San Juan Range · Colorado 13er · No. 93 of the 13ers
Grizzly Gulch and Northwest Ridge
Grizzly Peak, 13,700'
Class 3 and steep snow
The wedge above Grizzly Gulch is very steep Class 3 tundra and rock that feels exposed. The gulch and the couloir into it hold steep snow early in the season, so an ice axe helps. This page is an outline, not a move-by-move guide.
DifficultyClass 3
Round trip28.7 mi
Elevation gain9,800'
TrailheadHunchback Pass
Trailhead elevation11,800'
Less traffic, less margin
This describes the route on a dry summer day. Most 13ers see few people, so there may be no one along behind you. Check recent conditions the week you go, carry a map, tell someone your plan, and turn around when the day tells you to.
Grizzly Peak (sometimes called Grizzly Peak C) is a rugged, remote Class 3 summit south of Sunlight Lake. Getting to a base camp near Sunlight Lake is a hard backpack, but from there you can climb many 13ers in one of the wildest parts of the Weminuche. This is deep in the Weminuche Wilderness, so plan a multi-day backpack and follow wilderness rules on camping, fires and group size.
From camp you climb past Sunlight Lake to a saddle west of Point 13,229, drop into Grizzly Gulch, and climb a very steep wedge of tundra and rock toward the Grizzly-Jupiter saddle. Short of that saddle, a band of pink, broken granite leads east to the northwest ridge, where a cairned route from Hazel Lake comes in. Big blocks lead to two summit points of nearly equal height.
The round trip is about 28.7 miles with 9,800 feet of gain from the trailhead. The camp is about 11 miles in; from there it is about 6.5 miles and 3,575 feet round trip, including about 1,000 feet you regain coming back. Greylock Mountain is under an hour round trip from the saddle west of Point 13,229, and many people go on to McCauley Peak. 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
Start by
From camp, leave by 5:30 a.m.
Turnaround
Be at the pink granite band by 11 a.m.
Crux
The steep, exposed wedge above Grizzly Gulch.
Route-finding
Hard. Follow the pink granite band east to the ridge.
Water
Sunlight Creek and the lakes. Filter it.
This week on the summit
Conditions on the summit
LoadingFetching the forecast for 13,700'…
—Summit temp now
—Sustained wind
—Gusting to
—Freezing level
Today
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Tomorrow
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Day three
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Afternoon storm risk is the line that matters. Everything else is comfort. In summer, plan to be off the ridge before the build-up starts, not as it starts. Forecast for the summit point, adjusted for its elevation · data from Open-Meteo.
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.
Trail in the treesScramblingTalus and screeExposed to lightning
The line is elevation, the band underneath is the ground, and the numbered dots match the steps below. Mileage and elevations are approximate.
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
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
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
Saddle west of Point 13,229 12,900' · 12.5 mi
Walk to Sunlight Lake, cross its outlet, and a quarter mile or so past the lake go up a broad ridge toward the upper lake, often on a cairned path. Pass the 12,620-foot knoll on its east side, drop south to the flat area below the upper lake's waterfall, and head south to the saddle on tundra, then rock and scree.
Watch for: Snowfields before mid-July.
5
Grizzly Gulch 12,300' · 13 mi
Go down the wide couloir south-southwest toward two small lakes. The first 200 feet are very steep, then it eases. If it holds steep snow, use a sloping bench on the gully's west side.
Watch for: Steep snow early season.
6
Wedge 12,900' · 13.6 mi
Head up toward the Grizzly-Jupiter saddle. Below it, a steep wedge of tundra and rock, split by a cleft, points down into the valley. Climb about 200 feet of talus, then get onto the wedge (one way is a short snow gully on the right). The next 400 feet are very steep tundra and rock that feel exposed.
Watch for: Class 3.
7
Northwest ridge 13,600' · 14.1 mi
Above the wedge the slope turns to sand, gravel and talus. About 100 feet below the Grizzly-Jupiter saddle, climb out of the main couloir and follow the wide pink granite band east to a break in the northwest ridge.
8
Summit 13,700' · 14.35 mi
Pick up cairns from the Hazel Lake side, contour below the top, then climb almost straight up big, solid blocks. Two summit points are about the same height; check both.
Getting down
Go back the same way, with great care down the wedge into Grizzly Gulch, and save energy for the climb back to the saddle.
If things go wrong
Grizzly Gulch is the place to regroup; the saddle west of Point 13,229 leads home.
3D flyover
No 3D flyover for this peak
Above the Sunlight Creek camp the route is off trail on steep tundra, couloirs and talus. A flyover only works when there is a set trail to trace. Without one, the line would be a guess, and a guess could send you the wrong way on the mountain. Use the step-by-step route with a good map and GPS track instead.
See the trail on video
No video yet
We haven’t found a good video of this route that matches the way we describe it. The route strip, junctions and 3D flyover show the way in the meantime.
Other routes
Every way up Grizzly Peak we list, with its class.
Grizzly Peak C Gulch & NW Ridgethis routeClass 3 28.7 mi