Engineer Mountain is a beautiful mountain that towers over Highway 550 south of Silverton, Colorado. The proximity to the highway, the views, a nearby trail and the awesomeness of the peak all make it a popular mountain for scramblers.

With the forecast calling for 0% precipitation (rare in the San Juan range) we didn't start hiking until 9am. The trailhead for the peak is Coal Bank Pass, which is only about 100 yards off the highway. The trail is in great condition as it winds through open slopes, then forest to the base of Engineer Mountain.

The views of the peak from the basin at its east base are beautiful and a bit intimidating as your route is right before you and looks quite steep.

The trail steepens and continues up to the base of the mountain, then becomes more of a climber's trail as it switchbacks up toward the northeast ridge.

Once on the ridge, the crux quickly arrives (the crux is at 12,300'). We had been told the hardest move was ascending the large crack. Sure, that was some scrambling, but we felt the harder move is when you need to exit the crack to your left and get onto the somewhat exposed ridge. My advice is to stay close to the ridge and trust the solid rock hand and footholds. Every step up becomes easier and after about 30 feet you are back on class 2 terrain.

We were both feeling good after hiking above 10,000 feet for our 6th consecutive weekend, so the remaining ridge went quickly.

We relaxed and ate on the summit, but we both were stressing downclimbing the crux a bit and storm clouds were forming nearby (so much for 0% chance). Based on that, we headed down sooner than we wanted.

I led as we descended down the crux. Surprisingly, the down climb was much easier because you could see the footholds. We quickly were through the hard part of the scramble and able to relax. Despite our late start, we were passing dozens of climbers on their way up the mountain.

Turned out to be a great day on the mountain... followed up with the new tradition of a soak at the hot springs in Ouray!

Take Highway 550 to Coal Bank Pass. The trailhead is like 100 yards above the pass.

Follow the trail from the parking lot. It takes a long route to get there, but eventually you will get to a basin with an excellent view of your objective. You will follow the trail to a fork, take the right fork (signed Engineer Mountain). The trail now steepens as it ascends the mountain. Eventually it turns into a climber's trail before gaining the ridge proper at around 12,200'. Stay on the ridge from this point on. The crux move is at 12,300'.