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Just saw Bart's quick report. He was first one up the mountain and I was right behind him in another hiking party. We (my party of 4) left Colo Springs at 0430 and drove up the 4WD road to the TH, starting at 0730. The road was bad and warnings about needing a Jeep/Truck to do it are on target.
Start was generally clear with a few low clouds and snow on all of the surrounding peaks. Temp at just above freezing. The trail was a little muddy in the trees but not bad. At treeline we picked up some snow in the grass and tundra, too, and then everything was covered at the "meadow" near a small pond and before you head up the steps.
The trail was in great shape and there were only a few ahead of us.
Above the meadow, some drifts across the trail were (as Bart says) 4""to 8" deep.
(That‘s Bart above me)
We followed his footsteps and the trail continued to be good until we got to the saddle just NE of the summit. There, the trail more or less disappeared and we had to scramble up the snowy rocks.
I passed another guy and met Bart at the top. Over the next 30 minutes a few others joined us. Views varied from completely fogged in to great shots of all the surrounding 14ers. Pictures below show several, including a great shot of The Apostles (IMNSHO). Temps at the top were in the mid-20s with variable winds.
The trip down was much more treacherous. Slippery rocks and an uncertain trail gave way to lots of mud below as the trail snow melted. By the time we got back to the meadow, most of the snow was melted at that point and we dealt with a little mud from there.
Overall, a great day on a super trail that's well maintained. A few cairns at the top would've helped, but it's not really tricky to scramble up the rocks. The snow and a wait at the top probably cost us an hour. In good weather this is a 4-hour round trip that took us 5 today.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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