Mid May trip questions

[anish]

Hi all!
Me and two other friends are planning a trip mid may to hike some 14ers. Our plan was originally to fly in on the 15th, hike Mt. Massive on the 16th, the Decalibron loop on the 17th, and then on the 18th backpack to Horn Fork Basin, camp overnight, and then summit Harvard and traverse to Columbia.
Us three are quite physically fit(have a good amount of hiking experience), but lack in experience when it comes to heavy snowy conditions.
I was wondering if anyone can give some wisdom/advice as to if we are out of our depth here and should change course? There doesn't seem to be much updates on the peak conditions section of this website for those couple of mountains, so was reaching out here to see if anyone had any thoughts. For extra information, our home base is going to be in Buena Vista.
Thanks!

[Scott P]

There will be lots of snow for sure. I would definitely not do the Harvard Columbia traverse with your level of experience. The others, maybe, but I'd at least practice self arrest with an ice axe. Take snowshoes or skis for sure. Avoid avalanche terrain, especially in the afternoons.

[Ptglhs]

The horn fork basin will be completely snowed in still. Unless you have experience (and the desire to) taking heavy packs with snowshoes through deep snow, setting up tents in snow, melting snow for water (the creek will probably be buried under a snow bridge but it might be flowing), and navigating without a trail I'd reconsider.

DeCaLiBross will be snowy in the basin, but doable. Bring snowshoes and microspikes, be prepared for some road walking.

Harvard/Columbia: don't. Amend plans to do the southeast ridge of Columbia. Bring snowshoes/spikes.

Massive: which route? I assume standard. Road should be driveable but you may be road walking for a while before you get to TH. That one would be better as a backpack. Bring snow gear.

Make sure whatever sleeping pads your team is using has a high R value. A camp in snow can make for a cold night.

[jrbren_vt]

FWIW I interpret lack of peak condition reports for any popular route to mean the conditions stink, so no one is even attempting to go and able to report on them. The Pike's peak region just got a huge dump of snow above 7K' this week, not sure how the regions you seek fared. Expect tons of snow as others said. Start very early, you may be able to walk right over it if it's cold enough (that's where the spikes come in). Much past 10am the deep snow will turn to mush, I find even with snow shoes travel can be difficult on that type of inconsistent melting mush snow. My snow shoes tend to want to slice into the snow rather that stay flat on top. IMHO that's just not a great time to do 14ers. There are tons of great places to hike in May, just not 14ers. "where" would be my question. If you can delay your trip 4-6 weeks a lot of things will be opening up in June. Every year is different though and this has been a lean snow year before this week's storm, so I don't really know, but I would delay my trip. I did do Redcloud, Sunshine and Handies with minimal snow the first weekend in June a few years ago, which was probably my best experience on 14ers since it was not crowded. a rarity for 14ers.

[9patrickmurphy]

FWIW I interpret lack of peak condition reports for any popular route to mean the conditions stink, so no one is even attempting to go and able to report on them.

This is a great way of putting it.

Before this last snow storm I would have said mid May will be snowy, but doable, but now I'm not so sure. I've done plenty of hiking in snow conditions like this in years past, and got tired of it pretty quick. If your group is travelling on skis, there could be some great ski descents awaiting you. If you were planning on dry trail, I'll echo the others and advise you to change plans or gear up. I'm sure you'll be able to make a great trip out of it either way!

[SkaredShtles]

<snip> lack in experience when it comes to heavy snowy conditions.

I was wondering if anyone can give some wisdom/advice as to if we are out of our depth here and should change course?

If you were expecting to arrive and have the mountains NOT be covered in snow, I'd say you're probably out of your depth and should change course.

[mtree]

Yeahhhh. Kinda what's already been said. Tough time of year to be tearing into big days. Deep snow makes for a long slog. Harvard/Columbia would suck. The traverse would be an adventure of the highest degree. It might be a week trip to complete both! Or you might die. Columbia is doable via southeast ridge. Not sure about west slopes. Havard standard will be a loooong day with plenty of snow. Probably need to camp.

