North Eolus

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 10/11/2024, By: La Mosca
Info: Totally, 100% dry conditions. See Mt. Eolus report 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/18/2024, By: jacobslaton
Info: Climbed North Eolus on July 13. The route was good throughout with zero snow. Route finding on the upper approach was tricky but small cairns helped guide the way. The ridge and final pitch is steep but the rock is very grippy underfoot and solid. In the Chicago Basin, mosquitos and biting flies were bad so be prepared for those. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/15/2024, By: caesarsalad
Info: No snow on the trail (some right next to it though). A few sections of wet rock, but not on any of the class 3 stuff. 

Route: Chicago Basin Approach
Posted On: 7/1/2024, By: tlinkus
Info: Snow on approach to saddle (see Mt. Eolus report). No additional snow from saddle to summit of North Eolus. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2023, By: andlours
Info: Summer conditions to the summit. Some runoff/freeze on the ramp that was avoidable but no snow at all on the route. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/3/2023, By: Briere
Info: Full summer conditions still; free of snow! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/19/2023, By: Snommed1
Info: Mt Eolus/N Eolus...99% summer conditions. One small snowfield to cross (~30yd, see picture) with an easy go-around if snow is still frozen over. Mosquitoes have abated in Chicago Basin. None to speak of. Not a lot of Needle Creek water access points up to Chicago Basin if you had planned to filter water along the way. Wear sunscreen. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: 815WM
Info: Started from Vallecito Creek TH on 7/13 and camped in Chicago Basin on 7/14. The next day, the 15th, I started at 4:30am and soloed all four 14ers: Eolus - North Eolus - Sunlight - Windom. I summited the last peak at 12:30 pm on a perfectly clear bluebird day. None of the peaks have snow on the summit ridges. You still need to climb a bit of snow to gain each saddle. You can get away with just poles or an axe, but I still highly recommend spikes. The most(and steepest) snow field is still encountered gaining the ridge for Eolus. I met a group as I was coming back down from Windom that summited Eolus and N Eolus without spikes or poles! Sunlight and Windom still required snowfield crossings as well. I was glad I had my spikes and poles but these two are easier if you don't have the gear. After summiting the grand slam, I took a nap back in the basin before packing out over Columbine pass and all the way down to Vallecito Creek for a total of just over 18 miles on the day. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2023, By: colekics
Info: Started from Purgatory TH and camped in Chicago Basin. The next day, the 6th, Three other guys and I hit up all four 14ers: Sunlight -> Windom -> North Eolus -> Eolus. Essentially, none of the peaks have snow on the summit ridges. You just need to climb a bit of snow to gain each saddle. You can get away with just poles or an axe, multiple guys in our group never used spikes but they can add comfort. Started moving at 3:30 but coming down from Windom saddle around 8:15, the snow began to soften just enough to glissade. Then the snow was softer going up to the Eolus saddle, and once we came down we got some really great glissading in. The most snow climbing exists going up the Eolus saddle. We also found a fully packed pack on the ridge direct of Eolus, so if someone left it please let me know. Just a reminder: STAY ON THE STANDARD ROUTES. We were climbing Sunlight when we watched a group of five people try to climb the FACE of windom from the saddle between Windom and Sunlight Spire. They were just in spikes, trying to cross 60 degree side hill hard snow to reach a continuous rocky outcropping to the top. I thought I was about to watch them slide into a rocky runout and we'd have to call SOS. They then proceeded to climb loose, steep Class 5 rock to the top. We met them at the top of Windom and talked to them. Just make sure to follow your GPS up there, know which saddles to gain in order to climb safely. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: mjordan
