Powell Peak

Route: Via Andrews Glacier
Posted On: 7/15/2026, By: mijoflynn
Info: If a heat dome is going to give us a bunch of July days with zero chance of precipitation, I figured I may as well use them for some long hikes. Headed up to RMNP, climbed Andrews Glacier to get to Taylor and Powell, then backtracked and hit Otis, Hallett, and Flattop before taking the Flattop Mountain Trail back down. The glacier was in good climbing condition: consistent snow from the tarn to about ten feet from the top of the pass, supportive at 8am with enough give for good footing, no crevasses, and only a couple of icy patches. There were sharks emerging in the lower third, so glissaders should be careful. I went up with crampons and axe, which was overkill (I'm from out of state and only climb in summer, so I don't get to use them very often). Microspikes and poles should be fine.

NOTE 1: krishcane's numbers for these peaks are high, I think. Roach has 3900' to either Taylor or Powell via Andrews Glacier, which sounds about right; I had about 4700' after tagging both and returning to the top of the glacier. My total after going over Otis and Hallett was 5750'.

NOTE 2: I don't know that I'd recommend doing this route in this direction, because the last water you'll see is at Andrews Tarn -- 5 miles into an 18-mile hike. This time of year, there's no water on the divide, and there's not a drop anywhere on the Flattop Mountain Trail. I thought I brought more than enough water with me, and was still reduced to sucking on leftover ice cubes for the last five miles.

NOTE 3: Roach describes Powell as "shy"; SummitPost says it "receives far fewer visits than its two immediate neighbors"; and there are less than three hundred summiters on this site. So I was carefully sitting on the precarious summit (you can see about a thousand feet straight down through the cracks in the rocks), feeling pretty good about getting an uncommon peak, reaching it via a snow climb, and working hard but doing it in decent time (about five hours from the Glacier Gorge TH). Five minutes later, an ultralight trail runner sprints up the final stretch, casually touches the top, and throws me a quick "have a good one" before continuing on . . . to the class 5 McHenry's Notch?!? This hobby is both exhilarating and humbling. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 4/24/2026, By: Laxer04
Info: Hiked flattop, hallett, taylor and powell from bear lake. I just wore my winter boots, didn't need spikes or snowshoes. The snow is really hard packed and easy to walk on. Intermittent snow above tree line, most is avoidable

Really cold wind today but otherwise it was a perfect day. The hike took me about 8 hours, 18 miles 5600 vert 

Route: Via Andrews Glacier
Posted On: 7/9/2025, By: HikerGuy
Info: Trail is dry. The glacier is in perfect condition. Poles and spikes on the way up. Axe and spikes on the way down. 13.88 miles, 4,668 feet and 8h04m round trip from Glacier Gorge TH. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: Summer conditions. Summit register is missing a pencil and needs a new pad of paper since the current one is soaked/ruined. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: We went up Flattop and down Andrews. Total distance was 15.6 miles and 4700 ft of vert. Theres still some snow drifts in the trees but these didnt require traction in the AM. The minimal snow on the ridge up to Taylor and over to Powell was all avoidable. The glacier was in great condition to glissade (Im glad we ended up bringing an axe for this). The route below the tarn to the loch was snow covered (and will be for a while) but it was thankfully still supportive when we descended. Spikes helped a lot here. The views on this route are just awesome. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 6/13/2022, By: courtc43
Info: After the trail splits from the trail to Lake Helene, there is mostly continuous snow until treeline. Above treeline, there are only a few snow patches to cross. The snow is melting fast though, which made for a slushy hike back down. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 10/17/2021, By: supranihilest
Info: From Taylor Peak B's summit we contoured around the many little bumps and gullies that make up the western wall of Loch Vale. The western and southern sides of Taylor are drier than the northern side. The traverse to Powell is plenty snowy but we were once again able to avoid most of it with gratuitous rock hopping. Sticking as close to the edge of the Divide as possible helped as it was less snowy there than on the lower angle slopes to the west of the Divide. By far the most annoying part of the day was the traverse around Taylor's west and northwest sides on the return. Tons of snow, deep drifts, nothing but rock hopping, and much of the rock was unstable and prone to tipping or rolling. Slow and tedious and our feet got wet in this section. Once back below Otis Peak things got significantly better. It might actually be easiest to resummit Taylor and drop directly down the north slopes since there's less distance to cover and more exposed rock. We wore trail runners and were fine, those who get cold easily, move slowly, and/or don't want to bother avoiding the snow should wear warmer or more waterproof footwear. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 4/10/2021, By: Sbenfield
Info: Went over flattop Mtn & Taylor Pk B. Trail packed down well over flattop & most windblown for the rest. Didn't use snowshoes. Added Hallet Pk as a bonus on the way down 

Route: North Face Icefield - Right Branch
Posted On: 6/21/2020, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Climbed the gully to right of the rock rib. There is still a cornice guarding the exit. From below, it appeared one could simply exit left to avoid the cornice. Once on top, it was apparent the cornice is separating from the snowfield above. Proceed with caution and make sure you've had a couple good days of overnight freezing temperatures. Snow was variable and quite steep at the exit. Falling ice could also be a problem. Mellower options exist to the climbers left (as shown in picture #3). 

Route: North Face Snow via Sky Pond
Posted On: 6/8/2020, By: B_2
Info: Much less snow than expected, continuous snow starts around 11,700. Snow still very firm 10-11am while in the couloir. Worked our way up the 1-2 foot deep frozen runnel to give us a little texture for all the point work. Would guess this is 50-55 range. Combo to Taylor B all enjoyable class 1-2, down Andrews Glacier which was lovely in the afternoon for a glissade and exit. Drainages are highly variable right now in RMNP right now both levels and firmness. Andrews drainage had continuous snow all the way back down to the Loch, luckily minor postholing. 

Route: Stone Man Pass
Posted On: 9/16/2019, By: BrandonSlacks
Info: Clear and dry. No snow from last weeks storm. Some water running in parts of the tundra--enough to collect and filter. 

Route: Via Flattop Mountain
Posted On: 7/28/2019, By: shaunblair
Info: Dry. Be prepared - this is not an easy tundra walk as described on the route page, but more like an eight mile rock hop from the summit of Flattop out to Powell and back. 

Route: North Face Snowfields
Posted On: 6/21/2015, By: alpha
Info: North face snowfields were in great shape this morning. The right half still has cornices but there are exit options on the left half. I left early. On route from ~5:30-7:15.