Started at the Black Cloud trailhead at 6am - no snow until past treelike, and then only two or three patches. I saw a few postholes from previous hikers, but was able to stay on top of the snow easily for the few feet until the other side. Once at the ridge, the route to Cosgriff and South Elbert was mostly clear of snow (pic 1). There was enough snow on the trail between South Elbert and Mt. Elbert to make me glad I had microspikes in my pack, although a few other people did it without (pic 2). The snow was very solid before noon and I did very little postholing. On the way back I tried the ridge over to Bull Hill, but the snow was very soft and unstable, and between the freshening winds on the NW side of the ridge and the poor snow on the SE side, I decided to abort the trip to Bull Hill. I dropped into the drainage between Bull Hill and South Elbert and picked up the trail there.
Roach's fourteeners book lists two variants of the SE ridge - one to Bull Hill via the Fidelity mine (10R3 V2) and one up the drainage I mentioned above (10R3 V1). I was able to find the trail to the Fidelity mine, but it disappears after a few yards. I tried to pick it up for a little while, but was unable to, and apparently others have also tried, as there is a big X made from tree limbs at the start. The trail down the drainage I was unable to find when starting from the top, although the snowfields still remaining made some detours from the predicted route unavoidable. I would conclude that the first route to the mine is gone, and the second might be the same. I would caution anyone trying to add these to your loop route.
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