Dolly Varden Mountain and Peak 13094 aren’t particularly prominent or spectacular looking, but they did offer a late spring ascent of some high peaks along a plowed road. The southerly aspect also kept us from having to fight snow as well.

We drove over Engineer Pass from Silverton to access the peaks, but one could also come in from the Lake City side. Approaching from Silverton requires a hardened 4x4 and has a few dicey spots. Coming in from Lake City could be done in just about any vehicle with decent clearance and tires.

We parked just east of where Engineer Pass Road crosses Henson Creek (near the suspension bridge cabin) at 11,400’. The route was pretty simple, just basically head northeast toward Dolly Varden Mountain. The first 600’ were on grassy terrain with a few trees here and there. After we hit 12,000 feet, we were on scree, which was a bit loose early on, but got better the higher we got. At around 12,800 feet, the scree became talus for the last portion to the flat summit of Dolly Varden Mountain. The peak had excellent views of the Cimarron Range to the north and numerous 14ers, including Handies Peak, Uncompahgre Peak, Wetterhorn Peak, Mount Sneffels, Redcloud Peak and Sunshine Peak.

After a quick break on the summit, we dropped due east to the 12,600 foot saddle between Dolly Varden Mountain and Peak 13094. The route up Peak 13094 looked a bit daunting, as it was STEEP! Peak 13094 also looked pretty cool, as the pointy peak sat atop a steep cliff.

We made quick work of the 500 feet to the top from the saddle. It was steep, but only really crappy in one short section about half way up the ridge. Soon we were enjoying sandwiches, resting in the sun and taking in the incredible views of Wetterhon Peak and other mountains that the summit offers. We had talked some about traversing over to one more peak, Sunshine Mountain (not to be confused with the nearby 14er, Sunshine Peak), but with some thunderstorms building around us, we decided to call two peaks good and descend.

For the descent, we really didn’t want to fight snow or re-climb Dolly Varden, so we just dropped off the south slopes of Peak 13094 towards the Engineer Pass Road. Once at the road, we simply followed that back to our vehicle, making for a nice loop!

From Silverton, make your way to Engineer Pass (County Road 2) and drop over the pass. Cross Henson Creek and park.

From Lake City, make your way to Engineer Pass (County Road 20). Park just before the road crosses Henson Creek.

From 11,400’ on Engineer Pass Road (just east of where the road crosses Henson Creek), we hiked northeasterly toward Dolly Varden Mountain. From the top of Dolly Varden Mountain, we headed due east and dropped to the Dolly Varden Mountain/13094 saddle, before continuing up the west ridge of Peak 13094.