Capitol Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/26/2026, By: mijoflynn
Info: I only went to the lake today; I'm posting here in case it helps anyone who's still considering having a go at the peak this season. The road crux, a quarter-mile below the TH, is now muddy as well as deeply rutted; there were half a dozen vehicles at the TH, all trucks or full-size SUVs. The Ditch Trail is muddy too, for stretches, after the precipitation this week. Consistent snow starts a little after the cattle gate, around 10,400'; the deepest drifts were 10-12", in the area just below the lake (calf-depth; it never came up to my knee). I'll attach a pic of the slope to the saddle; I have no info on the other side, obviously.

There were several hunters on the Ditch Trail, aiming down toward the Creek Trail. Plan accordingly. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/21/2026, By: almarks98
Info: Approached and camped at Capitol Lake the night before, 15 F with a little wind that night
Left the lake by 7 AM and got back at around 8 PM, then back at the car by 11 PM that night — moved slow given the exposure and snow
Perfect weather with blue skies and no wind
Snow on the trail was an added challenge (ankle to waist deep depending on snow drift), especially in the boulder field and scrambling below the peak — not bad on the knife’s edge
Ice axe was definitely needed to self arrest and wade through the snow as needed
Very challenging and exhausting, but rewarding! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2026, By: masonzastrow
Info: The season on Cap may be over! We got to the Daly saddle a little before six this morning and found snow coming down pretty hard, accumulating quickly on rocks, the trail, and ourselves. We descended to the lake and within an hour, the whole northern face was white. There was intermittent precipitation on the hike out, occasionally heavy. With more snow in the forecast tonight and tomorrow and cooler temps ahead, this may be the one that sticks! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/8/2026, By: alphaktrk
Info: The standard route was mostly clear of snow and ice except for on the north face of K2 and the gully leading up to the final push. We were able to easily avoid the snow and summited without any winter mountaineering gear. The snow on k2 makes going around impossible, we had to summit on the way in and out. There were storms in the area in the afternoon so it's possible that conditions have changed 

Route: Ridge Direct
Posted On: 9/28/2026, By: alexnoble124
Info: No snow or ice was encountered until we gained the saddle. Slick conditions in the early morning on the north western side of the ridge that made climbing much more difficult. The down climb to k2 was very icy and wet which led to a few climbers turning around and getting stuck. It seemed that the wrap around for k2 was not possible without more technical mountaineering gear. Once the sun came out to play everything melted off nicely but we had to deal with mud on the summit block. Its clear that there is a big storm heading in so plan for conditions to be worse. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/23/2026, By: dantheman0809
Info: The tree has been removed from the road but there is still a decent rut about 0.2 mi before the parking lot. We got past the rut in a subaru crosstrek so very doable. There is a ton of parking along the road just below it eitherway.

Conditions were perfect except for a tiny bit of snow on the downclimb from k2. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/29/2026, By: zdzielinski
Info: First time running Capitol, fantastic day. Great conditions aside from a bit of light rain descending the boulder field post summit. Started shortly before 3AM at the trailhead after taking a brief nap in my dirtbag van. Post eclipse moon was absolutely beautiful. Dodged a group of trundlers by dancing on fifth class near the peak (very nice group, a couple of 14er finishers that day!). Car to car time of 7h49m. Filtered water tasted slightly of cow crap. https://www.strava.com/activities/19957478275 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/24/2026, By: Nosimplehighway
Info: Excellent weather this past Saturday, Aug 22 with dry trail conditions, comfortable temps, and low wind. An epic route with an amazing approach hike. Camped just below the permit zone. Flatter land for camping is more abundant a few tenths of a mile or so below the cattle gate. The most difficult route finding, like others have mentioned, was getting out of the second gully in the talus section when it was still pitch black. The upper part of the route requires endurance, but I found the knife edge easier than I was anticipating, and there are several options of possible lines to the summit once on the uppermost part of the route. Several groups chose different lines off the summit pitch on the descent and everyone made it off safely. There were some loose rocks on the ledges on the upper part of the route, so good to space out from other climbers, but nothing that can't be avoided by testing foot and handholds. Highly recommended. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/19/2026, By: Courtneymader18
Info: TH - easy peasy 2wd road up until one section in the last half mile. With 4wd, I got my 4Runner through no prob but alot of vehicles were parked below this spot along the road.

Wow, oh wow!! Such an amazing peak. I left the trailhead at 1:30 am on no sleep after driving from moab. The stars were INCREDIBLE hiking in. I was alone so really made sure to look up and enjoy every bit of the night sky.

Got to the mt Daly saddle around 4:15. I wanted to do the direct ridge route but got psyched out with how dark it still was so navigated across the standard route up to k2. The gullies were somewhat difficult for route finding in the dark and I wish I would have taken more time to scout around. I ended up staying high and got myself into some class 5 riff raff. Doable but turns out its best to go down the second gully and connect with the boulder field. Super fun in the dark. The boulder field after was unexpectedly long but easy to navigate all the way up to K2. I got to the summit of k2 at 6:15. The knifes edge was.... much shorter than I thought it would be. I also was expecting it to be a lot steeper and exposed. Still, something to take your time on and be careful. I opted to take the proper ridge the rest of the way up to the summit and loved it. The rock quality at the way top of the ridge was great. Came down the standard trail back to the knifes edge and really wish I would have just stayed on the ridge the whole way.

