6/17/2017 Route: from Argentine and down east side Posted On: 6/17/2017, By: cougar Info: Wilcox is over 90-95% dry. Small snowfield to cross coming down off Argentine to the ridge, and a little patch of snow here and there, but all other aspects are dry. |
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10/22/2016 Route: From Argentine Posted On: 10/22/2016, By: RyGuy Info: Coming from Argentine Peak, the route is almost entirely dry. Small patches of snow, quite avoidable. Descent to the Silver Dollar Lake area is 100% dry. On the descend back to The Guanella Pass TH, we contoured above the private property around Naylor Lake between 11,800 and 12,000 and returned to the Guanella Pass TH with only a bit of elevation regain. There are some decent snow patches on the north slopes of the east ridge coming down from SquareTop, that are calf deep in a couple areas, few inches in others. The slope is also pretty darn loose. I would suggest staying lower near the trees, and then turning south as the ridge starts to head down towards Guanella Pass. |
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7/10/2016 Route: Silver Dollar Lake Trail Posted On: 7/11/2016, By: CindyM Info: Very little snow left. Silver Dollar Lake Trail a little muddy, the rest of the route to Mt Wilcox summit clean and dry. |
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5/29/2016 Route: Naylor Lake Approach + Traverse to Otter Mountain Posted On: 5/30/2016, By: jasayrevt Info: Good, prime conditions for this route and reaching the top of the peak. Variable, definitely still a lot of snow around. There are many high-quality mountaineering lines that are in. Gain ridge and solid, quick jaunt. Perfect Powder for finishing the loop as well. Make a trip up and enjoy the great outdoors / summits. Pictures included for beta |
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4/30/2012 Route: SE slopes via Naylor Lake TH Posted On: 5/5/2012, By: pseudoghost Info: Trail is completely thawed out. No real need for snowshoes or an ice axe if you‘re only going to do Wilcox. If you go on to Argentine/Square Top/... then you probably want to take an ice axe as there were a few snow fields where I thought it helped. The main problem with this trail is all the downed trees. Apparently a huge microburst came through and leveled a huge chunk of the forest, which has made the "standard" route almost impassable. If you decide to do this, then do yourself a huge favor and stay as close to the Square Top side of the Naylor Lake road as possible (near the creek). Walk as much on the road as you can, until you get to the Private Property gate. From there, walk due North (slightly Northeast) following a game trail to the slopes of Wilcox. If you go on to Square Top, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT descend early into the trees to get back to your car. There‘s a ton of snow and downed trees. It‘s absolutely miserable. Save yourself the heartache and walk out to the road and walk down. |
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4/8/2012 Route: Naylor Lake Rd Posted On: 4/9/2012, By: IHikeLikeAGirl Info: Did an out and back on Mount Wilcox from the Guanella Pass Road closure. Typical spring conditions. Walked on top of the snow in the morning, sunk up to my hips and waist in spots on the descent without snowshoes. Snowshoes were a must (in the trees) on the descent and postholing was negligible with the shoes on. Naylor Lake Rd is heavily used and well packed. Above treeline, was bare tundra and talus mixed with descent sized snowfields/slopes. Snowfields/slopes were a mix of icy crusts to sugar to softening snow. Ice axe recommended if crossing these, but could be avoided. CarpeDM‘s 3/24 Argentine description of the "confusing tree fall start" on Naylor Lake Rd (in his route map), was an understatement (incredible amount of dead fall). As soon as you come up on this section, look for a well troddened trench to the left. This path goes around all the dead fall and puts you right back on the road. We tried to follow the road proper on the ascent and it was quite the battle (don‘t follow our tracks ;) ). Took the trench around on the descent and life was much better. Will add pics later |
