Mt. Princeton

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/6/2015, By: Bigbluecreek
Info: Left Almont, CO at 2am and drove past main trailhead up to the towers. Arrived at 4am. Parking was good as there was only 2 other cars there. Was room for 2-3 more. Started walking up road and found good parking on each of the switchbacks. We wished we had drove farther up since parking was good. Continued up road and found trail entrance on our right. Climb up steep trail from road and your on your way. Trail is easy at first and then turns to very rocky conditions, lots of climbing and stepping over rocks for the majority of the climb. To me it was a tough climb due to all the rock climbing. Trail is faint at times but you can see the summit throughout most of the climb. Wished I had cut off main trail for the ridge instead of staying on lower trail. Most people were taking high trail and I think it would have been easier. Took us about 6 hours roundtrip but we took our time....so nice at summit we spent 30+ min. 

Route: East Ridge Direct over Tigger
Posted On: 7/23/2015, By: BagginPeaks
Info: Left Leadville at 6:30am this morning, got up to the radio towers parking area at 8:30am. Thought I was a late straggler but ended up passing a ton of people on my charge up, and saw a lot of groups even headed up the road around 11 on my way down! Left the road at the 3rd switchback and went up the East Ridge direct, over Tigger and continued on the ridge proper up to the summit. Lot of talus hopping and even some class 3 scrambling in places. Fun day! 3 hours round trip, but I was movin! Full on summer conditions, travel light and watch out for those storms. Don‘t forget to stop in at the Eddyline Taproom in BV for some victory beers. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/9/2015, By: Flock14
Info: We approached from the 12,100‘ upper TH parking lot. We ended up coming around on Tigger Peak onto Mt. Princeton‘s trail - we didn‘t realize you had to hike down the OR trail to get to the 11,500‘ starting point. It was loose rocks and scree, but not much above a difficult class 2. Mt. Princeton was clear of any snow you had to cross and the trail was dry save for a few damp parts (probably just from the rain). Great trail that‘s ready for summer hiking! For pics and info, follow the link: https://everythingoutdoorscolorado.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/mt-princeton/ 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2015, By: timstich
Info: Early morning fog along 24 with low clouds in the morning from 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM. One small glancing blow from a storm immediately west at 8:00 AM, giving way to clear skies well into 1:00 PM with some scattered clouds. The trail is dry and clear with two short snowfields and one narrow mudslide approximately ten feet wide. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/28/2015, By: jenkscolin
Info: Trail is nearly dry all the way to the summit. Only two small snow fields remaining. We carried traction and an axe but didn‘t use either. We hit both on the ascent around 745 and 800 am respectively. At that point they were both still solid but could be easily navigated with poles and some care. On the way down they were soft enough to easily walk across without much thought. If you are up there super early they may be icy enough for an axe. Other than that its totally dry to the top. Summer has arrived. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2015, By: mmilburn
Info: A few small snowfields to cross. Along the ridge the snow is avoidable. Trekking poles or micro-spikes might be useful. Snow was already slushy around 6am, so I suspect we don‘t have too long before the trail is snow free. 

