9/2/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: MOUNTAINMANMIKE88 Info: Clear trails took the 4x4 trail to the Huron TH. |
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9/2/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: MOUNTAINMANMIKE88 Info: Clear trails took the 4x4 trail to the Huron TH. |
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9/2/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: MOUNTAINMANMIKE88 Info: Clear trails took the 4x4 trail to the Huron TH. |
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8/24/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 8/25/2019, By: jslove1 Info: A nice variation to the more crowded standard way. You can spend a lot of time on gentle ridges doing some combination of Middle, Cross, Browns, and the points to get some extra elevation and distance out of the day too. One thing to note: I went up the switchbacks to the NW of Middle Mtn, which were very straightforward to follow. However, I attempted to descend more directly from the saddle NE of Browns and struggled to find the trail shown in the topo. If you're thinking of going down this way, be diligent in locating this trail, or else you'll end up in unpleasant fairly loose (although not strictly dangerous) territory farther North. Maybe I missed something obvious, but I thought I was looking pretty hard. |
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8/24/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 8/26/2019, By: th3jamin Info: A much better alternative to the standard route. We saw absolutely no one until we joined the switchbacks of the standard route. This route has a bit of everything and to be honest was slightly more difficult than expected in terms of route finding. We chose to go via Browns Peak direct and after you leave the road there is no trail. The slope is steep about 40-45 degrees and chossy in places. We stuck to roughly the GPS tracks but it wasn't much help. The part from the road to the ridge of Browns was definitely the hardest part of this climb. The ridge traverse proved to be very simple. There are multiple lines you can take, but be warned there is once again no marked trail. One the way over to summit Huron we took a slightly lower line which is pictured on the 14er's website. On the way back we walked the top of the ridge line which proved to be a bit easier. With that out of the way, I would say this still ranks high on my list of climbs. We ended up seeing another couple on the way back but otherwise we saw no one all day. The summit was decently busy and it was nice to break off from the pack and have the mountain to ourselves again. This route has a little bit of everything and was super fun. |
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8/17/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 8/18/2019, By: durkan Info: Hoards of people, one guardian mtn goat, and not one storm cloud in sight. Overall: trail in great summer shape minus the dirt slip and slide coming down from summit. |
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8/15/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 8/15/2019, By: Scotty21 Info: Great Summer conditions! |
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7/31/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 7/31/2019, By: mia_dandrea Info: Ascended via north ridge and descended the standard route. Completely clear of snow on the north ridge. |
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7/28/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 7/29/2019, By: Been_Jammin Info: Stellar summer conditions on Huron Sunday. Low to mid 60s, mostly sunny, and minimal wind. Long range visibility on the summit was incredible. My group's Subaru Outback and Chevy Tahoe had no issue getting to the upper trailhead... and there were plenty of vehicles with less capability up there. Trail was crowded (as to be expected)... and there were lots of dog owners with poor trail etiquette. I don't think it is too much to ask to leash your dog on crowded trails. My dog doesn't want your dog trying to sniff it. Yes, my dog is a social weirdo. But he loves charging mountains... and your unleashed dog bothers him. |
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7/27/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 7/27/2019, By: CaptainSuburbia Info: Summer conditions. I was alone on this amazing route. Standard trail was completely packed. |
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7/27/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: supranihilest Info: The standard trail is dry to treeline then there's lots of mud from runoff and rain to the summit of Huron. The north ridge to Lulu Gulch is completely dry and is not only more fun than the northwest slopes but you'll probably be one of the only people on it, if not the only one. |
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7/21/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 7/21/2019, By: CatsAreMyFriends Info: The small amount of snow on this trail is now completely avoidable. The worst section is an avalanche track right at the top of the first Lulu intersection (past the initial switchbacks). You can hike over the top of it, but walking across it will also probably be fine (it isn't very long). Cross over the second dry patch on the ridge of Brown to avoid hiking up the snow there, the talus there, and on all of this trail, is solid. Other than that, the Lulu road is briefly a river just past tree-line. It seemed like you could avoid this by cutting up the slope to where the road comes back into the willows, but I didn't test this option. The final set of switchbacks up the mine road were in pretty dismal condition, and a couple 10 to 20 foot sections tested my tolerance for hiking the very exposed route on loose sand and pebbles. It would probably be best to take the tundra route in essentially every case, as the ridge route really doesn't give you much of a gain on Middle anyways. |
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7/15/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 7/16/2019, By: hsiegel3 Info: Trail in good condition with a few snowfields. Normal summer hiking gear is sufficient. It is definitely a beautiful hike. |
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7/13/2019 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 7/13/2019, By: polar Info: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch is mostly summer conditions. Some small drifts and snowfields along the 4WD and up to Browns Peak, but pretty easy to cross or hike around. Totally dry between Browns Peak and Huron. Photo #1: at the saddle to Browns Peak, looking down Lulu Gulch. #2: On top of Browns Peak, looking towards Huron. |
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7/13/2019 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 7/15/2019, By: cloudkicker Info: The entire route is dry below treeline. Above treeline there are some minor snowfields near the ponds. Then some minor withering snowfields below 13,000ft. You can stay entirely on the trail until you get to the uppermost snowfield, which is 20-40ft in length depending on where you cross. I imagine these snowfields will be gone in a week or two. They really weren't that difficult to cross going up. Going down, lots of people glissaded and it seemed relatively safe. I chose not to (despite having other more difficult glissades under my belt) simply because I was hiking with newbies and I wanted to instill "only glissade with an ice axe and self arrest knowledge" into them. People were giving us weird looks for not glissading though. The weird looks were the hardest part of the whole day, so that should tell you something. |
