| Peak: | Sunshine Peak |
| Route: | East Ridge |
| Range: | San Juan |
| Posted By: | the_hare |
| Date of Info: | 1/31/2022 |
| Date Posted: | 2/1/2022 |
| Condition Update |
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Really enjoyable short winter day in the San Juans. The steep path up the south-facing slope is a mix of packed snow, ice, frozen dirt, mud, and loose dirt & gravel. Used some hefty Hillsound trail crampon microspikes to cruise up the trail. The sketchiest part I think is the talus chute crossing. I didn't see the cairns on the other side of the chute and ascended the extremely loose rock & dirt on the side after crossing. Every rock is loose and the large ones can crush your foot. The trail actually keeps going a bit past the chute and continues on up steep less loose dirt. At around 11.9k the trees open up to a snow-covered hill where snowshoes became mandatory. I went straight up without issue but there was a track off to the right that curved around and went over some shallower snow. Dropped my snowshoes off on top of the small hill on the ridge at 12.5k. For the following wide, rocky ridge I ascended the bare, fairly stable rocks on the left side. I wish I had stayed on the snowy trail, so much faster ascending that with spikes. On the last part of the ridge towards the summit, I mostly stayed on top of the ridge which was hardpack enough to ascend easily with spikes. Didn't go over to Redcloud for multiple reasons—late start, a bit wiped from weekend ice climbing, & forgot some wind gear in the car that I would need for the ridge. Instead I spent a bit longer on the summit taking in the utterly magnificent San Juan vistas. The descent went quickly. Spikes kept me from slipping in the mud but the snow didn't deteriorate to slush nearly as much as I thought. Winds felt as forecast on the summit blowing towards the east at 20mph. Before that I only felt the wind in occasional gusts above treeline. This report is mostly for posterity due to an incoming heavy snow. Yes, it is a steep route overall but I didn't find it too bad with traction, I kindof prefer trail angles that use quads over calves anyway. Looking forward to next time and going over to Redcloud too!        
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