12/8/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 12/8/2012, By: stiby52 Info: There‘s some snow below treeline which made it a bit slippery, but not too bad. Above treeline there were some patches of old crusty snow that either wasn‘t deep enough or was hard enough that post holing wasn‘t an issue. These patches weren‘t really big enough to make microspikes necessary, but I suppose they could be helpful. I made it to the top without taking mine out of the bag and didn‘t have any problems. Snowshoes are certainly not required. We made it back to the upper trailhead around 1:30 and there wasn‘t any new snow yet. |
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12/5/2012 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 12/5/2012, By: TravelingMatt Info: I did Bull Hill today, not Elbert, but the entire south face on Elbert is >99% dry. May be some blown snow on the trail at higher elevations but shouldn‘t be problematic. Snow that is approaching over the next few days may be mostly falling on areas to the north, so this route (Black Cloud) may be worth considering. |
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11/21/2012 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 11/21/2012, By: mrschaible Info: Trail is in great shape. Brought, but did not use my micro spikes. Some spots they would have been helpful, but it was not worth the effort for the short sections. Gators were a good idea. Very little snow coverage on the trail. Trail head was clear. No problem with my prius. |
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10/31/2012 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 11/2/2012, By: Eph 2 5 Info: It looks pretty snow-free, at least above treeline. I didn‘t climb it, but see the picture below looking in the general direction of the southeast ridge. |
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9/15/2012 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 9/16/2012, By: shizupple Info: It was absolutely beautiful on Saturday! The trail had no snow on it until the last couple hundred feet and even then there was little to none on the trail. I just had normal hiking boots and was just fine. Beautiful weather on top of the peak. |
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8/11/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 8/13/2012, By: murf80 Info: Took my 8 year old son up the East Ridge for his first 14er on 8/11. Weather was perfect, just a few drops of rain late in the afternoon. Must have been 25 people on the summit when we arrived which is to be expected on a Saturday. The 4wd road does not require 4wd at all (at least when dry). We had a 2wd Ford Escape rental that easily made it. There were several cars that went all the way to the top too. Just a few large rocks to work around. Great trip! |
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6/9/2012 Route: Box Creek Couloirs Posted On: 6/10/2012, By: Brushviper Info: My friends and I decdided to climb the Box Creek Couloirs June 9. The snow started off pretty nice, good footholds for crampons and the axe, about halfway up the couliour the snow turned pretty much into ice and it was very difficult for us to make any major headway safely. About the last 30 ft of the couliour we climbed we hit sheet ice so hard we couldnt break it with our axes or clear a footpath. We started three avalanches as small rock broke loose and had one avalanche shoot down as a rock brock loose from the other side, all due to tons of melting snow. As three fairly experienced climbers, I think we would all agree that the Boxwood Couloirs are probably no longer safe for ascent or descent at this point in the season. I realize this is a hybrid trip/conditions report and I apologize, I just dont want anyone going up this way this season and getting caught in what we did, it was pretty dangerous. |
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5/29/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 5/29/2012, By: Jeremya Info: Road was totally dry to the upper trail head, except for the stream crossing. Trail was clear with only minor stretches of puddles/mud (less than 20 feet total for the whole route). Perfect conditions. |
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5/28/2012 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2012, By: lafutura Info: the best dirt road ever is completely clear all the way up to the trailhead. the trail, for the most part, is completely clear. that said, there are some sections towards the top in which hard packed snow and slick ice prevail. combining that with a strong wind can lead to some pretty slippery conditions on the ridge and at the summit. i‘d say until a newer peak conditions report is posted, at the very least make sure you have hiking boots and poles with you. if you‘re not so sure footed, microspikes wouldn‘t be a bad thing. once again, keep in mind that the vast majority of the trail is completely snow-free, so you don‘t want to go too crazy with equipment, but probably have a bit more on hand than i did. |
