Mt. Owen

Route: Green Lake
Posted On: 9/12/2024, By: tjf242424
Info: I talked with one of the landowners regarding the access dispute and it sounds like the issue was in fact too many disrespectful people on ATV's. We were told that the standard route from Lake Irwin up the 4WD road to Green Lake is still closed. The landowner provided me with a GPX track that can be used to avoid private land. https://www.gaiagps.com/public/MfrGkoEjkcRAzvVKjmbBARwD 

Route: Scarp ridge approach to W Ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2024, By: Marmot72
Info: Summer conditions until the upper part of the mining road. One snowfield before Green Lake, one avoidable one after it, then still snow to negotiate to the saddle between Ruby and Owen. Peak is dry (except for deep snow drift along a lower ledge below summit that has a crazy cornice). Descended main road by the angry landowner's house. Was informed he gated off the road because he believes he owns it but that Forest Service disagrees, litigation is still pending. Reportedly the man hates the 4x4 and ATV traffic that used the road previously, but does not mind respectful hikers who stay on the road. 

Route: Ruby saddle-south ridge
Posted On: 6/2/2024, By: VeraUndertow
Info: Road is plowed to lake Irwin, it is a sloppy mess currently, with deep ruts of snow and mud and is single lane most of the way but I saw a RAV4 and a Forester up there. I skinned up the road starting at 4:45 AM, trying to stay actually on the road so I didn't trespass since I know there are grumpy people in the neighborhood up here. I left the road and went up the obvious low angle ramp toward Green lake. I was able to skin all the way to the Ruby-Owen saddle before taking my skis off to boot the rest of the way since the only continuous snow was a cornice that is peeling off the ridge. The hike wasn't bad by elk standards and that's in ski boots. I did use crampons for one short section of snow, that also could have likely been avoided with some scrambling, but didn't use my ice axe at all and the trail is mostly dry. I summited at 8 am, and hung out till 8:45 to drop the south face back to Green lake. I was to early for corn but I was tired of waiting and it was still pretty smooth and decent skiing. Probably could have dropped at 9:30 today and gotten early corn since it was pretty windy up high (20 mph gusts id estimate). The ski back down was quick and I was able to make it down 2400 ft of pretty continuous ski with some traversing. Then I threw skins on and skinned out on the road from there. The road has a lot of little ups and downs and I figured skinning would be quicker than trying to skate/step up all the hills. The only homeowner I saw, waved at me so that was nice. Back at my truck by 9:20. Not saying anything about this route being back open but the person who seems to want to enforce their private property on the road wasn't present today. 

Route: Scarp ridge
Posted On: 7/18/2023, By: Dobsons
Info: Went up Owen B, ruby and scarp ridge. The ridge from scarp to the purple saddle is such a cool setting. Blue lake had some iceberg effect in the lake which was very cool. There is some decently steep snow just to gain the ruby owen saddle. Micro spikes and poles were very helpful. Its a short section but a slip could lead to a quick drop to rocks. Id bring micro spikes and poles at least for another week or so. 

Route: South Ridge via Ruby Peak
Posted On: 8/22/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: There's an obvious grassy gully to the south ridge of Ruby, from Ruby Owen is also doable. There are major private property issues from Irwin Lake to Ruby - it is not possible to navigate the tiny strip of public land to Ruby without a GPS with land ownership layers. Terrain to the gully is steep but easy, and the gully actually sucks even though it looks nice and grassy, it's a lot of dirt and scree. South ridge of Ruby is very loose but easy, minor scrambling if desired. From Ruby to the saddle there's a trail, from the saddle to Owen there's another even better trail. There's some fun scrambling up Owen if desired, otherwise the entire route can be kept to Class 2. I descended the road to Green Lake, then took the 4WD road back to Irwin Lake. BEWARE, the 4WD road is private property, in one spot it's literally someone's driveway, travels within 100 feet of homes, and has tons of no trespassing signs. Private property owners in the area are known to be aggressive. Tread with caution. 

Route: S ridge over Ruby
Posted On: 8/13/2022, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Late post, but added a GPX to the library of the S ridge over Ruby that avoids the private property approaching the Ruby/dike access gully. It narrows to about 100 feet of public access between two parcels, but that GPX should be good. 

Route: Lake Irwin via Ruby Peak
Posted On: 7/24/2021, By: JasonKline
Info: The road to Green Lake is still closed ("I have firearms and a backhoe"), so the best legal way to Owen B from Lake Irwin is over Ruby Peak. My Hyundai Ioniq had no problem getting to Lake Irwin and could have probably gone further up the road if I had tried. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/28/2019, By: Flyingfish
Info: The road to Green lake has been closed by a property owner disputing a public right of way. The only way to climb Owen from Kebler pass is to climb the south ridge of Ruby being carful to avoid private property on the ascent to the ridge the a traverse to Owen followed by reversing that route over Ruby and back. Otherwise you would need to either continue to Purple mountain then down the East ridge to go around private property on the east side or descend to Green Lake and traverse the east flank of Ruby at about 11,000ft to stay above private property. The most straight forward is to return over Ruby since the other two options involve navigating many many cliff bands. 

Route: Green Lake
Posted On: 8/2/2019, By: 13erRetriever
Info: The road up to Green Lake has been closed by the private landowner beneath the lake, making access to Owen B from that route questionable. Apparently the issue is in slow litigation now over the disputed public nature of the road and has been for two years. Why it's taking the County and FS so long to establish that the road has been in use by the public for decades is beyond me, but hikers be warned for the time being. The gate is at about 10,600 ft. and the owner has a camera on it. I had planned on making a quick go of Owen last weekend on my way back to Denver from Montrose but turned my jeep around when I found the way blocked. Pissed is an understatement. I think there are still alternative ways to get up Owen without using the road, (particularly by summiting and re-summiting Ruby, maybe also possible by Scarp Ridge?) but this will take more homework on my end and I wasn't prepared to head out on a route I hadn't researched. Research the status of this issue before you head out to Owen via the road anytime in the next few years. Note: The patchwork of public/private land at Lake Irwin is also a shitshow. I respect private property that is actually private and marked, but the landowners around the lake make it very well known that you are not welcome to join in or be near their trust-funded public land-surrounded paradise, even though County roads service the area and the lake itself (and much of the area around it) is public. It makes me sick that these landowners have made us feel unwelcome on our own public lands (i.e. closing off a PUBLIC road, "slow" signs with a "f*** off" slogan hat in several lots), and treat the area as if they own it and we have no right to use it. I hate to let them win, but do yourself a favor and go down to the San Juans and skip this area (and Crested Butte in general) if you want to avoid this elitist attitude and actually enjoy yourself on the public lands that we ALL own and have a right to use. Point made. Rant over. 

Route: Lake Irwin
Posted On: 6/11/2017, By: piper14er
Info: The road to Lake Irwin is clear. Snow varies from none to 3 feet on some slopes. Melting fast with a lot of runoff, slushy snow and mud in the afternoon. The climb up to Mt. Owen B was mixed snow, wet rock/dirt/scree and dry trails. 8 miles and 3200 feet.