6/5/2021 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/6/2021, By: dleflar Info: Summit has a small snow field that will be gone in days. West ridge line from Parnassus to Bard is still fairly covered in snow but at most 2 feet deep in drifted spots and less than 6" most others. Route off the south slope between Parnassus and Bard leading to the Bard Creek trail is mixed with mostly dry ground and lots of snow lower down near treeline, melting quickly. |
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4/24/2021 Route: From Parnassus Posted On: 4/24/2021, By: jtfoss1 Info: Had to break trail starting at the point when the trail turns right to ascend Parnassus. Don't count on it being there tomorrow, though, given the wind... Snowshoes were necessary, but never used spikes or an axe. Lots of loaded looking slopes facing east, all avoidable. |
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4/10/2021 Route: Shakespeare Posted On: 4/10/2021, By: k_fergie Info: Shakespeare is primed and ready for corn harvest. Made the best of a solid overnight freeze and did the bushwack to ~11k in approach shoes. Skinned/booted from there to the summit, crampons not necessary, but could be comforting if its real slippery. Waited till noon to drop, quite firm but plenty edgeable from 13,600 down to ~12,500. Maybe waiting longer wouldve helped, but the wind was really keeping the snow cold. Prime corn from there on down, we were able to stay on skis/board until about 10,500 where we switched back to approach shoes to bushwack back out. I've heard this bushwack can be heinous, but I didn't think it was too bad; short n steep is better than long and flat. As seen in pic, there is a ~50ft section of dirt that we booted down, although on lookers right side, it is possible to bypass the dry spot and ski from summit down to 10,500; over 3k continuous vertical. |
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11/22/2020 Route: gully #3 rib Posted On: 11/23/2020, By: jbealer Info: road is packed down snow, there were tracks leading up the left turn to get to gully 3&4, tracks continued to the right but to the left they stopped there. We used nothing on our feet to this point. We chose the left turn to gully #3, Knowing we would be postholing up to the base of the gully we still did not use any traction knowing we would be on a side of a hill. We broke trail till the base of the gully where the snow stopped and it was bare from there to the summit. We did put spikes on for the steep climb up the ridge with the loose or frozen dirt. |
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6/20/2020 Route: Bard Creek Posted On: 6/20/2020, By: dwoodward13 Info: This should be the standard route for these 3 peaks instead of the mine route. One of the best trails I've found myself on. Followed the Bard Creek Trail until reaching treeline, then picked our route up the slope to the summit. A bit of snow from the previous few days that will likely melt by tomorrow. Route off to Robeson was a grassy with a thin covering of snow that will be gone. Same with route from Robeson to Engelmann. We stayed just north of Englemann SE Ridge and had a pretty painfree bushwack to meet back up with the Bard Creek Trail. Note that the road up to Bard Creek Trail is pretty rough. Only legit 4x4s will make it to the trailhead. Subies and the like will make it about a mile short near some cabins, unless you really don't care about your car. 2wd will be 2 miles shy at a pull off near Empire Pass. |
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6/17/2020 Route: via Parnassus Posted On: 6/18/2020, By: madadraw1 Info: Still snow on Parnassus-Bard saddle -- mostly on the Parnassus side and can't see it from Parnassus summit, can't see until you are upon it. Took south face of Bard down to Bard Trail. Made for a nice loop. Extra 300-500ft gain when Bard Trail meets up with creek, but really nice views after this, worth it. This extra gain started with 2-3 small snow patches walkable in boots. Towards the top about 30 yards of snow to cross -- this part steeper, just under 30 degrees (no traction or axe is fine but poles helped). See Climb13ers website for suggested descent off Bard. Around 4500ft gain, 9 mi RT for the loop, both peaks. |
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6/12/2020 Route: via Parnassus Posted On: 6/12/2020, By: MC.Ikema Info: Brought microspikes but did not use them. There's still some snow on the ridge that requires crossing, however, the crossings are pretty short and the snow seem packed firm (no post-holing issues at 1pm). |
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6/7/2020 Route: From Parnassus Posted On: 6/7/2020, By: WildWanderer Info: Mostly summer conditions. I did use crampons and an ice axe for a small section, but could have gotten by with just microspikes (especially later in the day, but I was glad at 7am to have crampons). Stick to the ridge before making it to the saddle between Parnassus and Bard: there's a lot of snow/ice on the trail below the ridge to the east, making it difficult to cross. |
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3/11/2020 Route: North faces and ridges Posted On: 3/11/2020, By: jmanner Info: Didn't do Bard, Robinson or Parnassus, but from the North they are bone dry. Need some good spring storms. |
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2/21/2020 Route: Via Parnassus Posted On: 2/21/2020, By: osprey Info: The trail to Watrous Gulch is well packed by skiers and snowshoes are not needed until going up the gully leading to the south west face. I switched to microspikes above timberline and wore them the entire rest of the trip. The ridge from Parnassus to Bard is mainly snow interspersed with talus. The snow is both firm and with areas of postholing up to mid calf. It took 11 hours round trip. |
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6/27/2019 Route: From Parnassus Posted On: 6/27/2019, By: HikerGuy Info: Much snow remains in the saddle with Parnassus. I left my ice axe and crampons at home and had to drop down about 200 feet to cross lower angle snow. Used microspikes, no postholing. I think an axe would be advisable to follow the ridge proper across the saddle, although the run out is super generous and fall would just end up being a really long slide with a stop on snow, provided you slip off the south side. |
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5/5/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 5/5/2019, By: LetsGoMets Info: Consistent snow from Parnassus over to Bard. No avy risk at all. Carried snowshoes, but hit it early enough where they weren't needed. |
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9/2/2018 Route: via Parnassus Posted On: 9/2/2018, By: madmattd Info: Traversed over from Parnassus. There is a path from the Parnassus summit to very near the main saddle, though it braids several times. Mostly easy going, just a short stretch of talus around a projection halfway down. The ascent to Bard is mostly path-less, but mostly on tundra and pretty easy going. Overall a Class 2 traverse, I wouldn't even call it 2+ where I traveled, but there are definitely a few spots where you could get into 2+ and maybe even low 3 terrain for a short bit. I dropped down from the Bard-Parnassus saddle and picked up the Bard Creek Trail just below the alpine shoulder others have noted in trip reports, no need to deal with the scree gully (which is all of 50' before the trail appears). Other than a couple hundred yards of large talus near the trail, the descent is mostly steep tundra. |
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8/25/2018 Route: Via Robeson Peak from Ruby Gulch Posted On: 8/26/2018, By: supranihilest Info: The hike up Bard from Robeson is easy but steep Class 2. It seemed more solid as well as potentially less technical if you stayed a bit away from the ridge crest itself, to climber's left. Going around the crest to the left also helps prevent going up and down extra over the bumps on the ridge. |
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5/12/2018 Route: Watrous Gulch Approach Posted On: 5/13/2018, By: jasayrevt Info: This is an enjoyable summit route. A touch of snow does remain in the basin. Traversing over from Mt. Parnassus qualifies as another extremely fun line with great views. Perfect outing amidst variable conditions |
