Kelso Mountain

Route: North Gulley
Posted On: 5/11/2024, By: Geckser
Info: Arthurspiderman and I skied an afternoon Kelso Peak today with very pleasant conditions. We started from Bakersville at 11:00 under somewhat sunny skies. The road is drivable up to the turn off with 319 where ~4 cars had pulled off. We were spooked by warnings of the nasty road and instead booted from the bottom.

We wore runners for the entire ascent, turned off 321 at the base of the gulley which we followed to 11,000 before turning off to the Northeast ridge and following that to the summit. We were able to stay on 95% dry ground for this portion of the ascent and it made for fairly quick work. We were lucky that clouds came in at this turnoff, better preserving the snow.

The ski descent was great, everything was filled in and felt stable. No significant sluffing or cracking on the ascent or descent. A super fun little line. We were able to ski from the summit back to Bakersville with one 50 foot section of dry road we had to walk in the middle. Good sendoff for Arthurs return to Germany. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 12/16/2023, By: Chicago Transplant
Info: Generally not to snowy or icy, did not use spikes or flotation. Some minor postholing but I wouldn't bother with the weight.

Bakerville to Trailhead is well packed, especially the first roughly 1.75 miles where an ATV with a snowcat track has been up and down from one of the cabins. Beyond there are vehicle ruts and hiker tracks, some of the vehicle tracks get a bit squirrely, but a 4runner was at the summer trailhead. I hiked the whole road, might be good to Grizzly Gulch with good tires and AWD/4WD.

Trailhead to split for Kelso/Torreys saddle is packed out trail, some icy spots to watch for. The avy slopes are starting to fill in higher, but near the trail you can see grass. Most just stuck to the summer trail, I did a wide bypass on grassy terrain with 2-3" of snow. Better yet would be through the willows but I didn't stay low that long. Some deeper snow on the trail just after that had some postholing and others had snowshoes on but they only seemed to wear them for about 1/4 mile.

Kelso South Ridge is dry where its class 3 and was a fun bit of scrambling in winterlike conditions. You can bypass that by taking a more direct line up (my descent) from a little earlier on the trail. That terrain is steep but dry enough with some loose rocks. The ridge crest beyond was windy with some firm snow, I tended to stay to the east a little below to stay out of the wind. Nice day out in general! 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/23/2023, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Basically summer conditions for a few very short snowfields near the summit; did not wear any traction or require any. Bluebird conditions today. We took the ridge direct route which had some fun scrambling options along the ridge. Saw the resident goat up on Kelso!

Kelso Ridge is pretty dry but still snowy towards the top of the route. G&T still pretty snowy. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: MaryinColorado
Info: Approach contains a few stretches of snow that were a non-issue. Firm on the way up, mildly slick on the way down. A warmer day will cause more post-holing but definitely don't need snowshoes for it. Route from the turn-off was essentially dry, i.e., most snow completely avoidable. Unlike Grays and Torreys, Kelso's slope orientation allows for a decent melt-off. Had a couple snow crossings along the way including the final stretch to the summit, but nothing of consequence. Never felt the need to take out the ice axe. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2023, By: dwoodward13
Info: Great day out. Some pretty well packed in snow in the willows off and on. No need for flotation although you might have a minor post hole here and there. Headed up to the mine at the Kelso ridge saddle and stayed right of ridge crest. Mostly snow free to the summit minus some avoidable patches/drifts on the ridge crest. There is one shallow gully filled with snow that you will have to cross but good snow and no traction needed. Goats were guarding the summit and took a while for them to move along. Descended grass down the shallow gully all the way back down to the trail intersecting just below 12k. Some glissade opportunities but elected to go with the grass. Attaching some photos of Edwards/G/T. Standard routes are still caked with snow in the 14ers. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/4/2023, By: slawrence2011
Info: Skied Kelso and a N facing couloir in the middle of the Grays - Edwards ridge topping out at about 13,600. Started at the upper TH thanks to hitches. Road seems snow free to there except for a 80 foot or so section of soft snow that is well tracked that needs to be hit with momentum. Trail seems either snow free or very packed for the first section, but I quickly transitioned off of it to the N, summiting Kelso via easy grass on the SE aspect (with between a dusting to an inch of snow), only to later see that the S aspect was even easier. Skied a nice E facing couloir that was very soft even at 8:30, a couple inches of new snow it seems, no significant instability noted. Then, decided to ski a line I had always seen when going through Steven's gulch, seems like the next couloir E of Lost rat (not counting a more moderate snow line), I would rate it around D7-D8. I later confirmed it goes to a saddle between two points 13,6, just W of Edwards. I climbed it first, electing no crampons due to quite soft but bearable conditions, and an ice axe. It hardly softened due to heavy cloud cover, but I think it didn't get a full freeze, and had a couple inches new snow. Small cornice at top easily avoidable far left, and very moderate angle on the entry. No good pictures of that, or Kelso N face, due to heavy fog that came in around 10:30. Curious if anyone else has skied this aesthetic little line. Great snow coverage on all the couloirs and routes I am aware of accessed from Steven's gulch, and heard Emperor skied great as well. Can ski out within a couple hundred yards of the upper TH if you stay at the very bottom of the gulch, but beware of snow bridges, as the creek sounds loud. Had a few painful posthole moments going from the E side of Kelso to the base of the unnamed couloir that I dealt with rather than constantly switching from skis to boots. 

