Ruby Mountain

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/26/2024, By: mijoflynn
Info: The Peru Creek road opened on 11 June, then closed again because of high water. It's back open now, and clear all the way to the Argentine Pass TH. Bumpy, but clear. There's running water and a minor patch of low-angle snow as you reach the Peruvian mine (pic 1). The crest of the east ridge is clear all the way up (pic 2). My first time up in Horseshoe Gulch. What a pretty place -- even better once the wildflowers start blooming, I imagine. Fun little 2+ climb, with spectacular views of Grays (pic 3). 

Route: Chihuahua Gulch
Posted On: 8/14/2023, By: JasonKline
Info: If you're interested in adding the unranked 12er Cooper Mountain as well as Ruby Mountain, a good way to do them is from Chihuahua Gulch. This took about 5.25 miles and 3,200' vertical. The standard route for only Ruby from Argentine Pass is 4.6 miles and 2,250'. Cooper is 0.75 miles from Ruby, so adding it to Ruby for a round-trip already adds 1.5 miles (and over 800') and makes Chihuahua Gulch shorter. You also don't have to drive the entire 260 road to Argentine Pass. My Hyundai Ioniq had little difficulty making it to Chihuahua Gulch as long as I drove attentively and fairly slowly (it took me 15 minutes to drive the 2.1 miles on 260 from Montezuma Road). I haven't seen any good trip reports about this route, so I'll likely add one. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 8/3/2023, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Climbed on a random Wednesday needed a shorter peak after recovering from Mount Whitney. This peak delivered! Short, relatively easy, with some fun scrambling options if you can find them lol. Wildflowers are insane. 

Route: 
Posted On: 2/17/2023, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Peru creek road packed till I turned off. I opted to hit the ridge up Cooper as soon as it started. Nasty trail breaking through the trees. Once out of the trees, I switched to spikes. Headwall is a little awkward, as are a couple of rock steps higher up on the ridge. Mix of rock/snow. The ridge to Ruby has mandatory snow travel, but goes quick. Talus/snow/tundra to the summit. Weather was wonderful. Very cold in the morning, but warmed up with the sun. No wind until the descent 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2022, By: NotTimid
Info: Once you get above the cliffs and cross back over towards the ridge, that section is a bit soggy. Everything else is snow-free summer conditions, including the ridge to the summit. The traverse to Grays is also good to go - from below it looks like there is a snowfield in the way but it has melted off the ridge proper and does not impact the route at all! 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: Chelsea
Info: Summer conditions, great route. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 5/1/2022, By: 9patrickmurphy
Info: Continuous ski descent of the south slopes today. Didn't have much beta on this one so I was delighted to find the bowl between Ruby and Cooper holds snow quite well. Some gullies off of Ruby are filled in with a few rocks here and there, the bowl on the Cooper side was totally filled in and very fun. The big gully from the upper basin down to the creek is also filled in, allowing a continuous descent back to the road. Peru Creek road is mostly snow covered with a few mandatory skis off spots, really bad ski out as it's not very steep and there are a few flat/uphill spots on the way out. I have some other photos of the area, having trouble uploading them. If you want pics of the Cooper/Ruby basin or the Argentine Pass area, shoot me a message. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2021, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: A little remaining snow and pretty wet and muddy near the mine; otherwise the upper route is dry and summer conditions. 

Route: Southeast ridge
Posted On: 6/11/2021, By: cougar
Info: Near summer conditions, some firm snow and cornices up top. Started out for east ridge and ended up on the southeast one which was mostly tundra with trail segments. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/27/2020, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Dry all the way. Awesome clouds today. No register. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2020, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: No snow, early fall colors. Great for a quick hike, though we did not stop there. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/13/2020, By: ryannadire
Info: It looked like just going up the east slopes was easier than gaining the ridge at the bottom so that is what I did. It was pretty easy to walk up the slopes until about 13000' and that is when I decided to cross over and joined the ridge at about 13150'. There is a path of least resistance up to the top of the ridge. On the way down I stayed on the ridge for a few hundred yards before once again descending the slopes and picking roughly the same line as the way up. It was pretty loose at times but straightforward. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/2/2020, By: borscht
Info: Great, fun hike if you want to knock one out quickly. Snow along the ridge line is not along the top of the ridge and poses no issue. Lost the trail pretty immediately after the turn near the small mine area in picture #5 of the route. Other than snow runoff creating a marsh in one area it was pretty easy to pick our way to the beginning of the east ridge and go from there. Road to the trailhead is the usual bumpiness but had no problems in a Subaru Impreza getting there. All in all very minimal snow left and warm at the top around noon. 

Route: South Slopes to North Ridge to Grays
Posted On: 8/27/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: The south slopes from Argentine Pass trailhead are easy but steep and go at Class 2. You'll bypass a couple of cliffs but no scrambling is required. The upper slopes above treeline are loose but not tremendously so. The north ridge and subsequent scramble to Grays Peak (up Grays' south ridge) is extremely loose and goes at Class 3, maybe Class 3+ with poor route finding. It consists of a series of loose gullies and ledges that bring one incrementally higher, eventually meeting with Grays' southwest ridge route. From there a good trail takes one to the summit of Grays. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/30/2018, By: mikemalick
Info: Although there is snow is some areas, it is all completely avoidable. Never saw any other hikers on Ruby. Grays across the way, however, was a different story. First pic is ridge heading up to the false summit and second pic is summit ridge false to true summit.