DeCaLiBro loop is your best bet, but its going to be messy and depending on conditions you better gear up for everything. You'll probably be trudging through a bunch of snow just to reach the trailhead.

Massive is going to be a massive haul. Plan on an overnighter. I doubt the southwest slope route will be accessible without snowshoes or skis so it will add quite a bit of mileage and good route-finding skills. Same with the standard east slopes route. Beautiful area if you choose it!

All that said you might be better off tackler easier and more accessible peaks. Check the conditions list for those peaks with best access. With the recent big snow be ready for full on winter and spring skiing conditions!

[CaptainSuburbia]

Quandary would be your best bet.

[anish]

OP here, ok yea I definitely don't feel confident attempting the Columbia Harvard traverse, and am pretty shaky about Mount Massive. We probably will go through with Decalibron loop. Do you guys have any other recommendations for an area we can go backpacking? Mount Massive seems like it may be a bit out of our depth, as most of our camping experience is on dry ground. I did expect snow, and have hiked through snow before(in Washington), but wasn't sure how much snow, and how "hikeable" the conditions would be. For the other couple of days does anyone have any recommendations? We still want to be challenged and do some hard hikes, just don't want to risk our lives to stupidity/a large skill gap if that makes sense. We were thinking of checking out Great Sand Dunes National Park. Someone earlier in this thread said Mount quandary might be nice, so we may attempt that too.
Thanks!

[madmattd]

May backpacking options in Colorado usually falls to Lost Creek Wilderness (which will still likely have some snow, and the stream crossing in Refrigerator Gulch can be "sporty" in May, but is most likely to be passable of all typical CO options), or the first couple segments of the CO trail from Denver to Lost Creek Wilderness.

[mtree]

Sand Dunes is a good idea! Perfect time of year. Not too hot and bugs aren't gonna eat you alive. There is alot of hiking in that area.

Camping would need to be fairly low to avoid snow. La Plata, Blanca (in the desert), and Huron comes to mind. It the road is manageable, Humbolt. I guess if you're backpacking you can hoof it.

[Ptglhs]

I hiiked up Pennsylvania mountain today in part to torture myself in a late afternoon sufferfest through deep snow and in part to see what conditions were like up there. With the recent storm the trail is probably 80% snow covered. Above Tree Line a lot of that will melt off soon but they're still several drifts. Below tree line there is still 80 to 90% coverage of Consolidated snow. I'm going to attach some photos here just because it's relevant although if the admins think I should move them to Peak condition reports I'm fine with that as well.

Even on a day that was partly cloudy and had some additional snowfall I was still post-holding, occasionally passed my knees. Snowshoes, waterproof boots, and trekking poles were mandatory up there. I'm not trying to crap all over the op and their desire to be in the mountains, it's just not a good time. I know may feels like summer in a lot of the country but it's important to remember that most May is still the middle of spring. Summer, especially in the high country, starts on or about the 21st of june.

The sand dunes would be good, or doing a loop around the Buffalo peaks in the wilderness over the course of 3 days. The majority of that trail is below 10 5 and I don't think it ever goes above 11,000 ft. Assuming the Salt Creek Road is open this early that would be a challenge, be really pretty, and allow some outdoor experiences. If you wanted to get a 14er then I would suggest quandary which sees a lot of traffic so therefore has a good boot pack up to the summit, or bierstad. If you wanted to get into the Alpine then a shorter 13er: Snitkau, Cupid, James, Flora, Pennsylvania

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There's the view into the mosquito basin and the 13ers there and you can see how snowy it is. Also upper reaches of Bross, cameron, and lincoln. Democrat is obscured by buckskin. Trying to use the trekking poles to show just how high the drifts are. Probably about 5 ft and constantly going up and down that is exhausting, punching through up to your hips more so.