Sunshine Peak

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/8/2026, By: colingoodman
Info: Quite snowy above 13k. Microspikes were very necessary. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 2/9/2026, By: Alpine_Iris
Info: lower part of the route is completely dry. One section of boot packed snow near treeline. Upper route is mostly dry with some patchy snow near 12.5k and on the final ridge. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/19/2026, By: Jschramm87
Info: Toughest/slowest 3 miles I’ve done in a long time! Road to the campground was clear/dry.
First .7 miles or so are dry. A little hard to stay on-trail, but there are some carins to look out for. Boot pack started a little more than a mile in. Needed snow shoes for one section right after you leave the trees. Thigh/waist deep post holing without them. Could’ve ditched them after, didn’t need them the rest of the day. Rock-hopped most of the way up the final stretch to the summit. Planned on Redcloud but we were wiped! The route over looked clear and straightforward.
Underestimated this one a bit! Very difficult first mile. Didn’t use my microspikes all day. Excited to do more snow shoeing! That was my first experience and was bummed I didn’t need them for very long.
Shoutout to the dude from Golden that flew past us at treeline. He was making his way to Redcloud when we were summiting. 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 11/3/2025, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Camped at the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch TH Saturday evening and got started on trail about 4:30AM Sunday morning. Trail was dry below tree line. The climb to Redcloud's saddle was packed with unconsolidated snow: I was punching through even at 6:30AM, but only about to my ankle or so. The climb up Redcloud's NE ridge was mostly dry as was the traverse to Sunshine. Made it back down to the saddle by 9:30AM so I decided to tack on the two unnamed Centennials close by, as it would only add 5 miles and 3k gain round trip. The traverse to both unnamed peaks was completely dry due to a mostly southern aspect. Made it back down to the saddle before noon and took a more easterly descent down the saddle since it was completely dry. My up route would have been a wet, mashed potato mess if I had decided to descend it. I risked it with my kit today: running shoes, micro spikes, poles, no snowshoes. Luckily, conditions were mostly spot on for summer gear still with the exception of climbing to the saddle. Didn't see a soul on trail or at the trailhead.17.27 miles / 6,913' gain / 9 hours, 45 minutes 

Route: Northwest Face
Posted On: 7/30/2025, By: Cdog123456789
Info: Finding the turn off for this path was difficult and we passed it on the way up and had to go back down. The caryn to mark the river crossing was gone (probably washed away). If anyone is heading up this way I would definitely use either your maps or an altimeter to try and locate the turn, right at 11,200.

Also just after the turn there was a giant log that blocked the trail. Originally we saw a trail leading up above the log but after further examination the trail continued under the log right along the creek bed.

Wildflowers were amazing this way up.

Scree field just before the ridgeline was intense and would definitely follow the recommendations to not try and descend this way. We did a loop over to Redcloud and had an amazing day. 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 7/5/2025, By: AurumSun13
Info: Full summer conditions on both Redcloud and Sunshine peaks. All the snow remainin can easy be bypassed. Just be careful of the mid-summer afternoon storms. I was able to bag both peaks and return to Redcloud by 8AM (started @ 4AM), but in the distance a very scary wall of dark clouds was already rolling in. Thankfully, it dissipated by noon, although it caused many people on the day to turn around and forego Sunshine. For reference, the traverse between the peaks took me almost 2hrs on the dot. 

Route: Northwest Face
Posted On: 7/3/2025, By: Rkwootten
Info: Summer conditions all the way up. A few snowfields that you can walk around with no issue. Rock between the gendarmes is incredibly loose - bring a helmet in case people are above you. 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 6/29/2025, By: Bonesaw
Info: I believe there was one patch of snow on the ridge, otherwise the trail was completely clear 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 6/18/2025, By: pcsongei
Info: Summited Redcloud and Sunshine this morning from Grizzly Gulch. Trail is in great shape overall. The upper basin still has some decent sized snowfields but they are either avoidable or solid enough to walk across early in the day. They were still pretty solid on my descent around 10am. The ridge to Sunshine is also mostly clear, a few snow patches that can be avoided by going above them 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 6/6/2025, By: tbonesaredelicious
Info: Initially tried for ski descent of NW Couloirs of sunshine on 6/5, but bailed because I wasn’t feeling particularly strong and also was sketched out by extensive wet slab activity in the region from earlier in the week. The night of 6/4-6/5 saw a trace of snow down to 11000, and maybe 2-3 inches above 13k? Storms moved in by 9:30 or so, and it was lightly raining beneath 13k if I had to guesstimate. Probably would have been good if I’d actually gotten up early since it was beautiful early—— On 6/6, ascended east slopes route of Redcloud, traversed over to sunshine and came back the same way. 34 or 36 at trailhead at 7 or so, but I didn’t get going until 8 🙀🤦🏻‍♂️. Postholing trenches are becoming pretty well established for the 4 or 5 significant crossings beneath 13k. Between Redcloud and sunshine, there are a few unavoidable snow crossings that weren’t as bad. No traction or flotation, but could be helpful if there was a really solid freeze? 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: Youngan
Info: No snow on the lower trail, and only a few small snow crossing until reaching the north facing basin before the saddle. The basin was mostly full of snow, unfortunately the 5:45 AM start was not early enough to avoid postholing. After the basin any snow crossings are minimal and shallow to the Redcloud summit. More postholing after the saddle between Redcloud and Sunshine on the way up to Sunshine Peak. The final bit on sunshine has snow, but it’s somewhat avoidable and shallow. As expected, significantly more postholing on the way out as the temperature increased. 

Route: Via Redcloud Peak
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: butlerer
Info: See longer TR from Redcloud post.

Would bring spikes for a few sections between Redcloud and Sunshine until the snow is melted. It's icy and steep in a few spots. Otherwise, be prepared for some waist-deep post-holing in spots on Sunshine, and you'll be good. Floatation didn't make a difference--except it meant pulling a bigger and heavier object out of 3-4' of snow when you break through. 

Route: NW Face to NE Face
Posted On: 5/17/2025, By: Jcinco
Info: Snow starts immediately after crossing Silver Creek at 11.2k. Ascended the NW Face and skied the NE Face. Crampons would have been helpful for the morning ascent. The NE face skied quite well with a thin layer of powder-ish snow that lingered from 2 night before. Was not anticipating such a huge cornice guarding the reascent to the Sunshine/Redcloud saddle. I had to excavate the lowest part of the cornice and execute a sketchy mantle onto the saddle. Continues under Redcloud conditions. 

Route: Northwest Face
Posted On: 5/5/2025, By: FrankP
Info: Skied Sunshine and Redcloud on Sunday. In and out stormy conditions all day. Easy hike up to the snow line at the creek crossing. Even though the snow didn't soften, the Northwest gully on Redcloud was filled in and skied nicely all the way back to the trail. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 2/9/2025, By: jacolc
Info: Condition like 2 months ago. Almost dry to 11250', unconsolidated snow above. Because of warm temp, frozen surface das not suport me even with snowshoe. Some ski track safe my as. On ridges use only micro spikes. Car to car 10h50' including Redcloud.