6/17/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/18/2017, By: slysalimander Info: Started the trail at 6:41 AM. Only a very few small patches of snow in the pines. After you get above tree line there is a large field of snow you must cross. It is a flat section of the trail. This snow field was hard on both accent and descent. Lots of footprints are easy to follow. No post holes in our group. No spikes or snow shoes needed. As you climb the next section there is a small section of the trail with water flowing down the trail. The last 2,000 feet of the trail is dry. The entire trail is in summer conditions. If you are hiking late in the day you might post hole in the snow field. We did not have this problem. We were back at the trail head at 11:30 AM |
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6/15/2017 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 6/15/2017, By: graberz Info: Previous Condition report held true. Carried microspikes but never reared them. There is a few small snow patches on the initial switch backs that were slippery and unavoidable on the summer trail. There is a large snow field in the basin above tree line but it is so flat spikes wouldn't really help much. There is a short incline after that field that was slippery going down but again so short not even worth putting spikes on in my opinion. Some other small snow fields on the ridge mostly avoidable or easily navigated. We started at 6 and returned at 1 from the upper 4wd. The large snow died was still firm at 6. We saw 5 other people and us 3 summit. Some carried axes but didn't use them. Weather was unreal. The trail is largely in summer conditions. |
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6/11/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/12/2017, By: yaktoleft13 Info: Road is clear (and very drivable) to the 4wd trailhead. Patchy snow from 11k until treeline. Other than a large, flat snowfield (very consolidated) and sporadic ice on the switchbacks up to 13k, the route is in summer condition. From 13k to the summit, the route is completely dry. Did not need flotation or traction |
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6/4/2017 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 6/4/2017, By: merrion13 Info: Went up North Ridge and down NW Slopes. Started hiking just before 5am, and unfortunately lost about 40 minutes when we missed the turnoff junction from the Lulu Gulch road. We read on both this site and the Roach book that the junction was around 11,400 and for the life of us we didn't see it. Hike snow up to the flat area below Browns Peak, then took the couloir up to the ridgeline. Couloir was solid and great snow the whole way, but once on top the ridgeline, facing east, was already very soft at 8am. Lots of postholing to summit of Browns. From there, good walk along and at times just under the connecting ridge to the Huron saddle where it meets up with the standard route (pic 3). No wind, very nice day to be up. Still a lot of snow up there, and taking the NW route down, lost trail several times from snowdrifts. Traction necessary, didn't need snowshoes but also wouldn't want to be out any later than we were. |
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6/4/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 6/5/2017, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: 4WD road still blocked by snow about 1/2 mile up but that should be gone in a few days. From the upper TH, there's patchy snow on the trail to 11,200 but then continuous snow all the way up the peak, with the exception of a patch near 12,500' and the rocky section just below the summit. Most of the snow in the forest was supportive early in the morning but not by mid-day, so snowshoes or skis are very helpful. |
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5/29/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 5/30/2017, By: justiner Info: Snow starts at the trailhead, and be prepared for large snow drifts in the trees, all the way to treeline. Trail will appear and disappear, so you will most likely will have to be guessing where to go, or just follow the social bootprints through the snow. Upper slopes entirely filled in with snow, slope seems pretty chill in angle, so you probably will be OK with traction of your choice going up, and plunge stepping/glissading going down. 2WD road completley clear, 4WD road has snow drifts intermittently on it. Can't get too close to the TH without a serious 4WD vehicle and time to spare. |
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5/27/2017 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 5/28/2017, By: kayleenann8 Info: Left from the 2WD TH at 4:30 am. Summitted at 10 am. Didn't use traction or floatation. If going up early, you're probably okay leaving the snowshoes at home. The snow is very compressed the entire way up. I'd recommend bringing some traction though because once the sun hits the hard packed snow it gets a little slick. Right above treeline, look out for wet loose avalanches. I crossed below them and felt comfortable because it was so early. I'd be a little more wary later in the day after the snow has been baking. Great glissading conditions! Note: I descended Northwest slopes after summitting in a white out, to get below treeline as quickly as possible. |
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5/27/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 5/28/2017, By: kayleenann8 Info: Note: ascended north ridge so this update is from descending only. I didn't use floatation or traction. For the most part the snow is fairly compressed (descent glissading!). If you're heading up before the sun, you can probably get away with no snowshoes. Near the top, the snow isn't quite as settled. If you'll be up there later in the day, you may want snowshoes then. |