Next time I will definitely do the ridge direct route from the saddle. The boulder field below k2 kicked my butt and it was such a relief to be back to the saddle. My knees were feeling it once I got back down the steep switchbacks to the lake! By far the hardest part of the day was the last 3 miles hiking back to the trailhead.

Totally doable as a day hike if you are down for a bit of a suffer fest ;)

Car to car - 11 hours and 40 mins. Got back around 1:15 pm! Moving time was around 8 hours and 45 mins.

I will definitely do it as a full day hike again.

Conditions were great. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/9/2026, By: AurumSun13
Info: Immaculate conditions on the day! There were blue skies, no wind, & no snow on route plus it was pretty warm at the peak. The knife was fine if you have good nerve and don't psych yourself out. The ridge after was worse having to worry about pop rocks while routefinding. Nevertheless, make sure you've built up some solid class 3/4 climbing skills before attempting this route. Also, take your time to follow the cairns, although there's almost too many where it could someone astray. A buddy & I started early which is a must because there were a LOT of people out there this weekend coming from the TH & from camps at the lake. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/2/2026, By: kushrocks
Info: Didn't touch snow all day. Not a breath of wind and as close to perfect conditions as you can get although I'm sure it was pretty warm later in the day. Crossed the knife in the dark and got a decent shot looking back across at sunrise. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/27/2026, By: SuperMario
Info: Started at 1:30am and finished at 4pm. Only two short snow crossings as you pass through the talus, next time I’ll be taking the ridge direct route and doing it in two days as opposed to one. Super fun route, in my opinion the rock quality isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be as long as you stay on the correct route. Make sure to start early so you don’t run into storms (like normal), it started raining on the upper slops around 2pm. Summited at 9:30am, down to the saddle at 1:30pm. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2026, By: kmoss2
Info: Can confirm the knife edge is still possible while raining..... lol but really.
I think I speak for many of us on the mountain today when that rain came as a surprise!! Good reminder that a low chance in the forecast is still a chance... luckily it was light and fleeting, but that rock got a little slick.
This route is so well mapped out and I'm grateful to have felt so prepared going into it. Only part that seemed way longer and more draining than I anticipated was the boulder & talus hopping nightmare down from the saddle and up to the ridge. In my opinion, THAT'S the hardest part! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/15/2026, By: the_hare
Info: Last bit of road to TH is somewhat deep silty dirt on a steep uphill, saw one sedan up there tho. Exquisitely beautiful approach with humongous aspens and meadows & forests lush with wildflowers.

I felt that this peak was significantly more difficult than other class 3-4 peaks on account of the routefinding combined with sustained exposure & suspect rock quality. To me it made Longs Keyhole feel like a walkup & others like Lindsey & Little Bear SW ridge feel like playgrounds. The exposure on these is just not as continuous, nor the routefinding & rock quality so consequential.

For me the crux was absolutely navigating the peak proper after the connecting ridge from K2. Many cairned routes high and low, all of which require utmost attention to account for holds and looseness. The light splotch and slate grey ledges traversing the E face was helpful to study beforehand.

High spirits on the summit but the mental drain started taking hold partway down the face. Sigh of relief when arriving back on the knife edge as the torturous decision-making and potential pop rocks were for the most part over. Interminable talus descent back to the gullies near the Daly saddle. Marmots ate up my stashed trekking poles T_T 

Route: Ridge Direct via Moon Lake
Posted On: 7/12/2026, By: daway8
Info: Camped on the Moon Lake side then joined the standard trail a little below K2. There are significant lingering patches of snow dispersed through the valley below K2 - some you could weave around if desired but some are very hard to avoid. However, they are sun-cupped enough that most people were doing just fine crossing the snow without spikes or axes. I used spikes on the way up but didn't bother going down. Might be a few more weeks before these melt away.
K2 has no relevant snow left and nothing at all anywhere near the standard or the ridge direct route past K2. Took ridge direct going up and standard going down. I thought the rock quality was vastly better on ridge direct though it comes with needing a little 5th class (maybe low to mid), especially if you stay fully on the ridge top. I stayed mostly on the very top, cheating just a smidge to the left when needed, but avoiding any spots that likely wouldn't be viable in winter. Going down the standard route there was horrible loose garbage rock everywhere. I eventually veered back over to ridge direct to get a break from the loose junk.
FYI, the 1st half or so of the ridge direct doesn't go beyond class 4 and has generally better rock than the standard route and from partway up you could veer over to the standard route. It's the second half which gets harder and more committing.
13 people on the summit when I got there at 8:45am. Counted over 40 total heading up that day, but I think I might have been the only one coming from the Moon Lake approach. That approach is incredibly beautiful but midway there you choose between a super steep side-hilling trail covered in deadfall and overgrowth or drop down into the valley for a truly epic bushwhack that will put your route finding skills to the ultimate test (I failed that test miserably but made it through somehow). Pics coming.