Engineer Mountain (13,218) & Darley Mountain (13,260) by Brian Schultz Thursday August 24, 2017

Engineer Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 0.3 miles from southwest side (elevation 12,950) of Engineer Pass
Elevation gain: ~270'
Start to finish: 19 minutes

Tired from a long outing yesterday, I looked forward to an easy day today. The 4x4 road to Engineer Pass presented no issues for my Highlander and I parked on the southwest side of the pass. The views of the San Juan peaks from the road are great. The route up Engineer is short but steep, with a trail on most of the ridge. I started at 8:20 AM and returned at 8:39. They don't get much easier than this.

Darley Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 1.45 miles from Engineer Pass (elevation 12,800')
Elevation gain: ~600'
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes

I made the short drive back to Engineer Pass and parked. The first riders of the Colorado 500 race were approaching and I stayed a while to watch as they parked their dirt bikes and took a break. I began at 9:05 and headed north from the pass up Darley's south ridge. The ridge (photo 1, photo 2) traveled well but there were lots of ridge bumps before reaching the summit. I covered several highpoints on top when I arrived at 9:45. I departed 10 minutes later and returned to my truck at 10:20. These are very easy peaks and can be combined with other peaks in the area if one is looking for a longer day.