Mt. Parnassus

Route: from Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: cougar
Info: almost summer conditions, west slopes of Parnassus are totally dry. Lingering snow ribbon in upper Watrous Gulch covers part of the trail above treeline, but easily bypassed on either side. Bard looked totally dry too, and the peaks on the east side. Still some snow drifts in upper Herman Gulch, and lots of snow on Pettingell and the Citadel still. Big difference in snow coverage across the basin and much more in ranges to west. 

Route: Standard via Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 6/5/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: Whoever said mostly avoidable snow on Parnassuss in a recent conditions report did not do the standard route. There are plenty of lengthy snowfields (see pics). Once on the ridge its all avoidable. Went with trail runners only and carried spikes but never used them. Definitely got wet feet from post holing but thats the name of the game in early June. Views are spectacular. Had complete solitude today. 

Route: Herman Gulch TH
Posted On: 6/1/2024, By: Laxer04
Info: Ideal spring conditions. We started around 430AM, trail is mostly dry until just before you head up the slope to Parnassus. Snow is most avoidable up Parnassus. We continued on to Bard, Robeson and Engelmann. Spikes and an axe were helpful for those, but not needed. Snow really softened up around 1030AM, but we were able to do all 4 without snowshoes (even though we carried them).

My strava came in at 12.41 miles 6438ft of vert for all 4 

Route: Wattrous Gulch from Herman Gulch TH
Posted On: 12/28/2023, By: bmcqueen
Info: I ascended Parnassus today from Herman Gulch TH. I wore my snowshoes from the Bard Creek trail sign as there was trenching required after the fresh snow. I kept them on until the summit, but could have easily taken them off once I got to the Wood saddle. 

Route: Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 11/13/2023, By: Piotr
Info: Great day, 40F in the parking lot at 10AM. Trail 95% dry, with few sections of packed ice. No need for spikes. 

Route: Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 10/16/2023, By: dylangraves24
Info: Hiked Mount Machebeuf and Woods Mountain starting from Herman Gulch, then descended from Woods down to the saddle between Woods and Parnassus. Winter conditions for much of the route above treeline on Watrous Gulch trail. Easy hiking up to Parnassus, no traction needed, but wore trail runners and my feet were wet for most of the day. Still a beautiful day out, but would recommend planning for some pockets of snow up to 1' deep as of Saturday/Sunday, October 14/15. 

Route: EngelRoBardAssus
Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: Summer conditions - avoidable minimal snow on ridge between Bard and Parnassus. Avoidable snow between Parnassus and Woods before descending back down into Ruby Gulch. Many options when down in the gulch.

Route: Ruby Gulch --> Engelmann --> Robeson --> Bard --> Parnassus --> down to Ruby Gulch 

Route: SW ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2023, By: Jay521
Info: Summer conditions. 

Route: Watrous
Posted On: 7/1/2023, By: MaryinColorado
Info: Dry from Watrous Gulch. Couple super minor patches of snow covering the social trail on the way to the saddle. Other than that, completely dry, as is getting over to Woods. 

Route: Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Did not climb, but was on Woods and Machebeuf today, taking Watrous Gulch out from the saddle of Woods and Parnassus. If you don't mind the occasional bit of snow here and there, the overall route I would consider 95% summer conditions.

If anyone else cares about Woods and Machebeuf, I took the SE ridge direct up Machebeuf from the Watrous trail, looped the ridge over to Woods. Mostly summer conditions that way as well. Largest obstacle was snow between the two Woods summits that you have to stay on the ridge for, but the snow was solid. I'd do it all in trail runners if I could do it again. 

Route: Watrous Gulch Trail
Posted On: 4/16/2023, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: NOAA lied. Bluebird day with very little wind.
Wore micro spikes up and back.
Postholed a few times.
First mile was hard packed snow through the woods. From the turn north to the high basin solid snow. Mostly packed. Basically dry from saddle to summit.
Gorgeous views of Evans, Sawtooth, Breckenridge, Ten Mile range, Quandary, Sniktau, Torreys....
Nice chatting with Adam & Alicia and a big thanks to them for laying a trench through the woods :) 

Route: Watrous Gulch
Posted On: 10/14/2022, By: angry
Info: Ascended Watrous Gulch, over to Bard and descended Bard Creek Trail. Mostly dry. Some snow patches above 13k. Alpine start of 12pm and had entire route to myself. 

Route: NW Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2022, By: Piotr
Info: Dry all the way, spectacular views of Torreys 

Route: Ruby Gulch TH
Posted On: 7/18/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: I wanted to finally hike The Law Firm so parked at the Ruby Gulch "TH" at 6am and was the first car there. By the time I got back to the car at 12:30pm there were 20ish vehicles there many of which were parked along the road.

To get up Engelmann Peak I followed MaryinColorado's TR up the drainage and then used the West NW ridge to gain the summit. The rest of the hike is straight forward. Didn't see any people until I was heading up Parnassus when I saw two groups of two. Coming off Parnassus there were probably 30-40 hiking Woods and/or Parnassus from Herman Gulch TH.

Coming down off Woods I traversed the slope via a game half-ass game trail until the old mine road
came into view. The traverse isn't great but it looks a lot better then head straight down the steeper slopes. Once I saw the road I head straight down making shortcuts beteen the switchbacks since the slope wasn't bad. There were a couple spots I didn't see the road well but as long as I headed in its general vicinity I always found it again. Shortly after getting in to the tress I just followed to road/trail. It wraps around a little backtracking south and adding some distance but that looked a lot better than bushwhacking threw the dense trees. Plus at each creek crossing there are good rocks or pipes to help cross.

(10.38 mi; 5,203' gain; 6:09:23 total time)

Start at TH 6:15am; Engelmann Peak 8:10am; Robeson Peak 8:40am; Bard Peak 9:25am; Mt. Parnassus 10:15am; Woods 11:05am; Back to TH 12:25pm 

Route: Ruby Gulch
Posted On: 5/24/2022, By: dsr80304
Info: With recent snow and a good weather forecast, went up aiming for Drainpipe. Snow coverage looked great, but winds were cranking (vs modest wind forecast) and lots of snow was blowing into Parnassus north basin. Figured it just wouldn't be safe so diverted to mellower slopes on Woods. Snow was suboptimal. Needs a few freeze-thaw cycles to get back to corn mode. Some pics here of Parn, Woods north side and across the way to Torreys.