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5/27/2012 Route: Southeast Ridge Posted On: 5/31/2012, By: snapppel Info: No snow until after passing over Little Elbert and heading to the main summit. Even then, you can stay on the west side of the ridge and avoid touching snow till the summit. The day I was there, the snow was solid until after I was headed down around 10:30, although temps were in the 20 that day, which prob helped. The 1000 ft. or so right below the ridge, however, is already very loose, steep, sandy and starting to get torn up a bit. Not too bad going up, but a little sketchy on the way down. |
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4/27/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 4/27/2012, By: dfrizzle Info: Made it all the way up the 4wd road without a hitch Thursday night. Fresh dusting of snow overnight, very windy above treeline but didn‘t use snowshoes at all (would recommend gaiters for the slushy stuff). Trail was much drier on the way down even with the new snow. Trip Report coming soon but if you need pics sooner, pm me. |
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4/14/2012 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 4/16/2012, By: mikeegan40 Info: Starting off at 7am the trail was a bit icy, microspikes are recommended. Hit a little bit of dry trail for a while, then back to some icy packed snow. Was able to walk on top of most of the harder packed snow on the way up, but could see lots of post holeing and went down a few times ourselves. Just before tree line, the trail disappears into the trees and couldn‘t find where it went. Traversed just to the east of the trail, went around and found the trail once again just above tree line and easily visible with the rocks lining both sides. Pretty windy and blowing snow at times, then would let up and was pretty nice. Final push to the top after the false summits was very windy. On way back down in the trees we did go through the snowpack quite a bit as it had softened up quite a bit, but still glad we didn‘t pack any snowshoes. Both dogs did really well all the way to the top. Even with the blowing snow at times, never had my heavy coat on, just two long sleeved shirts and an insulated flannel. Just recommend good gloves above tree line. |
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4/5/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 4/6/2012, By: parsonne Info: The 4WD road is mostly dry but gets quite muddy towards the top, especially in the afternoon. It is really not as rugged as "4WD" suggests, but be aware of the mud in the last 1/4 mile or so. Hiking was mostly on snow with one decent stretch (just after treeline) that was dry. We wore only hiking boots. I would not recommend snowshoes, although we did have to cross one slippery snowfield (12,400‘). The snow stayed mostly firm in the morning and we only a few post-holing issues on the descent below treeline. We left the upper TH around 6:30am and reached the summit at 10:15 (3 hr 45 min). Left the summit at 11:00. Great hike overall, the snow kept things interesting. My advice would be to start earlier than us if possible, the lower trail was very wet by the time we were back down. |
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3/21/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 3/26/2012, By: bphughes1 Info: Started around lunch time I walked up the 4WD road the road which was Icy and muddy my Subaru would have gotten stuck. I put my snowshoes on at the bridge at the start of the trail south Elbert Trail head. The trail had its dry spots but it was easier to just wear snow shoes than keep taking them off. I emerged out of the tree line after about 2 hours and decided to camp at 11600 feet which is below the tree line in the field. The snow was very heavy below the tree line and snow shoes are a good idea. The next day I made it to the summit the trail alternates from dry spots to thick snow until 13000 feet after 13000 snow shoes are useful there is quite allot of snow and a little ice. It took me 2.5 hours to summit after leaving my camp and it took a little less than 4 hours to make it back to my car. Overall the weather was great not a cloud in the sky the snow was melting heavily in some areas and thick in others and it is very cold at night. But I would highly recommend this route. |
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2/18/2012 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2/19/2012, By: Markwise Info: East Ridge route is a fantastic route for Elbert! The 4WD road was not driveable but very compacted snow and great for hiking. We put on snowshoes at the bridge for the 4WD TH. They were not likely necessary yet but easier to wear than carry at this point. The trench was very compacted and made for great hiking up to the ridge proper. At 11700 on the ridge, in a small meadow, the trench inexplicably went two directions. We were unsure of which choice to make and went right. Ended up following someone's fresh tracks ahead of us up to 11800. At 12500 we stashed snowshoes. Wished we'd kept them for another 200 feet as the slope above 12500 had some minor-postholing. Above 12700 no need for snowshoes. From 13400 up to about 13800 was the steepest portion of the ascent and we were able to follow faint switchbacks from the summer trail to help. Above 13800 mostly wind-blown snow and just made a bee-line to the summit. |
