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Has anyone ever done West Elk Peak by driving in to Rainbow Lake to the south (access from Blue Mesa Res.) and then hiking north along the ridge going over South, Middle and North Baldy Mtn. in order to get to West Elk & then back? Would be interested in any beta regarding difficulty, mileage, etc.

I did this with a camp high in Mill Basin to get the Baldies and 12809, repeating West Elk in the process. There was a lot of snow at the time. My notes don't indicate any difficulties.

Thanks, Teresa. An approach from Rainbow Lake is certainly looking appealing. Only down side might be missing all the scenery of the Mill approach. Mileage appears to be shorter, but I haven't really studied a USGS yet to see.
Anybody else have any suggestions?

I have walked the entire ridge from the pass S of S Baldy to the 12220 saddle N of 12809 (to access Castle Pass).
The walking is straight forward; no surprises.

From Rainbow Lake trlhd I walked from S Baldy to N Baldy as a day hike.
Very scenic and mostly tundra (not talus) hike above tree line. Recommended.
On the return it is best to stay on top of the ridge until you get to the pass N of S Baldy.
Then there is a trail around the E side of S Baldy.
Going on to West Elk Pk only makes for a longer hike.

Since you start low for Mill Basin most folks do West Elk Pk as a backpack.
The road to Rainbow Lake is good. No surprises there either.

With the heat and the drought the snow goes out a lot earlier now.
The West Elks crest used to be snowed in till late July in the 80s and 90s.

Thanks Mike! Very helpful. We're planning on doing the entire ridge to West Elk on Saturday. Forecast calls for breezy conditions so could become rather annoying up there, but we'll see how it goes.

On another note, we still need to do 13,060 off Clark Peak. I think Teresa recommended coming up from the Bear Creek/Pierre Lakes side and Ken Nolan suggested hiking up West Snowmass Creek to around Moon lake then crossing two ridges south to access 13,060 from the north side. Either way looks like a bunch of pain-in-the-rear talus & boulder hopping. Any suggestions?

Hmmm. Jean and I climbed 13060 via Bear Creek. My suggestion of a West Snowmass Creek approach could only have applied to 12903. Mistaken identity … or perhaps my brain is as decrepit as my body?

Ken,
I looked for your response in the forum but couldn't find it - but from what I recall, you mentioned tagging 12,903 on the way over to 13,060. I was unclear if you had actually done 13,060 that way. Guess I have the answer now. So is the Bear Creek approach as much of a steep talus/boulder hike as it appears - much like Clark?

CC- At least one of us is losing it. It’s been awhile (1992), but if memory serves, while 13060 has its moments and presents unpleasantly loose talus/scree in spots, an ascent of it from the southeast does not offer nearly as interesting a climb as the West Ridge of Clark.

Good to know, Ken. Thanks.
On another note, if you see/communicate with Jean, let her know we had hoped to see her at the North Wash Rendevous this last May and missed her.

13060 is probably the peak I get asked about the most.

Since there is a trail up W Snowmass Ck, I think that is the easiest approach.
Leave the trail at the small lake at 11200.
Cross the first ridge at a 11980 saddle.
(The NE ridge goes nicely for 12903.)
Go over the next ridge at a 12220 saddle.
Drop 300 feet into the next basin and traverse.
This basin's talus is not bad.
Some sedge; smaller red sandstone rock like the Maroon Belles.
Take the couloir to the 12740 saddle.
And up E ridge.
Nothing technical.

I did Clark a second time from 13060.
Down SE ridge; a W traverse across Pierre Basin; up Clark's S ridge.
Down Clark's W ridge. (That was the way I did Clark the first time.)
And down to Moon Lk.
Pierre Basin has large granite talus of the Snowmass Capitol variety.
Makes for very rough snow going.
My recommendation is to stay out of Pierre Basin for that reason.
That is why I think the N route to 13060 is better then Bear Creek.

PS
I recall I was the one who recommended the W Snowmass route to Theresa.
No belief in aging here.
I can still remember those climbs pretty clearly from the 1980s.

Completed West Elk Peak Sat., June 22 from FR 724 access to trailhead. I'd say 80% or more of the hike is on tundra. Easy going almost all the way. The only "problem" is when you approach the abrupt cliff above Mill Basin along the ridge as you're heading north. Game trails led us around on the west side, contouring along over a rib and into another gully where we were able to ascend back to the ridge and continue along our way. Games trails covered much of this overall ridge walk. We saw bear & deer on the drive in, eagle and a large group of elk in Mill Basin. Lots of Mountain goat prints & droppings but never actually spotted any. FR 724 is drivable by most any passenger car to the trailhead, though somewhat washboarded. Did not encounter any snow problems. We estimated our mileage to be 14 - 15 and total elevation gain at least over 4,000 and probably apprached 5,000 after adding up all the additional we did by staying up on the ridge for the return for most of the way.

Mike - thanks for the route recommendation on 13,060. Was leaning going that way, but was concerned about difficult talus & boulders like you encounter in Pierre Lakes area. It's not a "walk-in-the-park" in that area!

There is another way to approach 13060. I camped at treeline in the Copper Creek drainage; the actual climb
was as described by Mike. If you do this, stay on the north side of Copper Creek. I went down the south side,
and it was a tangled mess of little aspens growing back after an avalanche. You also want to be sure to go to the
saddle west of the 12900 east summit; the west ridge of 12900 has a short nasty downclimb that foiled one of
my attempts on 13060 (it took 3 before I finally got there).