On the Jagged Edge

Jagged Mountain has an elevation of 13,824 ft. and is ranked as the 94th highest summit in Colorado.

Located in the very heart of the Needle Mountains of the vast Weminuche Wilderness, Jagged is one of the most difficult summits to reach, usually involving one or more days of backpacking. The summit is located in Sunlight Basin – a large drainage area northeast of the fourteener, Sunlight Peak. The basin is one of the most outstandingly beautiful places in Colorado. A sketchy, non-maintained trail leads into this isolated section of wilderness, and over a decade ago, winter avalanches had swept down so many trees, that the trail became obscured and almost impossible to navigate for several years – at least with a backpack.

However, in 2018, we received some information indicating that the trail was at least partially restored so we planned a five-day backpack trip here primarily to photograph this extraordinary area while we still had the physical stamina to reach it. Having climbed Jagged in 1994, ascending it again was not our goal, however, we did climb Peak Ten, located as a diminutive point to the left in this photo. While that lower summit offered some challenges, Jagged still remains as our favorite Colorado peak to climb and one of the few 13ers that receives a low, fifth-class rating.

HDR image 07/2018