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2015, By: CarpeDM
Info: The ridge to Princeton from the Grouse Canyon approach still had one or two short sections of snow that was not avoidable (steep loose scree on either side). Should be gone soon. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/24/2015, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: The road is dry to 11,200' and the trail is dry until it intersects snow fields on the north side of Tigger Peak. There are 4 or 5 to cross and a fall on early-morning hard snow could be a problem, so an axe is recommended. The 12,800-foot turn-off to gain the ridge is not obvious right now because of snow and some people have been following the old trail all the way to the east face. Once you're near 12,800', look up to your left for tracks and trail segments to locate the trail so you can stay on the easier, standard route. Once on the ridge, there are only a few snow patches on the remaining hike to the summit. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/23/2015, By: patransplant
Info: The route over Tigger Peak is doable with no equipment. Just start early so the snow stays solid. Bluebird skies all day! We camped at the last available camp site .3 miles past the radio towers on mt Princeton road. You can drive up from there past the first two switchbacks before snow blocks the road, and skirting it on foot is no problem. From there the road all the way to the ridge and the hike up Tigger is snow free. You will have to walk across snow in a few spots along the ridge to Princeton but it is super easy. I brought gaiters but didn't use them on the way up, and only postholed 3 or 4 times. Most of the snow up the ridge to the summit is avoidable if you stay on the ridge and keep left of the snow. The final ascent is snow covered but you can follow the boot tracks and easily walk to the summit. The way down was another story entirely. We should have gone back over Tigger, but instead we descended via the standard route and spent 2 hours slogging our way through the rocks and snow until we made it out onto the tundra and the trail was finally just dirt. Definitely bring gaiters and an ice axe if you go that way. The snow is melting fast so conditions will change rapidly, but for now there is still a lot of it on the standard route. If you go up and down via tigger peak you won't need anything but gaiters. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/13/2015, By: Mt_DAN
Info: Princeton was in descent shape this morning. I started by going over Tigger but decided that the snow conditions looked ok to decend the standard route. Snow is settling down and the slides i saw looked to be caused by climers I was postholing from about 7:30 on. Snowshoes or microspikes could of helped but mountain boots and an axe got it done. Start early and have fun. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/3/2015, By: thurs
Info: Summary: Drive up to radio tower, dry road almost all the way to the Princeton trail, then deep wet snow immediately thereafter all the way to the summit. Trail Info: Doesn't look like anyone has been up in awhile. Old ski tracks all covered in avy debris. Remains of a trench going up "Tigger Peak." We put a trench up to Tigger if you are attempting Princeton. We parked at the radio tower (though you could go a little further to the campsites), but immediately after the campsites 3/4ths of road is covered in deep snow. It was generally dry up to the last switchback before the standard summer trail leaves the road, but we departed the road at the switchback following boot and skin tracks. We followed the ridge up to where it joins the standard trail so we could avoid crossing an avalanche gulley for a second time. From there we put on snowshoes and put a trench directly up the ridge to "Tigger," removing snowshoes at about ~13,000' for a rocky section (and then bootpack to the summit). Snow Conditions: Sketchy snow conditions, I don't know if I would traverse across "Tigger Peak" like the standard trail has, almost everything on Princeton has run except that face so take that as you will. Avalanches in just about every gulley, chute, and bowl above 11,500 feet, including debris burying several different sets of ski tracks coming off Tigger and Princeton (as always, don't be fooled). I don't think anything below 13,000 feet has gotten a serious freeze in a couple days, but there were parts above 13,000 feet that were a lot more supportive. However, with 50 degree temperatures at the summit of Tigger.... Anything you would want to ski is in right now, but either do it very early in the morning or wait for a more stable date in the future. Snowshoes were somewhat useful for about 1,000 vertical feet (would have rather had skis) but debatedly so. Fun sections of post hole hell no matter the time of day. We didn't push our luck continuing on to Princeton although the ridge seemed safe enough. Maybe if it was four hours earlier in the day. Seemed quite doable. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/13/2015, By: Generalcuz
Info: Road is clear to the signal towers. We got in Friday night, grabbed a few winks, then woke up at 4:00 AM and started the hike. Snow present basically the entire way once you hit the trail off the road. Avy danger almost non-existent. Bring some microspikes and have some fun. It‘s a great hike with great weather this time of year. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/6/2015, By: Randy G.
Info: Parked in the TH parking area. Was able to wear trail runners past the radio tower. A Ford SUV made it to 10,400‘. No flotation or spikes needed until you leave the trail at 11,800‘. The stairs indicating the start of the trail are covered and not visible. The summer trail still has plenty of snow. There are three steep snow fields that must be crossed. Spikes and an arrest tool are highly suggested. As the snow warms it gets very loose. At 12,500‘ I turned and headed down. The last steep snow field was very loose and I chose not to continue. Sorry no pics, my phone died. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/25/2015, By: bmbielb
Info: We parked at the Mt Princeton Road 2WD trail head, and starting at 7am we hiked up just enough snow pack to the end of the 4WD road with just our boots on- no flotation needed. At this time we put on micro spikes to help our ascent up Tigger. There was one other climber on the mountain who decided to take the East face of Tigger, and we then decided to take the North face of Tigger to get to the ridge line. We stashed our snowshoes at this time as we realized we would not need them at all this trip- lots of snow has melted. There is not enough snow to warrant taking the switch backs west to the normal winter Trigger trail. Even still, climbing Tigger on the ascent to Princeton, and then climbing it again, and then going back down it during the descent- were the hardest parts of the route. Within another couple weeks, without another big snow, this mountain will be even more bare and ready for summer. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 3/18/2015, By: T2000Haynes
Info: Hiked up from the winter trailhead. The first 3 miles to the summer TH were packed snow and really easy to get up with just my trailrunners. At the top of the road and the summer TH, snoweshoes were pretty much mandatory. I skipped tigger and hiked around, but I think it may have been safe from avalanche danger either way. There‘s not all that much snow cover up there. Check the recent snowfall and princeton is a good one to knock out in the winter, just make sure you‘re prepared for a good long trek. Started from the bottom of princeton road at ~8:30, and returned to my car just before 2:30 pm (had some fun running down in the snow).