 miles in; from there it is about 6.5 miles and 3,100 feet round trip, including 500 feet you regain coming back. Peak Five is a reasonable add-on. Most people base at the tree camp at about 11,550 feet or near Sunlight Lake, which is more open to weather. Wading the Vallecito early in the season is dangerous; use poles and loosen your pack straps so you can get out of the pack if you fall.

Plan of the day

Getting to the trailhead

This trailhead needs a high-clearance 4WD, and plan on as long as 2.5 hours of driving from Silverton. From the northeast end of Silverton, take County Road 2 up the Animas about 4.2 miles to Howardsville. Turn right up Cunningham Gulch, then take the left fork onto the Stony Pass road. It climbs steeply over the pass and down the far side. You will ford Pole Creek, then turn right at a fork and ford the Rio Grande. Both fords are harder early in the summer. Then follow the Beartown road about 4 slow, rough miles past the old Beartown site and up a rocky, rutted stretch. The Hunchback Pass trailhead is about half a mile below Kite Lake, at roughly 11,800 feet, with limited parking.

You can also reach this area from Creede or Lake City by driving to Rio Grande Reservoir, but the road west of the reservoir has very rough sections. There is some camping near the trailhead and near the old Beartown site.

Next: the route, step by step →

The route

1. 1

   Hunchback Pass trailhead 11,800' · 0 mi

   Cross Hunchback Pass and follow the Vallecito Trail down the valley, past the Nebo Creek junction and ford and the Trinity Creek meadow.

2. 2

   Vallecito Creek ford 9,720' · 7.85 mi

   About 1.75 easy miles below the Trinity Creek meadow, broad switchbacks drop to Rock Creek. It is a long wade but usually not hard. About 2 more miles down the valley, the trail comes out of the trees into a meadow. A small cairn marks a faint path west to good campsites and the ford. Cross where the creek spreads out, about 150 to 200 yards below where its split channels rejoin. Then wade Sunlight Creek to its north side where the trail meets it, and within about five minutes turn left at cairns onto the Sunlight trail. The path straight ahead goes toward Leviathan Creek.

   Watch for: Rock Creek is a long wade. The Vallecito can be thigh deep and swift. Very risky before mid-July.

3. 3

   Sunlight Creek tree camp 11,550' · 11.1 mi

   The unmaintained Sunlight trail climbs about 2,500 feet and is easy to lose. Cross to the south side near 10,800 feet where the valley narrows, stay south about 3/4 mile, then switchback up a steep, brushy slope and cross back north in willows. Small camps sit in the last (now dead) trees, about 0.6 mile below Sunlight Lake.

   Watch for: Faint trail and more fords.

4. 4

   Crescent lake 12,700' · 12.2 mi

   Hike toward Sunlight Lake less than half a mile. Where the trail turns sharply southwest, look uphill for a fainter path heading north. Follow it through flowers and willows to the stream draining the basin between Jagged and Leviathan, and go up it. At the split, take the left fork over boulders and tundra, or go right to a saddle and follow a ridge left; both reach a small crescent-shaped lake below Jagged.

5. 5

   Pass north of Jagged 13,000' · 12.5 mi

   Go west up steep grass to the pass just north of Jagged. On the far side, go down a couloir of scree and gravel for 300 feet or more until it widens.

   Watch for: Loose scree.

6. 6

   Lake below Peaks Five and Six 12,552' · 13.4 mi

   Contour northwest out of the couloir, first over boulder rubble, then easier ground. Drop to the lake's outlet and walk north along the west shore, which has flowers; the east shore is a boulder hop.

7. 7

   Summit 13,712' · 14.35 mi

   From the north end of the lake, climb tundra and broken rock to the Peak Five-Six saddle. Then go northeast on or just south of the ridge on rubble that is mostly stable. Visit both summit points.

Getting down

Go back the same way. The climb back up the couloir to the pass north of Jagged is hard on scree, especially with a full pack.

If things go wrong

The lake basin is the easy ground to retreat to.

3D flyover

See the trail on video

Other routes

Every way up Peak Six we list, with its class.

• Peak Six SW Ridge this routeClass 2 28.7 mi