Lookout Peak (13,661 ft) by Brian Schultz Friday July 21, 2006
Lookout Peak is listed as a three mile round trip by Garratt & Martin but just two miles in Dave Cooper's book. Regardless, the day should be short and we were eager to make a summit after our turn-back on Pilot Knob yesterday. Tim and I were drawn to this peak because of its central location in the San Juans and its reputation for great views. And if the day was as short as expected, we'd have plenty of time to head over to the Sangres and wrap up this trip with another climb. We drove Hwy 550 south out of Ridgway, nearly the exact same drive that we did yesterday for Pilot Knob, and turned onto the Ophir Pass road just before Silverton. The Ophir road was in excellent condition and presented no problems for my car. We parked just below the pass and started at 6:15 AM under wonderfully clear skies.
From the road at 11,700 feet, the route gains just under 2,000 feet to the summit. We used Dave Cooper's route description and headed up a decent trail on grass and talus to a basin at 12,500 feet. The trail faded at times above the basin but the route was obvious and we easily reached the high ridge (photo 1, photo 2), where the fun really began. We followed the ridge toward the summit and encountered just one hard move, a step across a very exposed crack. This could've been avoided, as we found out on the descent, by backtracking about 15-20 feet and then climbing a short class 3 section.
The remaining 200 feet to the summit was great fun as we scrambled up ledges and a few areas of crumbly rock and topped out at 8:05. Starting with the Wilson group and panning 360 degrees, we could point out all the fourteeners and thirteeners we've climbed in the San Juans. It's a fine summit and we were elated after missing out on Pilot Knob yesterday.
Judging from the entries in the summit register placed by Gary Swing in 2005, this peak is not climbed much, or else people aren't signing in. This year, Tim and I were just the 9th and 10th signers. We stayed on the summit for over an hour taking in the great views and kicking back before departing at 9:09. Our quick return to the trailhead at 10:11 allowed for plenty of time to drive to Westcliffe and the Sangres for another climb tomorrow. I recommend this peak highly.
Trailhead to summit- 1 hour 50 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 1 hour 2 minutes
Start to finish- 3 hours 56 minutes (including all breaks)