Mount Wilson (Colorado)

Mount Wilson is ranked among the top ten hardest of the Colorado fourteeners to climb.Louis W. Dawson, Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners, Vol. 2, Blue Clover Press, 1996, {{ISBN|0-9628867-2-6}}, pp. 160–165. The standard climbing route ascends the North Face from Navajo Basin. Some permanent snowfields exist high in the basin (sometimes termed "Navajo Glacier") and the climb usually involves snow travel, with ice axe and crampons recommended. Scrambling on rock then leads to the summit.

A popular, though long, outing for expert climbers is the mile-long ridge connecting Mount Wilson to El Diente Peak. The ridge is sharp and rocky, and requires difficult scrambling and often a small amount of rappelling.

In 2010, experienced climber Peter Topp, was killed in a rockslide and lightning storm while traversing the Mount Wilson traverse to El Diente Peak with a small climbing party. Two other climbers were seriously injured in the accident.{{Cite web |title=AAC Publications - Fall on Rock, Rockslide, Colorado, Mount Wilson, El Diente Traverse |url=https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201105000/Fall-on-Rock-Rockslide-Colorado-Mount-Wilson-El-Diente-Traverse |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=publications.americanalpineclub.org}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2010-07-28 |title=Memorial scheduled for mountain climbing victim, Topp |url=https://gazette.com/news/memorial-scheduled-for-mountain-climbing-victim-topp/article_99847106-b67f-5ef0-8884-bdf05d6e50a7.html |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Colorado Springs Gazette |language=en}}

In July 2024, 21-year old hiker John James Coffee was fatally injured while traversing the ridge between Wilson Peak and El Diente Peak. Coffee fell over 800 feet to his death and was found after failing to return home from his hike.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-26 |title=Hiker from Arizona dies in 800-foot fall on southwest Colorado 14er |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2024/07/26/arizona-hiker-dies-fall-colorado-fourteener/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Logan |date=2024-08-09 |title=2 young men who died on Colorado peaks identified - CBS Colorado |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/young-men-died-colorado-peaks-identified-el-diente-wilson-lone-eagle-kubiniec-coffee/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}

Mount Wilson, and the rest of the San Miguel Mountains, are made up of a large, irregular tertiary igneous intrusion.Halka Chronic, Roadside Geology of Colorado, Mountain Press, 1980, {{ISBN|0-87842-105-X}}, p. 245.

The Mount Wilson region became the site of intense mining activity, particularly for silver, in the early 1880s. The most famous of these mines was the Silver Pick Mine, which gave its name to Silver Pick Basin, just north of Navajo Basin.

Mount Wilson contains four small glaciers on its summit, these being the southernmost modern glaciers in the Rocky Mountains and indeed the most southerly in the contiguous US outside the Sierra Nevada in California. These descend to {{convert|3887|m|ft|0}}. None of the glaciers have ever been named, and it has never been investigated whether they are presently active.[http://glaciers.us/glaciers-colorado Glaciers of Colorado] At least nine rock glaciers, composed of alpine permafrost, exist on the northern slope of the mountain, extending down to around {{convert|10000|ft|m|-1}}, although the lower limit of permafrost is more typically around {{convert|11500|ft|m|-2}}.See Péwé, Troy L.; "Alpine permafrost in the United States: A Review"; in Arctic and Alpine Research; vol. 15, no. 2 (May 1983); pp. 145–156

During the Pleistocene glaciers were much more extensive than today, covering the whole summit plateauAtwood, Wallace Walter and Mather, Kirtley Fletcher; Physiography and quaternary geology of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado; p. 74 In glaciations previous to the Wisconsinian, it is generally thought that summit ice caps were even more extensive and joined to form the "San Miguel Glacier" with icecaps in the San Juan Mountains.Atwood and Mather; Physiography and quaternary geology of the San Juan Mountains; p. 72

{{Weather box

|location = Mount Wilson 37.8368 N, 107.9914 W, Elevation: {{cvt|13606|ft}} (1991–2020 normals)

|single line = y

|Jan high F = 24.4

|Feb high F = 24.1

|Mar high F = 28.5

|Apr high F = 33.6

|May high F = 42.1

|Jun high F = 53.7

|Jul high F = 58.4

|Aug high F = 56.2

|Sep high F = 50.4

|Oct high F = 40.9

|Nov high F = 31.1

|Dec high F = 24.6

|Jan mean F = 12.4

|Feb mean F = 11.7

|Mar mean F = 15.8

|Apr mean F = 20.4

|May mean F = 29.0

|Jun mean F = 39.6

|Jul mean F = 45.1

|Aug mean F = 43.4

|Sep mean F = 37.3

|Oct mean F = 28.2

|Nov mean F = 19.4

|Dec mean F = 13.0

|Jan low F = 0.4

|Feb low F = -0.6

|Mar low F = 3.0

|Apr low F = 7.3

|May low F = 15.8

|Jun low F = 25.4

|Jul low F = 31.7

|Aug low F = 30.6

|Sep low F = 24.2

|Oct low F = 15.5

|Nov low F = 7.8

|Dec low F = 1.3

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 4.91

|Feb precipitation inch = 4.43

|Mar precipitation inch = 4.51

|Apr precipitation inch = 4.94

|May precipitation inch = 4.10

|Jun precipitation inch = 1.17

|Jul precipitation inch = 3.21

|Aug precipitation inch = 3.21

|Sep precipitation inch = 3.07

|Oct precipitation inch = 3.32

|Nov precipitation inch = 4.43

|Dec precipitation inch = 4.89

|source=PRISM Climate Group{{cite web

|url= http://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/

|title= PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University

|publisher= PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University

|access-date= October 10, 2023

|quote= To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clicking Coordinates (under Location); copy Latitude and Longitude figures from top of table; click Zoom to location; click Precipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp; click 30-year normals, 1991-2020; click 800m; click Retrieve Time Series button.}}

}}

• Glacier Mountain
• Mount Wilson – 1906

{{portal|North America|United States|Colorado|Mountains}}

• List of mountain peaks of North America
• List of mountain peaks of the United States
• List of mountain peaks of Colorado
• List of Colorado county high points
• List of Colorado fourteeners

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File:Gladstone and Wilson.jpg to left.]]

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{{sister project links|Mount Wilson}}

• [https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/14er.php?peakid=10016 Mt. Wilson on 14ers.com]
• [http://www.hikingintherockies.com/fourteeners/wilson_el_diente/wilson_el_diente.htm Photo Journal from a trip up Mount Wilson and El Diente]

{{Mountains of Colorado}}

{{Colorado highest}}

{{Colorado Fourteeners}}

{{NA highest}}

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Category:Fourteeners of Colorado

Wilson

Category:San Juan Mountains (Colorado)

Wilson

Category:San Juan National Forest