[James Wells]

Damfino Peak (6145') stands alone, a rocky pinnacle visible from many favorites such as Tomyhoi and Yellow Aster Butte but obscure as to how a person might get there. The trip is a combination of trail, alpine cross country, then some Class 3 on loose rock. We brought rope and harness but didn't use them.

The FS road to the Welcome Pass TH is bushy and annoying so we elected to park at the nearest spot on Twin Lakes Road and bushwhack 500' across to pick up the trail. The Welcome Pass trail consists of grunting until you get to the pass and the great alpine scenery. We went west to just past Highmark Hill, then turned north off trail. The alpine is pretty easy with minor bushwhacks. To get up to Damfyouknow includes some steep heather. Pro tip: when you see the big cliff promontory in front of you go pretty far left = west and bypass an annoying boulder field, then veer back right up the steep heather. We did the small diversion to tag the summit of Damfyouknow which is ambiguous but likely the northern spot (we did them all) then headed back down and east to the saddle. From there you can climb up the first hump, likely loose Class 3, or traverse steep sidehill which we initially tried and was terrible, or give in and go down then back up to the final saddle at the start of the cliffy zone. We harnessed up then picked our way up the combination of steep slopes and minor cliffs. There was one apparently crux spot which we did 3 different ways (on the descent we found a trivial bypass). For one section the trees were our friends. The true summit was super buggy so we retreated a little then had a nice snack, then descended. We were glad to have the option of rappelling but there was no need. Met only 2 other people all day: priceless. A hidden gem. Thanks Doug and Dave.

4700' gain 12.6 mi.

Youtube of the trip by Dave = Dawnchaser: