6/19/2019 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/19/2019, By: treymdominick0351 Info: The trail is 100% dry till you hit 13,500, then there are small patches of snow 20m-50m wide, but easily traversed in good trail running shoes or boots with no traction devices. The trail pokes through in a lot of places and is easily followed untill you are about 30m below the 16 golden steps sign. But once you are there you should have service and can easily find where the trail is located and you can also keep your eyes out for the boot pack and follow it to the summit. |
|
6/19/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/20/2019, By: spartan0512 Info: Left the car at 1:00 am. The trail is free of snow until the ridge and is very easy to follow. Once I got to treeline I threw on a wind-shell. The "ledges" or "shelves" and the rocks leading up to them in between the treeline and the ridge were covered with glassy ice. You probably should use at least spikes but I made-do slowing down and using a trekking pole. There were a few patches of shallow snow that gaiters would be nice for. One of the easier routes I have done - very gradual grade and simple route finding. Summited at 4:40 am. The sunrise was awesome but freezing cold. The glassy ice I mentioned before was much more dangerous on the way down but the only hiccup on my way back to the car. |
|
6/15/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/15/2019, By: arianna2 Info: Took a family member up just from devil's playground. Some snow patches to go through, nothing bad. Lightning, thunder, and snow today, starting at 10. Got turned around by static. Road closed for awhile. Some north facing couloirs still with snow, people have skied down. |
|
6/15/2019 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/15/2019, By: emself Info: Barr trail is free of snow until above treeline, where some switchbacks have snow to cross. Microspikes and trekking poles came in handy for the stretches of snow on the 16 Golden Stairs. New snow came in today as we were up there/leaving, so depending on when you go there may be a touch more snow than stated above. 1st pic- snow on 16 golden stairs 2nd pic- looking up from treeline morning of 6/15 3rd pic- end of the day conditions from afar |
|
6/14/2019 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/15/2019, By: Dayman Info: Left Barr Camp at 0445, summited around 0830. Patchy snow above treeline, and melting fast. Plenty of options to scramble around the snow and pick your own line to the top. If you plan to go before the snow softens up, traction is very helpful. Brought my axe for practice, but definitely not required. Talked to lots of tourists who were unprepared and had a rough time. Stopped for coffee at Barr Camp and was back to the car at 1230. |
|
6/10/2019 Route: North Face couloirs Posted On: 6/10/2019, By: Board Shorts Info: Went yo-yoing on the North Face today. Used Hero's Traverse to get to the Railroad Couloir. Went up the RR alternate, descended the RR Couloir then ascended it, descended the Summit House Couloir then went back up it. Started at about 0815 on the boulder field (the shuttle dropped me off at Sheep's Head) and finished at 1125 on the summit. Snow was great when staying to the left (east side) of the couloirs. The RR was mostly in shade in the morning. For descending I used two ice tools in low-dagger position and downclimbed backwards, very solid. For skiers: top of the RR has a lot of protruding rocks. The "crux" of Summit House (just above the base of that route where it joins the RR) has some exposed ice and rock. Hero's Traverse is still a snow climb. A couple of spots on the lip of the boulder field have no cornice and you downclimb that section of the slope to get started. Photos are of the RR Couloir looking up and then down from a spot close to the bottom. |
|
6/10/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/14/2019, By: tjhoff Info: Started at 6am. No snow until 12000ft. Trail is well packed and did not need microspikes or snowshoes on way up. When you make it to the parking lot by Devil's Playground, relocate trail by the sign and short fence on the other side of the road. Minimal postholing on way down and microspikes provided some security on snow slopes around 13000-14000ft but not necessary. |
|
6/9/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/10/2019, By: TheWhitneys Info: We started at 530am from Crags. Colder and very foggy. Visibility around 25-35 feet making the trail harder to find but doable. The trail is snow free until just after tree line at 12,000. We were able to zig zag around the minimal snow relatively well until Devil's Playground, where we put on our microspikes and snow pants. The previously melted snow had frozen well over night making the next 2.5 miles more slippery. For the most part it was cold enough that we didn't post hole and just followed others' frozen tracks. The cairns during the last hour were extremely helpful to follow as we had less visibility and the wind grew stronger. We couldn't see the summit or the road during the hike, but the trail is well marked between cairns and the weekend traffic. We had zero issues and never felt uncomfortable. Since the road was closed to passengers because of the fog, we were actually the only people at the summit and had the whole trail to ourselves all day. When we decided to make our descent, the weather had turned warmer and most of the fog had lifted. They had just opened the road to passengers. We postholed a bit more than the ascent but nothing crazy....a few past my knees. By 12,500 95% of the trail was just sloppy wet. For gear we had microspikes, snow pants, winter boots, snow googles, garmin InReach gps, and our medical kit. Avy shovel and probe, snowshoes, and ice axe were not needed. |
|
6/8/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/8/2019, By: jdcoleman Info: Route is 95% clear to Devil's Playground - just some patches of snow right at the saddle. Nothing to spike up for, just bust through. When hiking along the road, some patches of snow that are, once again, passable. Just be careful of ice early in the AM. Snow/ice thickens a bit at final push, but its pretty well trafficked so just follow the kicked in footsteps / mini-postholes. Crystal clear day, great hike! |
|