Info: Summited on July 1st and it was quite a spicy climb getting up to the notch before the summit scramble. We had just done Windom and Sunlight so it was about 11am while we were heading up N Eolus. Its continuous snow and there is no trail starting around 12,600ft until you get to the notch. At 13,400 on the ramp part of the trail it is continuous snow and a no-fall zone for about 100 yards traversing above the cliffs. We all did it with only micro spikes and trekking poles. The snow was soft so we were able to kick steps into the snow and traverse slowly. Im really not sure whether it would be better to do this in the morning when its icy or later when the snow is soft, I think its pick your poison and dont fall on the ramp whatever you do. The notch and ridge scramble are completely dry. We summited N Eolus then tagged Eolus and glisadded down from the bottom of the ramp around 3pm. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: ballardwf04
Info: Hiked North Eolus on Tuesday, and it's still very snowy up there above 12,500. I made it up with spikes and poles but crampons/ax would make your life much easier. Due to the difficulty we had getting to the summit of North and how snowy Mt. Eolus looked, we decided not to go for the double peak. Glissading conditions are very in, that's for sure. Will have to make another trip to the Basin in the future. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/27/2022, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: Still a dry and otherwise fantastically easy walk-up, especially compared to its next-door neighbor. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2022, By: Buckie06
Info: Summer conditions 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/5/2022, By: shapovalovm
Info: Did the whole CBasin from Purgatory: Day 1: Started at 9:10. Parking was full, so I had to park near the community center (lots of additional parking there). Got to the basin by 2:45. Lots of people! Camped at 11200 Day 2: started 5:10, did 4 peaks, back to camp by 1pm. Started down at 1:30, back to the car by 6:50pm Peaks (in order): 1) Eolus: class 2 to the notch, perfectly cairned, no issues with navigation even in pitch dark. The catwalk is nothing to be afraid of, if you can walk in a straight line (it's like 3-4 feet wide at worst). Scramble up is easy. 2) N Eolus. A tiny baby scramble from the notch. Overall from Eolus it took me 25 min to get there 3) Sunlight: shit shute until 13800, horrible experience. But from there it's a ton of fun. No way it is class 4, though, even the summit block. The fall from there is to the nearest rock which is like 5 feet below. I understand it may be scary to people, but so may be the catwalk, but we don't call it class 4 do we? 4) Windom. Having done 3 peaks, this one felt hard. The views are fantastic though. Also, again, I don't think the rating is right. Haven't seen a single person who managed to summit it with no scrambling above the saddle, so should be class 3. If Sneffels and Kit Carson are class 3, this one definitely must be class 3 as well 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: MountainBuhn
Info: (Pics on Mt Eolus review) Copying this info for all 4. Backpacked in from Purg on Friday 7/1. Started at 3:30 and got to the lowest spot in Chicago Basin at 9pm. Started the day on Saturday at 2:30am attempting all 4. Mt E: Clear of all snow. Catwalk is overrated imo. Ledges were far tougher (and longer). Some loose rock to deal with. We found staying under the ridge was the best option on the way up. Headed more straight east on the way down. N E: Easy, self explanatory, maybe a slightly sketchy move getting from the saddle of Mt E to the beginning of the climb if coming from Mt E. Pup made it up N Eolus with no help. Put him in a bag for ledges due to the rockfall potential. Sunlight: Started from Twin at 10:30am after resting after Eolus. Storm clouds were moving in but we decided to send it anyway (wouldn't recommend). Red gully was bad as advertised but not as bad as say sneffels scree or Wilson/Diente scree so it's relative. Got to notch with plenty of thunder but no lightning so we went for it. Class 4 move wasn't bad but tougher on the way down if you're shorter than 6'. I thought the move into the “chimney tunnel” was harder than the leap. Booted it off as thunder was heard straight above us. Pup stayed below class 4 move and my partner and I summited at different times. Windom: Weirdly my favorite. Boulder hopping up to the notch was tough. Notch up to peak was a blast. Pup needed a couple of butt shoves but besides that was good. Summit block of Windom was a blast. Definitely plenty of class 3 fun (the class 2 rank is just incorrect). Back to the lakes by 5pm. Somehow had no rain fall on us. It felt like there was a force field around the 4 peaks and we were just extremely lucky for a monsoon weekend. Basic ally summer conditions for all 4. Backpacked out 7/3 in 4 hours of rain (finally got us). Fun weekend. To summit all 4 in one day is something else. Would do sunlight again and spend more time at the top. Real calf burner