Mt. Bierstadt

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/23/2012, By: olhado47
Info: Dry all the way up on the standard route. Even got dusty in places as the wind picked up on the way down. No snow crossing the trail, but I could see a small patch on the western side of the sawtooth. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2012, By: jenjenm
Info: No mud and very little hard pack at the top, that‘s easily avoidable. I would only caution early risers about a bit of ice on some parts of the upper half of the trail, where the combo of water seeping from the ground and heavy use erosion made me slip once, before I noticed in the pre-dawn light. It all melted shortly after sunrise. Otherwise, late summer conditions! 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 6/4/2012, By: helmich2
Info: Slushy on some of the shady slopes above 13.5k, but easy to cope if you have trekking poles and/or micro spikes/good boots. Backside of Bierdstadt has a great snow field to glisade down to the start of the Sawtooth. No rollerballs/pinwheels to hint at possible wet slides, ~ 300 ft of very fun glisading. Sawtooth ridge was dry, but the last section has plenty of loose gravel to keep in mind. Evans was clear Sawtooth to summit. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2012, By: Alan Arnette
Info: Dry until summit then a few small snow fields. Very windy and chilly at 7AM but got warm quickly and then chilly/windy again. People in shorts turned back. Heavy clouds moved in around noon. Sawtooth was very dry. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/27/2012, By: jeffdykstra
Info: Still muddy on the lower elevation. Still quite a bit of ice and snow fields to deal with, but manageable if you take your time. I use trekking poles on the way up to keep upright, and put on my microspike for the way down on the top half. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/25/2012, By: smoove
Info: Still muddy up to 12,900‘, and then it starts to get icy. I had my microspikes with me but just ended up using trekking poles. But some sort of of traction would definitely make it more comfortable (especially on the descent). 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/27/2012, By: seth0687
Info: Blowing snow and negative temps weren‘t very fun but overall it was a good climb. There was a decent amount of snow still on the west slopes but it was firm and there was no need for snow shoes, micro spikes on the other hand could be of use. The pass was open all the way to the top and we made it up with without incident in our Subi. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/21/2012, By: Jay521
Info: A little muddy until about 13K. Multiple trails through the few snowfields above that. Traction helpful but not mandatory. All in all, excellent conditions. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/18/2012, By: awake
Info: There is a fair amount of snow higher up on Bierstadt. Snowshoes are not necessary, but micro-spikes or other traction devices are very helpful. The lower part of the standard route was a bit muddy, but nothing too bad. Summited at 8:30am and the weather was beautiful and winds were calm. The winds seemed to pick up a little as I was descending. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/15/2012, By: DoWork
Info: Really quite a lot of snow above 12k‘ (from the weekend storm) - All boot-packed and easy but still a snow hike. I was very glad to have poles, gaitors, and micro spikes. The mud was frozen in the morning but a brutal mess by 11am. I‘m sure most of the snow will be gone soon. Pics in the youtube clip below if you are interested (included sawtooth). http://youtu.be/p69ZWUWkO_w 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/2/2012, By: philbucher
Info: Guanella Pass Road is bare, clear and dry from the seasonal closures on both sides to the summit trailhead. (Make that clear from 285 all the way across to Georgetown! But in spite of clear roads, the County does not plan to open the road the final ~2 miles (each side) until near the end of May.) The north side is now fully paved all the way to the summit trailhead. Yea! Some packed snow throughout the upper climb, but absolutely NO NEED for snowshoes now. (Ski poles might be useful. - we used our today.) Plenty of afternoon mud on the lower slopes and in the bog/rushes. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 4/30/2012, By: RockyMountainMustang
Info: Trail is frozen mud/defrosted mud/packed snow to summit. No traction devices needed, although you might consider yakxtrax on a cold day when the ice/snow won‘t soften up at all. Snow is ~3-6 in. on ~1/3 of trail, but pretty packed down. Lower part of trail muddy, I would recommend wearing knee-high gaiters because of all the squishing and splashing. Beautiful sunny day, slight breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. The sawtooth is pretty dry looking. Snow and ice in a couple spots. Probably doable, but the gulch to descend has a lot of snow, but you could stay to the side of the gulch and probably do fine. Pic 1 Sawtooth Pic 2 Frodo don‘t follow the lights Pic 3 Bierstadt/ Sawtooth traverse Pic 4 Evidence of some microbursts knocking down a ton of trees. Looks more like a tornado hit it. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 4/23/2012, By: MTGOAT72
Info: Conditions are great in the AM, in the afternoon the trail is a mud bowl. Starting at the road closure my GPS tracked 10.4miles to the summit and back. Only one on the mountain today, beautiful day. Trip report on my blog if your interested: http://coloradoascents.blogspot.com/ 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/31/2012, By: MountainHiker
Info: Snowshoes not needed. We took MicroSpikes but didn’t use them. Pole recommended. It will depend on the melt freeze cycle if things are icy. Above the willows is largely blown off. Still some snow in places. In the willows there was a little post holing in the afternoon. The biggest issue could be the stream crossing. The water under the snow is broader than the stream. In the morning it was firm enough about 50’ downstream from the usual crossing spot. On the return we crawled across since a post hole meant a soaker. This area could get worse with some more mild weather. Georgetown side - road bare to winter parking closure. Some snow on road to summer TH. A little post holing on return. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 3/24/2012, By: Slow Moving Fun Seeker
Info: From the gate to Guanella Pass, the road is mostly snow covered, firm in the morning and slushy with some minor postholing the the afternoon. Traction, flotation, gaiters not necessary. The trail through the willows is well packed and again, flotation, traction, gaiters are not essential, though later in the day, flotation may prove useful as the snow softens and postholing is less predictable. Upper trail is packed and Microspikes might be helpful. I‘ve never seen this mountain this dry at this time of year. The heat reflecting off the snow was rather intense and with virtually no wind, some folks had the foresight to wear T-shirts and tank tops. I overdressed to an unfortunate degree.