Mt. Princeton

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 12/30/2012, By: d_baker
Info: 5 of us hiked Princeton on Saturday, via SW ridge -- approached from Grouse Canyon.
Great route, but steep bushwacky approach to a great yet long up and down ridge. The ridge is worth it though!
This route is a nice aesthetic alternative to the "standard" route.

TH Conditions:
TH is accessible, and you can find the directions to it on 14ers.com TH status/directions page.
Some snow on the road, but manageable with clearance.

Approx. Stats:
~7mi's RT
~5000' gain
~12hrs for 4 of us, the 5th is Mad fast, so was out in daylight.

Trail/Route Conditions:
We carried snowshoes to treeline where we stashed them. We wore them on the way out though.
Boot-top deep snow in trees on approach once above Grouse Canyon creek. Snow got a little deeper as we approached treeline.
We ascended a ridge to the left of a drainage that comes off the S/SW ridge. (See attached map with our approximate route.)
No concerns of avalanches on our chosen route.

Once on the ridge proper, it was class 3 & 4 scrambling with some snow. A couple of "knife-edgy" sections, but not hard. Headwall/crux was workable on its right side. Ascended & descended this class 4 line. ~40' of good rock w/exposure.
Overall, the scrambling portion of the ridge is short given the total length of the route. I think the ridge itself is 2mi's long, RT.

Scrambling portion aside, it's a ridge walk on talus with some trail to summit.

Pix:
1.) Looking down to our treeline approach & the ridge we ascended to gain SW ridge proper
2.) Scrambly ridge portion. I won't mention names (because my fingers will be broken if I disclose who it is) but you can see one of our party on the class 4 headwall.
3.) Looking back on the scrambling part of the route, taken from above the headwall.
4.) Map, with approximate route. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 12/5/2012, By: kumo1341
Info: Went up the first day of december. no snow until the north face of unnamed 13273'. no need for mirco spikes or gaiter. biggest problem was the gust wind as high as 60mph in the morning. Other than that, a great hike! btw, there was still about 30 yards of impassable ice patch close to the radio tower. driving to trailhead is not recommended. enjoy the hike! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 11/24/2012, By: DanielL
Info: My brother, sister, friend and I had a calm, sunny day all to ourselves on Mt. Princeton yesterday! We drove up the road for 2.3 miles before we had to stop because of ice (see TH report). The trail is almost completely clear, the most snow being on the traverse across Tigger Peak's slope. Once on the ridge below Princeton's summit, there was no snow to speak of. I brought microspikes but didn't use them, and the snow wasn't deep enough for us to use gaiters, although bringing them is always a good idea. My sister and I climbed Tigger Peak as well, and the snow conditions were about the same. Picture #4 is looking back at Princeton while climbing Tigger. We saw one climber on Tigger's summit as we were hiking down, and met up with him on the road afterward. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 11/18/2012, By: WSC_Geologist12
Info: We hiked the road from about 10,575 ft just below the radio towers (see my TH conditions report).
The route is good. Mostly clear of snow (photo 1) until you get to the North side of the bowl (photo 2). The snow isn't deep enough to need snowshoes, and not packed enough to need yak trax (or microspikes, whichever name you prefer). I would bring gaiters, I wish I had mine. There is the occasional snow drift in places, but they are easily avoidable if you choose.
Upon reaching the ridge there is only a few patches of "drifty" windblown snow (photo 3, pretty high on the ridge). If you choose to follow the route by the book, or even follow the millions of cairns up there you'll encounter some drifts. Definitely no avalanche danger yet, but beware of the slips. Thin dry snow + already slippery rock don't mix too well.

If you're thinking of doing Princeton, do it soon while the road is still pretty good. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 10/27/2012, By: SherpaSara
Info: The trail is fairly easy to follow right now, but it does have snow on it. There's enough snow to be annoying and make the trail slippery, but didn't need the Yaktrax today. The road is snow-free until about 11,500' but doesn't have much even above that. Made it all the way to the last switchback before the trail veers from the road in a Chevy Equinox. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 10/20/2012, By: aliciaf
Info: Trail almost completely dry with the exception of some patches of snow/ice here and there that cause no concern. Brought spikes but didn't use them at all. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 10/7/2012, By: Coxie2210
Info: Snow does not look like much but it was enough to make route finding conditions more difficult once you hit the talus field. Did not use spikes but wouldn't hurt to bring them just in case. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/22/2012, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Summer conditions to the summit! Trail and road were completely dry. Lots of traffic on Mt Princeton Rd above radio towers. SUVs, trucks, ATVs, and other off road vehicles. Had no idea it was such a popular road. :) Stepped aside often and then hiked down in a cloud of dust back to the car. Everyone was very friendly though! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/17/2012, By: Eric7040
Info: Got caught in thunder snow storm today - at least 2" of snow fell today from about 12,000' & up. 1" from 11,000' and up. Rocks were slippery/icy. Dirt trails were clear & dry 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/15/2012, By: taahkr67
Info: Dry trail, a few inches of snow at the summit. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2012, By: MTGOAT72
Info: The route is clear and easy to follow. The 4WD road to the towers is in good shape. Almost didn't even need 4WD, just clearance. Somone even parked right next to the TH off the road. Watch for the stairs, there isn't a very big cairn there and we saw a few people walk right by it.

http://coloradoascents.blogspot.com/2012/07/mount-princeton.html 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/19/2012, By: esagas
Info: No snow anywhere on the trail. Summer conditions. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/25/2012, By: bjkent76
Info: Summer conditions on Princeton today. Previous report on condition of Mt Princeton Rd is 100% accurate. Still need high clearance 4WD to get to radio towers (I drove a Durango and was just fine). The two sections of snow referenced earlier this week are nearly gone. Only one 50 foot strip of snow which was easily crossed. No need for spikes or gaiters. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/21/2012, By: RossZahuranec
Info: The conditions were clear! Drove up in 4-wheel drive, higher clearance vehicle, and stopped near the radio towers at 10,800'. Barely any snow. We could have kept driving up to the last parking area before the road ends, near the forest service building, but walked that instead from the 10,800 route. The peak we reached in about 3 hours and only had to walk through one or two patches of snow. Maybe about 45 degrees F at the peak, and 60 near the base. Great hike!
Note about the drive up: I'd recommend a higher clearance vehicle. We saw a Subaru Outback parked near where we parked, so they were able to make it, but I'm guessing they probably scraped bottom a few times. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/29/2012, By: big_red_pride
Info: Just did Princeton today. You can make it all the way to the radio towers with no issues at all in a 4WD. Most of the snow fields on the road are avoidable. There are some small snow fields to cross on the standard route but snowshoes and spikes are not needed. It is about as close to summer conditions on the trail as one could ask for minus a small amount of snow.

Happy hiking!