Mt Sherman, Iowa Gulch or 4 mile creek?

[ckvesuvius]

I am aiming to do Sherman in mid June as a warmup for a few bigger hikes. I've done Mt Whitney amongst a few others, for reference.

I am curious what the consensus is on the two main Mt Sherman routes, and which is easier/safer.

[two lunches]

Iowa Gulch sucks. the road sucks, the views suck, the terrain sucks. avoid.

[greenschist]

Fourmile is definitely busier than Iowa Gulch since it's a much shorter drive from the Front Range cities. I had a lot of fun starting at Iowa Gulch and attempting to follow the route in this trip report. It was a lot of Class 2 talus-hopping but I enjoyed it. The road wasn't that bad until I took a wrong turn and ended up on a much rougher one lane road that definitely sucked. I think I got confused when I approached a gate. If you look at conditions reports for Iowa Gulch you'll see I'm not the only one to make this misake. It was a short walk uphill from the end of that road to the actual TH. I think the best views were at or near the summits of Dyer and Gemini, especially looking north. I didn't get close to another human until I topped out on Sherman.

If you're just looking for a quick and easy outing then Fourmile is probably a better idea.

[justiner]

Is the road on the Leadville-side open yet?

[9patrickmurphy]

I liked the Iowa Gulch side, quite a bit more than the Fourmile approach. Rougher terrain, but lots of wildflowers at the right time of year. Fourmile approach has cool mining ruins, and would be generally considered easier as it receives much more traffic. Pick your poison.

[RhodoRose]

What Justin said. Hard to say when the mining company (Newmont, last time I checked) opens the road on the Iowa gulch side.