Pikes Peak

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Posted On: 10/19/2014, By: kman
Info: Went up and down the mountain yesterday (18 Oct) via Barr Trail. Thought I would add some pictures in conjunction with the El Paso County SAR conditions report from above regarding Pikes Peak. Picture #1 shows the mountain from about 5 miles up on Barr Trail. You can see the amount of snow on the Peak. You can see the snow even better from Colorado Springs, but yet, as the EPCSAR conditions report eluded to, people still continue to head up there with inadequate clothing and footwear. I saw it all day yesterday. Picture #2 shows increasing ice and snow on the trail above Barr Camp. Picture #3 shows much more snow on the trail just below treeline although with sufficient boot-pack. Picture #4 shows conditions on the East Face proper, with no boot-pack on the standard Barr Trail. Picture #5 shows that even the Bighorn Sheep are post-holing! Picture #6, taken during the descent, shows that some sections of the trail are boot-packed but as the EPCSAR post stated, large portions of the trail are generally not visible. Prior route familiarity would be advantageous. On a side note, picture #7 show a huge boulder (not to be confused with the one from last year) that has come down across the trail about 1/4 of a mile from the parking lot. It is still easy to get around it though. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/29/2014, By: dajohnson6000
Info: Trail was in good condition with exception to icy boulders in the home stretch at ~13,400 feet. We started from the Crags trailhead at 5AM and arrived to this stretch around 8:30AM where the sun had not yet hit these rocks to melt the ice. It turned into a class 3 section where every step had to be tested before proceeding. Other hikers who arrived an hour later did not have this issue with only mild ice patches here and there. I would recommend leaving no earlier than 6AM this time of year if you want to avoid these icy boulders in the last half mile of trail.
Also note that there are no other large mountains in close proximity and once above tree line the wind on Pikes Peak is tremendous and extremely cold in the morning. Make sure to bring a heavy base layer with gloves, glove liners, stocking hat, and a wind/rain jacket. Even with these basic essentials we were still starting to get hypothermic. Maybe it was just that particular day. Cheers. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/1/2014, By: wbuck
Info: Excellent trail, muddy in some places. Overall, an easy trail but it is long. Steep at the beginning and at the summit... Also, unfortunately we couldn't find the USGS marker on the summit. We were the only ones on the summit because we were up so early (summit at 6:30). Perfect weather, perfect trail! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/29/2014, By: nyker
Info: Hiked up from Crags yesterday (Sat Jun 28) - trail dry to the summit, no snow gear needed. From the ridge after the first hard right turn to the summit, the wind picked up and stayed windy to the top. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/19/2014, By: Sarah Mercy
Info: We arrived at Crags campground and were on the trail by 6am. Only 14er I could find via the reports that didn't have snow as of last week and you have to do Pikes sometime. Easy, beautiful hike for the 2/3rd until you hit the road. Then it becomes noisy and filled with cars. Summit is unpleasant with the amount of people but it is nice to get out of the wind. Barely any snow at all, Bad storms start about 2pm. Wind was constant, worst wind I've ever had and it started above treelike till the summit. Otherwise would have been hot and sunny. Good hike for early season. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/21/2014, By: bfuentes20
Info: Pretty much perfect. Started out at 6am from the Crags with the sun still on the east side so wore a hard shell and wind pants over shorts & t-shirt. Near the top was cooler and a little breezy at times but the body heat evened that out. We had to watch our step twice - crossing the creek in the woods and through a snow patch up high. Prob not even worth mentioning. Respected the altitude the last 500 feet or so. Just another great day in CO! Then on a sad note, when I got home from this cool hike, my wife told me our cat Henry got out and went missing. It's been a week and he's still not back. Super bummed about that. Great hike though, enjoy. 

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Posted On: 6/13/2014, By: jmc5040
Info: The Y Couloir Direct route is still in for climbing or skiing. I was able to make a few turns on the summit before needing to down climb mixed rock and ice, with some snow for about 25 feet to enter the couloir as it is not in from the summit, nor has it been all year that I've seen. The upper couloir was very firm, almost icy, especially where the sun had not yet hit the snow. From approximately 1/4 down the couloir the snow had seen the sun and was very nice corn. The rock rib area BARELY holds continuous snow, and this was too tight to ski, so this area was down climbed also (25 feet). Once approaching the Bottomless Pit area more rocks were present and eventually it just wasn't worth working through them anymore. Overall, I was able to ski 1,600 vertical feet. The snow mostly stayed firm for the ascent. I started skiing at 09:30 and was back at the summit at 12:15. The road opening was delayed for an hour due to the hill climb race tire testing. I believe the road is delayed an hour the next two days as well. 

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Posted On: 6/8/2014, By: thebeave7
Info: Headed up the Barr Trail today, almost no snow below treeline. A dozen or so snow patches to cross on the Barr Trail between 12800ft and the summit, but all have nice paths stomped into them so none are an issue. Good water flowing at Barr Camp and smaller snow melt streams near the A-frame and at 13100ft, these may dry up sooner.
Trail is pretty close to usual summer conditions so enjoy. 

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Posted On: 6/9/2014, By: njlinderer
Info: The couloir is getting thin but is still in as of 6/8. The railroad couloir is no longer in. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2014, By: sheller
Info: Great conditions and pretty good weather. Only a few small snowfields to cross. May have post-holed 6 steps altogether. Brought microspikes and gaiters and never used either. Pike's is open for business. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2014, By: Cheaton6
Info: Beautiful day on Pikes, returned to the car just as the storms started. No traction needed, there are maybe like 5 snow patches, they can be deep but nothing to bad at all. Just hiking boots, jeans and a small jacket were all that is needed, hardly any snow left at all. 

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Posted On: 6/7/2014, By: usfgal
Info: Hero Traverse to Y-couloir (we took the right fork of the Y). The short stretch from where you park to the hero traverse was dicey, especially the first few moves. About 1/3 of the way down, we faced in and kicked steps in. That section was short and the worst part of the day. The traverse is mostly snow (deep and soft). We post holed a few times (thigh to waist area), but mostly found it easy walking. The couloir is almost continuous snow. There is one very short section of rock. The snow was soft all day. It is still pretty deep. It was very easy to kick steps in with our boots. We never needed our crampons. At the very top, we went to the right and finished the climb on the rocks. The snow line turned to ice. I am not a skier, but my friend who is said that he would ski it. The soft, deep snow added time, but both the traverse and the couloir were very comfortable terrain for me. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/2/2014, By: happycontrails
Info: A few pictures of our hike up Pikes Peak from the Crags Trail Head / Devil's Playground Trail on Saturday, May 31st, 2014. A few feet of snow in some places between the Dyke and the summit. Hiking boots were sufficient; gaiters & microspikes would have been nice in some spots, but definitely not necessary. 

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Posted On: 5/25/2014, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Hiked in via Barr trail. Conditions were variable throughout the length of the hike. Once turning off to the trail leading to the Bottomless Pit, we encountered deep drifts and very soft snow. Postholing was inevitable and sometimes up to my hip. Once entering the couloir, the snow was still soft on the lower 1/3 and we were kicking steps that were 8-10 inches. Snow started to firm up near the narrow part of the couloir. We topped out about 10:00. 

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Posted On: 5/25/2014, By: kippenberger
Info: Trail was great until the timberline. Still a fair amount of snow above the trees. Trail was tough to follow (we lost it several times anyway). Never did find the golden stairs. Didn't need snowshoes or yak's though. Maybe a couple areas would've been nice to have snow shoes, but wouldn't be worth lugging them up.