6/8/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/9/2019, By: cmutchler Info: After seeing an earlier trip report on the Northwest slopes of Pikes Peak from Memorial Day, I knew it was time to hike my first 14er since coming to Colorado in the spring of 2018. We started at the Crags trailhead around 6am and the parking lot was already decently full. The trail conditions up to treeline were great. Once getting above treeline until reaching the Devil's Playground parking lot had increasing amounts of snow and became slightly difficult to follow the trail. On the ascent the snow was rather hard-packed and icy, although we didn't have them, using micro-spikes probably would have helped considerably with traction. We reached the Devil's Playground parking lot in just under 3 hours, which seemed like a good pace based on the conditions. Between Devil's Playground and the peak, the conditions worsened. The snow was starting to melt further and required following in others footsteps to avoid sinking down as much as waist deep into the snow. From Devil's Playground to the peak took us about 2 hours and considerable scrambling across the rocks and snow. Due to the amount of snow and with the sun coming out to soften the top layers, we didn't risk coming down on the descent, and opted for taking the shuttle down to Devil's Playground parking lot before hiking the rest of the way down. Most of the snow down to treeline was very soft due to the sun melting it and the glare was considerable. Again, we found ourselves often sinking down to our thighs or waist in the snow. Once we got below treeline, our pace increased significantly and we got down from the parking lot in just under 2 hours. We finished our hike at the Crags Trailhead a little before 2:30pm. |
|
6/5/2019 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/6/2019, By: vastaction12 Info: I solo hiked up just past Barr Camp and dispursed camped on the 4th. The trail was clear and mostly dry, except for a few minor muddy spots from recent storms. I wore tennis shoes to this point. I stepped off from camp at 5am the next morning, a little later than I wanted but such is life. The switchbacks from Mile 7 to A-Frame had some deep snow in patches, but it was all hard packed so no post-holing. From A-frame, the first mile or so above treeline was mostly clear with patchy packed snow. After that, the snow got pretty bad and the trail was sporadic. There was a lot of post-holing strait up the hill to the next switchback. Caught the long trail across the bowl to Cirque and it was all hard packed snow but easy to follow. After that, there was really no trail. I post-holed up to the 16 Golden Stairs sign, then scrambled straight up the rocks to the top. It looked like a group had done the same thing within the last week. Those were the only tracks I saw. Summited at 9 am. Then the weather moved in and I went straight down the mountain as quickly as possible through the snow storm. Going down was much more dangerous above tree line as the snow was so hard packed and icy, you couldn't just slide down on your butt or you risk unstoppable sledding to the rocks below. Also scrambling down icy snow covered rocks is much more sketchy. Overall I would wait a few more weeks until the snow clears up and the trail becomes available unless you're an adventurous soul like myself. Also, I never regretted bringing trekking poles. Good luck! Photos: 1. From the A-Frame looking up 2. Barr trail at the Incline 3. Switchbacks between Barr Camp and A-Frame 4. Trail between Cirque and Golden Stairs 5. Long cross across the Bowl 6. 16 Golden Stairs 7. 16 Golden Stairs 8. 16 Golden Stairs 9. 16 Golden Stairs 10. About a half mile above A-frame 11. Post-holing above a-frame first set of switchbacks 12. Post-holing above a-frame first set of switchbacks 13. Summit 14. Summit |
|
6/3/2019 Route: Railroad Couloir Posted On: 6/6/2019, By: Nhmtnman84 Info: Heads up for summit skiers. Due to construction limiting the amount of parking, they are not letting people drive to the summit unless you have mobility issues or toddlers. You have to take a shuttle up from mile 16 (or 13), and the shuttles will not take skis. All 3 highway staff members I encountered had never heard of anyone skiing from the summit, so apparently we are still a fringe sport in El Paso County. Original plan of the Railroad or Y Couloirs was knocked down to a quick run on on Little Italy. Not too shabby though, still good corn at the top by 10am, and a bit mushy at the bottom. You could still ski >1000 ft vert there, with a short walk to the hairpin turn. Learned my lesson -- find a partner with a toddler to secure your summit parking! |
|
6/2/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/3/2019, By: fdekalb4 Info: Started around 8 am... No snow until tree line. Patches of deep snow to devils playground... able to stay on top on the way up. More patches above Devil's playground, but easy to follow trail with the amount of traffic up there. Got soft on the way down with minimal post holing. Up and down in 4:50, could have been faster if snow was gone! |
|
6/1/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/1/2019, By: c13mueller Info: Started around 0615. The access road was completely fine for my sedan. There was almost no snow until the tree line. The route was still shaded until I reached the first ridge, so I had no problem with post holing there during the ascent. I probably could have thrown on my microspikes, but didn't want to stop. I was using trekking poles to help compensate, but wish I had larger baskets. The snow wasn't as deep and there was a lot of bare tundra/rocks on the flatter parts after that (windswept). The skree close to the summit had some deeper snow, so I sunk down to my ankles or mid calf quite a bit during the descent (it was pretty warm). Still definitely no need for flotation, but some gaiters would have been helpful. |
|
5/27/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 5/29/2019, By: daway8 Info: Still a fair amount of snow above treeline but melting fast. Started just before 6am, didn't get back to trailhead until 3:30pm (the donuts slowed me down ;-) Didn't use snowshoes or traction. Had very little postholing but should have probably pulled out the microspikes since I slipped and got a nasty bruise on the back of my leg when I was distracted by the scenery and failed to spot a section of ice hidden in the grass. I'd expect devious little patches of partially hidden ice to remain for perhaps a few weeks. Recommend either put on traction or pay extra vigilant attention to your steps, especially at the transitions from snow to grass. |
