• Date: August 16, 2024
• Partner: Randy Weaver
• Height: 14,021 feet
• Range: San Juan
• Route: Southeast Ridge (Class 3)
• Overall Distance: 7 miles
• Elevation Gain: 3,300 feet (car to summit)
• 14ers climbed: 46 separate climbs
• 14ers remaining: 7
• Road Condition to Trailhead: Out of Lake City, you will head west on the Alpine Loop for about 5 miles. Drive past Nellie Creek Road. After another 4 miles, turn right onto North Henson Road. After another 2 miles, you’ll turn right at the road denoted by the Matterhorn Creek trailhead. The next and last mile is a nasty rock fest to the final parking area. I had a Jeep Rubicon and still sweated out a couple of spots along the way. A typical 2WD automobile would not be able to drive this road.

I’m terribly behind on my blog entires, so let’s jump right into it, shall we?

Randy Weaver and I decided to dispense with any camping this trip and climb Wetterhorn Peak as a day-climb. The first mile was a peaceful stroll through the woods before the trail broke out into the open at the start of a majestic valley. Ahead of us we could see Matterhorn Peak, with 100s of domestic sheep grazing at the base, and the tip of Wetterhorn Peak off to the left. 

Around 12,000′, the trail forked to the left and began to ascend through some rocky terrain. Eventually, the trail gave way to a beautiful grassy area — the goal was to gain the southeast ridge at around 13,000′. At this point, I wouldn’t say the hiking was all that difficult.

We began to climb on the southeast ridge and the wind started to pick up. Now the terrain became much steeper and scoured, and our pace slowed. Eventually, we came to the base of a tangle of rocks. It’s here where the real work began.

Veering to the left, we carefully picked our way through rugged, rocky terrain which led up to the well-known prow of Wetterhorn Peak. You will have to be careful with your route-finding here — stay alert for cairns and make sure you have loaded pictures of the route from 14ers.com prior to your climb. Of particular interest will be successfully locating a V notch on the ridge crest at the top of a rock rib. Randy and I were able to head up a steep gully, and locate and pass through this notch with no great challenge.

We had to climb past the right side of the prow to reach an open area below the summit block. We climbed through another steep notch between the prow and the summit. At this point, you’ve reached the crux of the climb. You have to shimmy down a steep slab rock in order to reach the final pitch. For those that don’t like exposure, here is where your journey likely ends. Taking a fall anywhere along this stretch, would likely be fatal. Randy and I continued. There was good, solid rock on the final pitch allowing us to maintain three points of contact. Despite the exposure, I never felt unsafe. We reached a narrow catwalk and found an easier line to the summit just to the left. 

At the top, we could see Uncompahgre Peak, the mountain we climbed the previous year. It was a sunny and pleasantly mild day at the top as we enjoyed a few snacks before carefully heading back down. Wetterhorn Peak is definitely a Class 3 climb with a bit of bite to it and I’ll give it a 6-to-6.5 on a 1-to-10 scale of 14er difficulty. That said, I really enjoyed this climb and I am always grateful to spend time in the San Juans. If you climb Wetterhorn Peak, then let me know what you think …