5/8/2021 Route: The Drainpipe Posted On: 5/9/2021, By: ClimberSkierDave64 Info: Climbed and skied the Drainpipe on Parnassus yesterday! The road to the parking pulloff at the Urad mine is clear of snow. There was deep uninterrupted snow all the way to the bottom of the Drainpipe from the car. There was also a snowmobile track that went all the way to the start of the Couloir. The skin up to the bottom was quick and easy and only took a little over an hour. From there we transitioned to crampons and axe for the climb. The choke point of the lower Couloir was all chunky frozen Avy debris. There was a bootpack all the way to the top, so it was fairly quick and easy. It was really WINDY on top and clouds were rolling in quick so we transitioned quick after summiting and started skiing. I did get a look at the NE face and it looked filled in with good corn all the way down, although both the pipe and NE face have big cornices on top with easy entrances on the sides. The top 300 feet was powdery snow with a little wind slab, but it felt well bonded to the snow underneath and it was skied out by many people. After that, it transitioned it soft corn all the way down to the choke and it was some really good skiing! Then, we cut left over a spine and onto a bypass so we didn't have to ski the horrible Avy debris in the choke, and there were some tracks down the area from the day before. The snow was icier in this area before going back to corn on the apron. We saw a couple other groups but we were the last ones down when we got done a little after noon. In total, it took us 6 hours car to car. We started at 6:00 and I think we timed it about perfectly because we got soft snow and the storms rolled in right after we got done. Overall, it was a really fun day of spring skiing! Our ascent is in red and the descent is in blue. |
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3/20/2021 Route: Woods-Parnassus-Bard-Robeson-Engelmann Posted On: 3/20/2021, By: gluckhikes Info: Windswept snow and tundra from Woods saddle. Ridge to Bard is well packed with snow, easy to plunge step while avoiding cornices to the north. A pair of snowshoers also climbed from Watrous Gulch. |
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9/16/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Route Posted On: 9/16/2020, By: Brittanyjomad Info: No snow on the route minus a few very small, easily avoided patches. So no spikes needed. GPS clocked 7.2 miles round trip and 4 hours 23 minutes (includes a 5-10 min stop at the top) Once you reach the saddle there is no more trail, but you can easily follow the ridge up to the summit. Arrived at TH (Herman Gulch TH)at 5:55 am and was only the second car there. It was pretty full by the time we were leaving. Although the peak forecast said high of 57 and 8 mph winds it was much higher winds and much lower temperature- water was freezing. Winter hiking appears to be officially here! |
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6/18/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 6/18/2020, By: madadraw1 Info: Summer conditions for Parnassus. See my Bard Pk condition report for Parnassus-Bard loop. |
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6/16/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 6/16/2020, By: gavyns Info: Beautiful day! We started at 1:50pm, took 2h10mins to summit, back to the lot but 6:15pm. The trail is pretty dry the whole way up! There are a couple piles of snow along the trail still just after crossing the creek before making the left turn north on the Watrous (easily avoidable, I'd say 20ft wide and maybe 10-35ft long). There was about a 150yd stretch of snow on the trail about half a mile down from the saddle of Woods Mountain and Parnassus, but easily navigable up the left (West) side. The trail pretty much disappears after the snow field below the saddle, but just head East up the ridge and switchback as necessary, it can get steep! No problem staying dry all day, in terms of weather or on foot! We only saw one other couple all afternoon! |
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6/14/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 6/14/2020, By: CaptainSuburbia Info: No snow to worry about. |
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6/7/2020 Route: From Herman / Watrous Gulch Posted On: 6/7/2020, By: WildWanderer Info: No traction needed to get to Parnassus or Woods (last photo). There is still some snow on the trail, but it's avoidable. |
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5/31/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 5/31/2020, By: VeraUndertow Info: Climbed Woods and Parnassus early this morning, left my car at around 5:45 from Watrous Gulch. Really nice trail dry on the way in till you get to the big stream crossing, I waded across this morning because the log bridge was icy. After this I turned left up the gulch where the trail splits with bard trail. There is a pretty solid boot pack the whole way if you stay on trail or you could be like me and find your own way and posthole and smash your shins on icy punch crust. IDK why I do that to myself, but it was more fun I guess. Snow stops about 500 ft vertical from the saddle but can mostly be avoided by staying on the well packed trail. Once on the saddle I went up woods first and summited around 7:40, there is a nice summit register but no pencil or paper inside so if you head this way it could use some supplies. Back to the saddle at 8 and on the summit of parnassus by 8:40. Was back at my car by 10:40 after a leisurely descent. |
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5/29/2020 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 5/29/2020, By: Piotr Info: The trail is snow-free all the way to creek crossing. Afterwards you can find a line without any snow all the way to the top. Top of the gulch still has lots of snow. |
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3/7/2020 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/9/2020, By: bkcheck Info: Trail is decently packed down up to the Bard trail junction, but the snow is deep and not particularly supportive between the junction and treeline. Snowshoes recommended. A little after treeline the snow diminishes and you can pick a snow-free route all the way to the summit. The ridge up to Woods Mountain is dry as well. |
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2/29/2020 Route: Herman Gulch TH Posted On: 3/2/2020, By: durkan Info: Leap day spent atop Parnassus. Microspikes on at trailhead. Donned snowshoes at the Bard-Watrous Trail junction, but stayed to the west of the creek and did not cross toward the sign. Snowshoes stashed at saddle. Traction was not needed today from saddle to summit. |
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2/15/2020 Route: NW ridge via Watrous Gulch Posted On: 2/16/2020, By: nickle Info: Good skintrack/snowshoe track from the Herman Gulch TH to approx 2/3 up Watrous Gulch. Put in a good trench from the end of the skintrack all the way to treeline where the route is windscoured. All gullies that are steep enough to slide are wind scoured so there is little avy risk on the primary route. We did get one big 'whumpf' in a low angle area, the snowpack is sensitive, so be aware of route choices. The W face of Parnassus is totally windscoured and not a hazard. The ridge to Bard also looks scoured and low risk, we opted not to make the traverse due to the wind and temps. Beautiful day out. Photo #1: W face of Parnassus Photo #2: Ridge to Bard |
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1/4/2020 Route: West Side Posted On: 1/4/2020, By: CreekRunner Info: Two of us put in a trench shooting off from the well used Watrous Gulch trail. Snowshoes are needed till just above treeline. Poach it while it's still good! |
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11/9/2019 Route: Watrous Gulch Posted On: 11/9/2019, By: DorothyK Info: The snow started fairly close to the trailhead. As soon as we cleared tree line, it was 15" deep in spots, crusty in the morning (and mashed potato in the afternoon upon our descent). The west slope of Parnassus was dry, however; you could get away with no traction. Overall, spikes and gaiters were very helpful. |
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6/29/2019 Route: Bard, Robeson, Engelmann Posted On: 7/1/2019, By: bludwig Info: Be prepared for the best views of the Front Range Started at 5:00AM and hiked Parnassus, Bard, Robeson, and Engelmann. Came down the Bard route, which is a steep down climb with a small incline in a boulder field. After that, it's all trail hiking from there. The all mountains were mostly dry, the saddle between Parnassus and Bard is snowy but no traction is required; we did the entire day in trail shoes. Total of 13.25 miles with 5500 ft in gain in 10.5 hours. Photo 1: Wood/Parnassus saddle Photo 2: Parnassus Bard saddle Photo 3: Robeson (far left) and Engelmann (straight back) from Bard |
