Redcloud Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/8/2021, By: seoulman
Info: There's a derelict sign that probably would point hikers to the right in this photo. Not knowing any better we bore to the left on the the ridge line on the ascent and encountered a fair bit of loose rock. Near the false summit as you descend you'll see a sign advising you to take the path to the hikers left, thus avoiding this not so nice bit. We were much more comfortable on proper but slightly longer trail. Of all the peaks I've done this one had the best butterflies...and a huge shout out to the gentleman who summited on crutches! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2021, By: Kook-Meister-Flex
Info: Trail was completely dry (Don't think I even need to say that anymore). Full summer conditions, and the wild flowers were out in full force! Saw a couple I had never seen before (Including a purple paintbrush which I was blown away by). Lucky I had flowers to stare at because the smoke was terrible. I didn't have a lot of great views. I couldn't see wetterhorn/uncompahgre at points. But was a good day none the less. Going up the face of the false Summit is easy to follow, but coming down is not as easy and can lead you into some slick sections. Other than that the trail is very easy to follow. Hopefully the rain this weak will help out and put a hold on some of these fires. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 8/7/2021, By: ltlFish99
Info: I hiked redcloud this morning from the grizzly gulch/ silver creek trailhead.
There was more water and mud on the trail than I expected and evidence in the area of a lot of recent rain.
It was quite windy today, and the smoke was thick. Smoke ruined the views from the summit.
Still a very pleasant day in a place I have never been. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2021, By: princessproton
Info: Trail is in fantastic condition. No traction needed, very small snowfields that are easy to walk through with trail runners or walk around. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2021, By: Johndo
Info: My group climbed to Redcloud Peak and the they went over to Sunshine Peak. Conditions were very good. There were about 4 little snow patches that we encountered and one that we simply went around. It was surprisingly good conditions considering how much trouble we had at Handies on Sunday. It was sunny and breezy. The breeze felt so good! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/10/2021, By: Real_Ginja_Ninja
Info: Mostly summer conditions. On the way up to the saddle, there is a snow field that we could walk on top during the morning, but found ourselves post holing on the way down. There's another small snow field on the final summit push, but we were able to stay on top. No spikes needed, but we had them. Not sure floatation is worth it to bring.
We wanted to go over to sunshine, but did not want to get caught in post holing on the snow over there (picture included). We might have been able to make it, but better safe than sorry. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: hellmanm
Info: Last CR outlines most. Route in the basin is becoming easier to follow due to previous tracks. Flotation wouldn't really be worth bringing right now, but I could see gaiters being useful. I went up 13,832' and 13,811', but I attached a pic of what the upper route looks like right now from across the ridge.

Other pic is looking down from the saddle into the basin. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2021, By: cvbuffs
Info: Left the Silver Creek Trailhead at 5:45am. Trail was dry until you start to get up into the basin with only a few small snow crossings along the way. Once in the basin the trail is hard to find and mostly buried under snow. It becomes a bit of a choose your own adventure until you're almost to the saddle and the trail reappears. Tried to stick on the snow or close to it, but the snow conditions were not very fun (lots of post-holing.) Once you're on the saddle the trail is pretty good save for the section goes out to the climber's right (see photo 8 of the route guide); the trail disappears here and it was a scramble up some very loose rock to regain the trail. When you get to the wooden trail sign about halfway up the ridge, smooth sailing from there to the top of Redcloud with just a couple of smaller snow fields to cross that seemed to be holding up pretty well.

Traverse over to Sunshine is long, but there are only two small snow fields to cross (I would expect these to be gone in the next week or so) and a little snow to hit the top of Sunshine.

Made it back over to Redcloud by 11:30am and we one of only 2 groups to summit Sunshine + Redcloud (one other group summited Redcloud only.)

Coming down Redcloud was a bit of a nightmare. Tried to stick on the ridge all the way down to avoid having to find the trail and scramble on the loose rock. Found a social trail down the ridge where you can tell most of the earlier climbers had also gone down. Super loose and not very fun especially if you don't have poles. Basin was also a post-hole nightmare as the snow had gotten super soft during the day. The group in front of us had snowshoes, but it looked like the didn't help much. Tried to follow people's tracks but ended up in waist deep snow for a good stretch. Once out of the basin it's a few more miles back to the trailhead.

Would recommend waiting this one out a couple more weeks to let the rest of the snow melt. 

Route: Sunshine via Redcloud
Posted On: 6/9/2021, By: lvlivingston
Info: We slept in our cars at the TH, and got going around 5:00am. It was a very obvious clear path for the first 3 miles. There is crazy avalanche debris on the way, until you hit tree line. Then there are small patches of snow that are easy to cross in the early morning when they are still frozen. I would suggest starting as early as possible to be heading down already around 9:30-10:00am to avoid post holing on the way down. It was a really easy climb up the basin to the first ridge. We then had to cross a few more snow fields to the top of Redcloud. We didn't bring any spikes or ax, but the spikes would have helped speed up progress. Once we got to the top of muddy Redcloud, we headed over the ridge that's beautiful red dirt with loose rocks. It was probably about 10:00am by this point, so on the patches of snow, we started to post hole up to the waist. If you were dainty and careful, you could make it across still, but we made sure to hurry to the top of Sunshine. On the way down, majority of people wore spikes, which I really wish I'd had. Instead, after crossing the ridge back to Redcloud, we sat on our butts and slid most of the way down Redcloud. Should have brought the fiedl skis ;) It took us almost no time to get back down to treeline, and we casually made our way back down the path. Start early! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/30/2021, By: kcovingt1
Info: Took the standard route up Redcloud and didn't need floatation or traction (summited around 8:30). Traversed over to sunshine with some post holing but not much. The traverse was mostly dry. Going back down Redcloud we had a lot of opportunity to glissade and there was some post holing in the basin even with snowshoes. All in all great day! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/31/2021, By: Tim Fab
Info: I agree with the other report from this date. Just to add some details- We left camp at 12k feet at 630, hiked Redcloud and Sunshine, and got back to camp at 11:30. Glissading down redcloud from above the saddle and on the last hill into the basin saved some time and post-holing. Overall the melt has been significant. Although I highly recommend getting up Sunshine early as the ascent from the saddle is pretty much still constant snow. Glad we left the snowshoes in the car, however. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/7/2021, By: gregpeak
Info: The first couple miles are mostly dry. The rest of the route is mostly snow. I was able to ski from the summit down to about 11,700 where the trail comes close to the creek. There is a narrow band of snow from the summit down to the false summits. Just wide enough to get a turn in. It will not be there for long though. Go get it. 

Route: South Ridge - From Sunshine Peak
Posted On: 4/26/2021, By: NatDog
Info: The ridge descent from Sunshine was mostly dry with a few short snow crossings. The ascent from the saddle only had a few inches of snow on the trail itself but not much else. Microspikes were useful for the entire traverse but not necessary.

With the wind coming from the SW the traverse was the windiest part of the day. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/28/2020, By: Marshall
Info: Beautiful day for this hike. It's cold in the morning and windy, but the trail is well maintained and free of snow. Please stay on the trail here. It is a bit tricky to tell which trail is the main one near the top, so look for the more sustainable one. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/27/2020, By: jubbuh
Info: Completely Dry, but holy shit, the wind today was brutal xD