Trip Report: San Luis Peak; Organ Mountain Attempt
Introduction: The story of this hike really begins with the drive from Boulder the previous day.
Arthur and I had all weekend free for adventure, so we decided on a trip to the San Juans. We
were looking for some easier hikes, and neither of us had ever been to the San Juans. On top of
that, solitude is always the order of the day, so what better place to go than San Luis Peak?
On our journey southwest, we stopped in Gunnison to eat at a pleasant home-run
restaurant with very good food, Katie’s Cookery. Then we drove west by the Blue Mesa
Reservoir and Dillon Pinnacle to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. As Arthur is somewhat of a
rock climbing fanatic, it was neat to see part of this famous canyon, though we didn’t travel too
far along its north rim before deciding we should turn around and continue on to our destination.
After driving south through Lake City, we eventually came to the dirt road turnoff we
were looking for. Forty miles, two hours of dirt road, and two herds of cattle later, we finally
came to the Stewart Creek Trailhead. Several other vehicles were there, but we would be starting
early and hopefully beat the crowds.
5:30 AM- As is our usual custom, we awoke at 5:00 and began our hike a half hour later,
following the pleasant and easy-to-walk Stewart Creek Trail through the La Garita Wilderness.
We kept a good pace, and took a couple breaks once the sun started to rise for some
photographs. Also, we stopped to watch a beaver dive in and out of the water and slap the water
with its tail, in one of the many ponds along the way. There were a number of ponds containing
beaver dams all along Stewart Creek. One nice thing about the ponds is that with the calm
morning air I was able to capture some reflections of the trees and hills in the water.
About an hour into the woods, we walked past a father and his two boys who were just
tearing down camp and getting ready to hike on up the trail. Another half hour later, we were at
timberline, with a clear view of what we thought was San Luis Peak ahead of us. As it turns out,
this was just the front of a ridge leading around to the still-hidden San Luis.
We continued up through the green valley along a pretty wildflower-laden creek. At one
point I saw several deer running across from us, far away on the other side of the valley.
The trail continued on a gradual uphill for a long time, and eventually it took a sharper
uphill turn to the left (south) toward the saddle between Organ Mountain and the ridge leading to
San Luis. We followed the easy switchbacks all the way to the saddle, where we got our first
view of the actual San Luis Peak.
I never really knew there was such a thing as solid scree, but that is what the trail
consisted of the rest of the way around several small humps to the summit. It was all easywalking
and just a gradual ascent, very nice for walking.
8:36 AM- Arthur and I came to the summit of San Luis Peak, at 14,019 feet: the 51st-highest peak
in Colorado and one of the farthest fourteeners from civilization. Indeed, we had the summit all
to ourselves for the 55 minutes we stayed there, taking in the view.
The 13,801-foot high Organ Mountain rose impressively to the east, and that is where we
decided to head to next. As we went back down the trail we had just come up, the father and two
sons passed us, and within minutes they were up on the summit. Shortly thereafter, we passed
another pair of hikers, and as we reached the saddle again, several more people were just arriving
there on their way to San Luis. A busy day for such a remote mountain, but that is to be expected
on a Saturday in mid-August I suppose.
The weather was beautiful and we still had plenty of time, so Arthur and I headed upward
on the east side of the saddle and hiked around the cliff faces in front of us. I should have
consulted a more thorough map or guidebook before continuing, but it looked like we had a solid
path to Organ Mountain, so we pressed on.
We walked up along a fairly steep, grassy slope, and when we came to the top of this, we
saw a long, jagged saddle of rock between us and the final slope up to Organ’s summit. So, we
began picking our way across this, making our way slowly past several small but steep towers of
rotten rock.
Eventually we got past what we thought was the worst of it, and the final grassy slopes lay
just ahead of us. But suddenly, I was surprised to come to a notch that seemed impassable.
Arthur joined me in looking down this “chasm” as he called it, and we realized we were “oh so
close, but oh so far” from the summit. Not wanting to traverse back across the jagged saddle we
had just encountered, we found a way to descend into this “chasm,” which ended up being the top
of a couloir, complete with steep cliffs on both sides. The problem now was, we could find no
way up onto the other side. I started down the steep north-facing side of the couloir, and before
long came to a partially-exposed natural “ramp” up onto the east side. This seemed like a
promising way onto the east side of the ridge.
I carefully made my way up this slippery section out of the couloir, and Arthur followed. I
did not expect what I saw next: we were not on the nice gentle side of the ridge we had been
expecting; rather, we were on the side of a steep slope of rotten rock, which seemed to get only
steeper in every direction. We were, for lack of a better word, on the side of a cliff. I climbed
upward in search of a clear path to safer ground, and found myself on some even steeper rock,
clinging on for dear life and making every move very carefully. I could see no clear path to a
safer place, so Arthur and I decided it would be best to go back down the sort of ramp we had
just come up.
The problem was, I was now in a dangerous and precarious position, and getting back
down to where I had been looked about as impossible as going any farther up. It was becoming
ever-more apparent to me how rotten and dangerous this rock was (handholds would break right
off at places), and we both made every move purposefully and carefully.
Finally though, we did make it back down to the couloir. While on somewhat safer
ground at this point, we certainly were not in the clear yet. We continued our descent in the
couloir, down the loose and steep dirt and scree, and it stretched on for a long time.
Eventually we got to the bottom of the actual couloir, but we still had a lot of steep
downhill along clumpy grass and occasional rocks. Time was moving on, and we decided it
would be best to just continue out of the mountain. Organ Mountain could wait for another day.
Above us, on the grassy slope next to the summit of Organ that we had been trying to get
to, a herd of half a dozen or so mule deer materialized, grazing happily as we continued downhill
away from them. Also, we saw another three or four deer moving up along the next ridge.
After much bush-whacking and a simple creek-crossing, we were back on the Stewart
Creek Trail and headed out the valley. In a matter of a few minutes we were back at timberline,
and it would only take us an hour to get out from there. We did a good bit of trail-running, and
made good time, surpassing all the other hikers and enjoying the experience.
1:30 PM- Our legs were pretty tired from the running though, once we got back to the jeep,
completing our 12 to 13-mile hike in eight hours.
Conclusion: The hike up to San Luis Peak was an enjoyable experience, and the easiest of the
fourteeners I have done so far. I had read there was a high likelihood of seeing elk or moose in
this wilderness, of which we saw neither. But we did see a beaver and a number of deer, which is
more wildlife than I have seen on a lot of the mountains I have climbed. The weather was
beautiful as always, which certainly made it more fun. However, ending up on the rotten cliffs
east of Organ Mountain should not have happened; that was due to my lack of planning and bad
judgment, which I will do my best to refrain from in the future.
It was another two hour drive out the dirt roads. We stopped at Lake City to try to find
something to eat, but nothing was open yet, so we continued on up to Gunnison and once again
enjoyed a meal at Katie’s Cookery. Then, our journey took us north to the South Elbert
Trailhead. We took the four-wheel drive road back to a creek crossing and parked there, where I
set up my tent for the first time and Arthur and I went to bed in it about 9 o’clock.