Pikes Peak

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 10/15/2022, By: NativeTransplant
Info: Dry, trail 100% free of any snow/ice 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 10/12/2022, By: Slingshot77
Info: Crags Campground to Pike's Summit and back on 11OCT2022. We took the "Northwest Slopes" CLASS 2 route at 0600. Trail was clear with very small patches of ice and snow scattered above the tree line. Temperatures in the low 30s with winds gusting around 30mph above tree line. Ice in the boulder field made for a challenging ascent to the summit. Packed micro-spikes but did not need them. We passed one other couple on our descent through the "Devils Playground".
15 Miles round trip with 4,300' elevation gain. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/5/2022, By: Evan_Hikes
Info: Clear and easy to follow trail all the way to the summit, no snow in sight. Blasted by wind higher up close to the final pitch but the weather was fantastic overall. Want to point out a discrepancy with the route description on the website: according to the USGS Trails Illustrated map (#137: Pikes Peak, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs) the trail to Devil's Playground is labeled #753, and the Crags Trail is labeled #664/#664A. When you reach the junction as described in photos 3 and 4, there is a white sign that identifies the trails correctly. The sign alluded to in photo 3 (narrow brown sign) indicates the trail to the right (the trail to the summit via Devil's Playground) is #664A. Again, the white sign at this junction clearly points you in the correct direction: summit via Devil's Playground (#753) to the right, Crags Trail (#664) to the left. Confusing during my trip planning but clearly marked at the trail junction. Long day but very manageable, I left the TH at 5:40, stayed over an hour on the summit, returned to the TH at 1:50. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/12/2022, By: akohn33
Info: Approximately 15 miles RT - easy to follow trail but be prepared for the heat! Bring plenty of water and fill up at the Visitor's Center if you have to. Great day on the mountain and our dogs loved it! Started at 6:45 a.m. and had no problem parking at the trail head. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/6/2022, By: MTBen
Info: Road had a few bumpy sections but overall not bad. The route is completely free of snow. The shuttle is running down to devils playground. The goats were out enjoying the July weather as well. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: csf-lhiver
Info: Zero snow on the route. You could argue there are two sections still holding snow on the trial near the summit , but 2 to 4 steps and you'll be past it. Rest of trail and summit are looking good. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: Cherrybomb1630
Info: Wonderful trail - fully summer conditions. No snow on the trail. Parked at the trailhead at 6:20 am and tons of spots available, saw only 5 people on the way up to Devil's Playground. Shuttle is running from the summit back to Devil's Playground if you'd like to skip the ~2ish miles down. 

Route: Y couloir
Posted On: 6/22/2022, By: chrisharkness
Info: Perfect ice/snow conditions with plenty of snow on the route after a 3-day freeze. Certainly drying out in sections. Approach from Barr trail is dry. Hike back down Barr trail is dry. Might have a few weeks left in it if we get another freeze. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/13/2022, By: andkristin
Info: Started at the trailhead at 7:15am, summited by 11. First snow patch at 13,130ft and maybe 3 or so more patches after that but all are easy crossings, no microspikes needed. Final approach to summit is well marked with carins. This route is definitely good to go for the summer season! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/13/2022, By: mdecola
Info: Perfect day to summit! Some snow patches left at the top, but easy to avoid or simply walk through, no traction needed. Quite a decent boulder section at the top to finish it off. Otherwise, awesome views, not crowded until you hit the road after Devils Playground. Brought our dog too, and he crushed it. Arrived at the Crags Campground trailhead about 5:45AM, had most of the hike to the summit to ourselves. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2022, By: ms_halverson_hikes
Info: My brother and I hiked the Barr Trail starting in Manitou Springs from base to summit.
Date: 6/5
Total time: 7 hours.
Only an ascent - we booked a shuttle down in advance. Perfect weather throughout.

Arrive before 6am at the latest to find parking in the small lot. We arrived at 5:30 and began the ascent at 5:40am.
Trails clear of snow until about mile 10.

Post-holing at mile 10 up to ankles. We had to really concentrate on planting our steps to not slip. However, lots of previous footsteps in the snow served as our guide.

Post-holing got worse around mile 11-12. We planted our feet into waist-high snow. We lost the trail due to heavy snow coverage and bouldered up the last 1/2 mile, alternating between climbing over large boulders and trudging through waist high snow. The steepness and altitude gain made us loopy for this sketchy part of the trail.

We made it to a tourist-crowded summit at 12:30pm. Such a strange feeling to be surrounded by tourists and a super nice cafe/gift shop after a strenuous 14er.

We made it without crampons or spikes. However, I think those would have helped a lot.

Arrive early! Pack lots of water - I did not bring enough. The distance and intense altitude gain make this tough. Make sure to book a shuttle down if you don't want another 12-13 mile hike down. There is a train in service as well. Make sure to check availability for either shuttle or train. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/6/2022, By: Buckie06
Info: Lots of snow above treeline but it is melting fast. We used goretex boots, gators, microspikes and poles. The final 500' or so the trail is very hard to follow, there were many boot tracks going all over the slope. We broke trail up to knee deep in spots. It probably took an extra hour with all the snow.

The food in the summit house was disgusting and overpriced. Don't plan on a delicious summit burger celebration. 

Route: Y Couloir
Posted On: 6/4/2022, By: desertdog
Info: Still plenty of snow in the couloir and heroes approach. There's a short section of ice at the cliff band. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: Well that was an event. Started at Crags TH just before 7am and summit around 10:40am. Trail is mostly snow free until around 11'800'. From there it is snow covered to the top (aside from the road of course). Since it was cold and windy the snow was firm and I could step in others' postholes. However, I don't think some of that would be to fun if it was really warm. I didn't use any traction or floatation to the top. Might've helped if I put on the micros but it was too bad. Little Pikes and Devil's were snow covered as well but were easy add-ons (main goal of the day).

Very cold temps, not much sun, very high winds, and at least 20 min of white out snow/graupel conditions weren't ideal above 13,700'. Mav and I warmed up in the visitor center since I couldn't really feel my hands. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: jseekamp
Info: Trail was clear/summer conditions to Barr Camp. After Barr there were patches of snow with increasing depth/regularity. We put on microspikes a couple miles past Barr camp. There were a couple guys breaking the trail ahead of us, so it was easy enough to follow their tracks (thank you!!). Above Treeline there were a few sketchy scrambles with deep snow, but it was a beautiful sunny day and we persevered to the summit!