Mt. Yale

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/25/2012, By: aliciaf
Info: Dry all the way up to summit. Perfect conditions! Great trail to hike up. Very clear. Some dark clouds started rolling in around 10:30am or so on our descent, but I don‘t think they produced any storms as far as I know! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2012, By: MTGOAT72
Info: Dry and dusty. Can‘t beat a TH that starts from the pavement. Trail is in great shape. Stay on route through the rocks, I saw a lot of people not sticking to the ridge and getting into some hairy pickles. TR on my blog: http://coloradoascents.blogspot.com/2012/06/mount-yale.html 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2012, By: dehrlich101
Info: No snow anywhere on the trail to the summit. Denny Creek and Delaney Gulch stream are flowing well, if you need to filter water. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2012, By: a94buff
Info: August conditions....actually more like September or October conditions - it‘s BROWN and dry up there. Pic looking back towards Harvard to give a sense of lack of snow. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/3/2012, By: RJansen77
Info: I ran Yale today as training for the Leadville Trail Marathon later this month. The route from Denny Creek is very straightforward, there are a few downed trees below the steep slope at treeline, but other than that nothing to speak of except for great, runner-friendly trail. Full summer conditions! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2012, By: djkest
Info: Hey guys, we did Mt. Yale on Monday and got a little lost. I thought these photos would be helpful. There are plenty of snowdrifts below treeline and that can make navigating the trial difficult. Several people have gotten lost already trying to find their way through the forest. On the summit ridge, it‘s still holding a fair amount of snow- it can get soft and slippery under the sun. Spikes are not NEEDED, but some people would appreciate it. Besides these 2 areas, the trail is in great shape. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/21/2012, By: forbins_mtn
Info: Recent condition reports are correct. The trail is near summer conditions. There is some route confusion around treeline, so just remember that the trail heads southwest and up the hill when it gets confusing. Other than that section and the snowy summit ridge, the route is completely snow free and ready to go! No traction needed 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/18/2012, By: WarDamnPanic
Info: A few snow patches in the trees around 11,000 ft and a little packed snow on the summit approach, but other than that it is summer conditions. Trail is easily visible the whole way up. Started at 6:15 am, reached the summit at 9:30 am and was back at the TH at Noon. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/17/2012, By: Rcizzle
Info: Yale is suffering from what a lot of other Sawatch Peaks are (except Missouri) trail hiding snow sitting between 11,500 and 11,700 ft. I lost the trail again in between these elevations had to improvise.....again, but I wasn‘t alone another climber I met made the same tree line route finding mistake. Also lots of ice on the trail above treeline early. Trail is mostly clear 11,500 and after 11,700 it is mostly clear to the summit ridge saddle. The saddle to the summit is definitely packing some snow. Super windy on summit ridge, but by the time I got to the summit it calmed completely. Here are some pics that might interest you 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/9/2012, By: Lindyhapa
Info: The road up to Denny Creek Trailhead was snow free and accessible by any vehicle. Snowshoes are not necessary, but bring your gaiters. Yak Trax could be useful above treeline. The trail is still buried in snow most of the way, but until there‘s another snow, there will be various sets of footprints to follow. Study the map before you go and you‘ll be fine. There‘s plenty of daylight to peak and get back down before sunset. We started at 6:30am, peaked at 12:15pm and were back at the parking lot by 3pm. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/1/2012, By: tomasini7
Info: Clear, not much snow, I hiked this on Sunday without snowshoes. I lost the trail a few times when in places where the snow covered it, but getting to the top is fairly self-explanatory... 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 3/31/2012, By: Dex
Info: Start early while snow is hard, bring snow shoes for the return trip on the standard route. Snow begins after the switch back and ends at the tree line. There is a dusting of snow on the peak. You can follow the trail through the snow. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 3/26/2012, By: ChrisinAZ
Info: Four of us hit up Yale via the East Ridge on Saturday. The first part of the CO trail up to ~10200‘ was pretty much bare. The first gully crossing was a bit tricky, but our finding the more obvious path on the way down should make it much more straightforward for future visitors. Once in the Hughes Gulch basin, we were intermittently able to find the trench, but often followed low, relatively snow-free ridges as well; the snow here was generally 1-3‘ deep; snowshoes were generally necessary at this point. From about 11,000‘ on up, we diverged from the standard trail and followed an obvious ridgeline trending NNW up to ~12140 on the main ridge. The lower third was snow-free enough to bareboot, with snowshoes being necessary above that. Once at the crest of the ridge at 12140‘, snowshoes can be cached. From here to the summit is about 95% free of snow, though a few patches exist that must be crossed, and may be slick and hard. I would strongly recommend either microspikes or ice axe for these portions. A few sections required some class 2/3 scrambling in mixed terrain, but nothing insurmountable or exposed. From the summit, Harvard still appeared to hold some snow, but Columbia via the SE ridge looked to be ripe for the taking, with very little snow on the entire route we could see. On the descent, we attempted heading down from 12140‘ the way we had come up, but discovered the snow to be unbelievably soft (we were postholing several feet, in snowshoes, and having to dig ourselves out). We found that it was possible to travel on the SW aspect of the ridge, generally 30-50‘ below the crest, on mostly dry ground; in about half a mile, we were able to pop back up on the crest of the ridge and follow our original route back to the trailhead. Despite our afternoon issues with the lower ridge, I would highly recommend taking it, as it saves distance and probably a fair amount of post-holing, time, and effort. By our route, took a bit over 13 hours car-to-car. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/28/2012, By: climbingbiz
Info: The current snow trail goes too far left (west) shortly after entering the trees and wonders through deep snow and steep terrain. The trail ends at the top of the ridge on the right hand side of avalanche gulch, with another half mile or more of deep snow trail breaking required to reconnect with the trail on the lower ridge. I watched for where the trail might have split on the way back so I could mark it for the next people, but never found it. The summer trail should still have decent snow pack under the top layer of powder if you can find it. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/25/2012, By: seano732
Info: Just got back from Yale, TR to follow. Got off route in the trees, waded through thigh-hip deep sugar for 90+ minutes to saddle. numerous false trenches and trails in the trees, STAY RIGHT (east) whenever the trench splits. High camped just below saddle, but was absolutely wasted from postholing. Packed up and headed out next am. No summit, but first 14er attempt in 10 years; felt great, BOMBER weather, and great partner! Try again in Feb!