Deer Mountain

Route: Deer Heavens Couloir
Posted On: 5/10/2025, By: Geckser
Info: Arthurspiderman and I hit two of the South East couloirs on Deer Mountain today. We were able to drive about .4 miles from the upper 4wd trailhead. It should be totally dry up to the upper TH by next weekend. Snow started immediately upon hitting the trail after but is intermittent until about 11,000. Travel through the forest was unpleasant but brief before breaking out above treeline. Above treeline the snow was supportive and we made good time in trailrunners to the base of the couloirs. We booted up the left most couloir, it was HOT and it was a knee deep booter for long sections. This line is extremely thermal and we were pushing it with our descent time of 9:45. From the summit we noticed that the major line we thought was corniced out had a hidden connection to the ridge/summit. Top section is steep and exposed. Fun and engaging ski. The below treeline descent was tedious and sloppy. Was glad to hit dry trail at 10,700. Overall a great day, inspired by Bergsteigen’s photos from an old K49 Trip Report one of which I included here because it shows the line well. I can’t emphasize enough how solar the aspect is. 

Route: West ridge
Posted On: 8/27/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: Trail to the lake is pretty great although there are a few muddy spots. Logs on the first creek crossing had a touch of frost on them this morning making for careful steps. Above the lake, the west ridge ascends steeply on variable class 2 terrain. Some loose rocks and scree, some talus and class 2 grass. The terrain actually gets moderately easier above 13k. 

Route: from Champion
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: artemavovk
Info: Traverse from Champion is free of snow. The snow patches that you have to avoid do lead to slightly spicier route finding, but nothing beyond class 3. Descended West ridge to North Fork Lake Creek. Also free of snow until you get to the lake. From the lake there's about a mile of snowfields with variable levels of support. After that is a mile of creek crossings and the trail being a creek - ya gonna get wet and stay wet until the trailhead. 

Route: Northwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: The northwest ridge is the easiest way to climb Deer Mountain, despite no trip report on 14ers.com via this route. Start at the North Fork Lake Creek trailhead 0.1 mile off of Hwy 82 on the east side of Independence Pass, and hike all the way to the unnamed lake at the base of the northwest ridge. It is a stiff climb on steep grass, talus, and scree from there to the summit, but it goes at Class 2. Summer conditions - no snow anywhere on the route. Creek crossing is fairly easy, the basin is green and the flowers are wonderful. Loved this climb. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 8/26/2022, By: cdgibbons
Info: Climbed Deer, PT 13,736, and Champion from North Lake Creek following the excellent trip report from Mtnman200- thank you! Highly recommended- I found this a scenic, challenging, and rewarding loop. The topo map I use (Garmin) show the trail high above the creek after 12,000' and then ending before the unnamed lake. This isn't correct- it stays close to the creek and continues past the lake and over the saddle (which I missed in the dark). From the saddle, cairns and trail segments lead out onto the west face of Deer and then up a steep class 2 grass slope to rejoin the ridge about 13,400'. Beautiful basin. 

Route: loop from 13,202
Posted On: 7/24/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: Summer conditions! Loop of UN 13,500, Twining Peak, UN 13,545, UN 13,202, Deer Mountain, UN 13,736, and Mount Champion. Storms moved in earlier than we anticipated so we skipped adding on UN 13,300B and K49. Beautiful ridge as far as the Sawatch goes with some opportunities for class 3 and occasional 4th. Fun to get 4 bicents in one day!! 

Route: West Ridge - Traverse to Champion
Posted On: 7/2/2022, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Did loop of Deer/13736/Champion. Added K49 as an out and back. Summer conditions. Route is dog friendly if you have a capable pup. Stream crossing is lower than a few weeks ago, but not a lot of exposed rocks yet Warning to dog owners! There's a porcupine roaming the valley about 3 miles up the trail from North Fork Lake Creek trailhead. He got my dog, but not bad. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: Hiked the loop with Oklahoma and K49 On the approach to Deer the snow is avoidable and all Class 2+ until the last 100' from the summit. Still some snow which requires some maneuvering leading to more difficult moves but they are short. No snow over to K49 or on the ridge coming off K49. There is snow to navigate when heading back into the basin but we were able to avoid it all just barely before or creek crossings 12.71 miles; 5,011' gain; 9 hours 20 min Start about 5:30am; Mt. Oklahoma 8:30am (15min break); Deer Mtn 10:45am; K49 12:30pm (20 min break); TH 3:00pm 

Route: North Fork Lake Creek
Posted On: 10/24/2021, By: durkan
Info: Ascent from North Fork Lake Creek Trailhead. Snow began to really show itself around 11,850ft. Avoided it all by staying on the west side of the headwall, and then some snow around the lake but not bad. Ridge up had some snow between the rocks, but there was never enough to warrant gaiters or microspikes (traction could have been useful on the traverse to UN13737 and Champion; See champion report). We noticed on the drive in and the hike that most N and E facing aspects were holing the most snow in the area. 

Route: North Fork Lake
Posted On: 6/20/2021, By: Danger_D
Info: 98% snow free, and the snow that is there is on easy terrain. Before dawn the rough log bridge at roughly .5 miles was icy. The creeks are high right now so the creek crossing at 11,450' was kinda dicey. I opted for a sketchy slick rock jump, but if you take off your boots you'll be golden. Large parts of the trail are muddy or waterlogged still. No snow on the summit ridge, but the first 300 feet after the lake is loose and no fun, but gets much better after that 

Route: From Lake Fork Creek
Posted On: 6/12/2021, By: Grover
Info: Backing up what @angry shared earlier this week. The trail has standing and running water on it, so it can be muddy in spots; I carried gaiters but did not use them. The multiple snowfields to cross in the upper basin, leading to the upper lake at ~12,500' are supportive. Above the lake, which has snow all around it still, the ridge to the summit is obvious. I highly recommend this route if you are looking for an outing. Flotation: Not necessary Spikes: Brought them, did not use them; saw others with them just going to the lake 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/10/2021, By: angry
Info: From North Lake Creek: route is a combo of dry segments, standing water, mud and snow. Did not use traction/flotation. Once above the lake at ~12,500 it is dry to summit. 

Route: Mt. champion to deer Mtn.
Posted On: 10/12/2020, By: smartt
Info: Inch of fresh snow the night prior made conditions for this route very good. Used micro spikes from mt. Champion to UN 13,736 to Deer Mtn. Could not have asked for a better day in that weather and area. 

Route: NW ridge from North Fork Lake TH
Posted On: 9/6/2020, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Easy class 1 trail approach to the NW ridge of Deer. Ridge to the summit is probably a 2-2+ depending on your line to gain it. 

Route: Northeast Ridge and South Ridge
Posted On: 6/27/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: Northeast Ridge from Oklahoma is dry. From the saddle there's approximately 1,000 vert to the summit. The first 800 or so feet are steep but not too loose; stay to climber's right. The Class 3 scramble is short and on pretty friable rock, kind of junky stuff sandwiched with dirt. It's short though, maybe 10-20 feet. Above that is Class 2 terrain, then a short traverse on boulders to a short Class 3 dihedral/slab that I went over to the right about 20 feet up. Another traverse and climbing on super loose Class 2 took me to the final Class 4 slab, which was a bit more solid but still required testing of every hold. The rock was quite smooth. Fun scrambling to the short summit ridge. I descended the south ridge to "K 49", the vast majority of which is Class 2. There's a short Class 3 wall on junky white rock at the first major saddle, but that's about it as far as difficulty goes.