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3/5/2017 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 3/6/2017, By: brerrabbit Info: Road is plowed to 0.5 miles past the winter closure, making it a 7.5 mile hike to Winfield. We did not use snowshoes on the road to Winfield although we did have to weave back and forth some to find supportive snow. We donned snowshoes at Winfield. Multiple snowmobile tracks present to Winfield with 1-2 tracks to the Huron TH. Thanks to mountain_stoke for putting in the trench to Huron which is now in good shape and should stay in place even with the snow last night. Huron's NW slopes were mostly windwept although we did wear snowshoes to ~13k to cross the basin and to stay on snow to avoid loose rock. We did not have our GPS running but it should be around 23+ miles RT at this time. Walking back out on that road is demoralizing. |
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11/10/2016 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 11/11/2016, By: RWSchaffer Info: The 2WD road is dry to its end at Winfield. 4WD vehicles have been reaching the trailhead despite a few ice patches. The Huron trail is mostly clear until about 13,000 feet. Above that, the trail becomes covered with packed snow which is sometimes slippery and sometimes not. Microspikes turned the snow-covered section into a pleasant stroll. |
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10/23/2016 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 10/24/2016, By: nrobsaihttam Info: Conditions seemed to be pretty good for mid-late October. It took us a little while to get up, but it never got very cold while we were up there and the wind wasn't terrible either. On the large open area above treeline there wasn't even any wind. There was no snow at all on the trail until well after timberline. I used microspikes for some of the trail but took them off once the terrain started getting very rocky, and it was okay. We reached the summit around 130 or 200pm and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. I only counted a total of 7 people on the trail including myself for the entire hike and we started at 945, so it's pretty empty right now. |
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10/20/2016 Route: Northwest slopes Posted On: 10/20/2016, By: Curt Brass Info: Trail was extremely easy to follow, after about 12,600ft the route was a ribbon of snow and ice. Peak was a little windy but not too bad. Beautiful October conditions. |
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10/5/2016 Route: Northwest Slopes Posted On: 10/9/2016, By: oldfatandslow Info: 4x4 drive to the forest service closure gate at 10,600 was easy in a Tacoma, an inch or so of snow. Hike up was cold and windy, with a couple of inches of snow on the ground. During the route up, camelback tubes froze. On the route back down, most of the snow was melted below the treeline. |
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10/1/2016 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 10/1/2016, By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Made it a little past the 2WD TH in a Subaru Legacy... parked about 0.3mi from the fork in the road to the main 4WD TH and to the left for Lulu Gulch. Lulu Gulch was a gorgeous hike - the road is switchbacks up... Middle Mountain is easy to see with the swithbacks, but we decided to skip that and go off the switchback road to climb up toward Browns Peak. Somehow, we did not follow the arrow in Photo 6 in the route description - we went farther over to the right - do not do this (see photo attached). It is steep, with lots of loose and unsteady rock (which also happened to be icy). We reached the ridge, realized where we were supposed to be, and followed the route. The traverse between Browns Peak and Huron (where the route meets with the standard route, NW slopes), is also full of unsteady rock (photo below). Pick your lines very carefully and test each rock (I think I was below the route in Photo 13). I did not traverse across the ridge, not sure if that would have been better. These rocks were also very icy and slippery. Amazing views of the backside of Huron though! Didn't see another person until meeting up with the standard route. When you meet up with the standard route, it's a nice steep shot up to the summit - took about 20/30 minutes from the trail junction to the summit. There was no snow on any of the route - it was clear. Lots of amazing views of the apostles, La Plata, and more - including the Lulu Gulch route (see photo). Probably the last few days for some gorgeous aspen colors. The road hike/walk down from the 4WD TH to the 2WD TH isn't too bad. We started a little before 7 and with our detour up Browns Peak and some serious scrambling, it took about 3.5/4 hours to summit... half that on the way down. Gorgeous day - sunny, no wind, not too cold. The clouds and rain started coming in early afternoon, but we avoided it. Keep an eye on the sky though - saw a few people heading up too late for comfort. |
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9/24/2016 Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch Posted On: 9/24/2016, By: jfm3 Info: Winter has arrived above ~12,000 feet. The lower slopes of this route had about 1/2 an inch of snow in the morning and more was falling above 13,000 feet. Footing was mostly good, though a few sections of the ridge were slick with rime frost and snowfall. I wore boots with some serious tread and only had one or two slips. Spikes would probably not slip at all. It was about 15 degrees and windy up to 13,500 feet, then calm and cold to the top. Lots of colorful aspens down in Missouri Gulch too. |