Route: North Gully
Posted On: 5/28/2023, By: k_fergie
Info: End of month update: North Gully is still in. Choke and upper face are showing some rocks, but going skier's left yielded good coverage and great corn. Most of the snow below 12.5k is fully transitioned into a summer pack and is draining well, higher was mixed, so be weary. Snow starts at at 10.9k, right at the gully exit, making for perfect booting and skiing for ~2.3k vertical 

Route: North Gully
Posted On: 5/8/2023, By: astranko
Info: Parked at the bottom of the G&T road and had a great day out. Snow coverage is good, although the lower choke is going to be melted out sooner rather than later.

Continuous, firm snow to crampon up from the base to the summit. Upper ~300ft to the summit were thin with some places being ~1" of snow over rock. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 8/28/2022, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: Even with walking from I-70, this is probably the easiest peak I've climbed all year, my Front Range ranked 13er finisher. Simply use the standard Grays trail until the grassy slope of Kelso Mtn is appealing and then just go up on the gentle terrain. Mountain goats hanging out near the summit today. 

Route: SE Cliff Bands Ascent/Ridge Direct Descent
Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: stomblin7
Info: I did the loop following the GPS for the most part counter clockwise. Full summer conditions for entire route. SE face is steep loose grassy slopes with very short cliff band sections you might use a hand or two for balance, but I would still say Class 2+ range. I descended the ridge all the way to Kelso Ridge's saddle, and there were maybe 3x short class 3 moves when you stay ridge direct. Super fun day, I did not see anyone else on the mountain, but had the joys of enjoying a goat family and some young marmots tackling each other. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/15/2022, By: Danger_D
Info: Summer conditions. A tiny amount of snow right on the ridge but easily avoidable. The Greys/Torreys trail was a little wet, but not bad 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 4/18/2022, By: yaktoleft13
Info: Road is still snow covered from i70 parking lot, though the lower half is melting fast. Wore spikes in the morning to upper trailhead, then snowshoes from there till the upper mountain. Wind was brutal from upper trailhead to 12.7. 40-50 mph constantly, knocking me around and blowing snow around. It calmed down slightly after that, but kept whipping that powder around.

At first went to take the ridge straight from the Torreys saddle, but the wind was too strong for that exposure and terrain. Sidehilled back to the standard route and connected rocky tundra segments till the ridge. Ridge has a ton of false summits and piled snow, but on the northern side there's almost always rocks exposed.

On the way down, I took a more expeditious route, and would recommend it for the way up: when you reach the sign that talks about what a cairn is, turn uphill and link those rocky sections together to reach the ridge.

Wore snowshoes from the sign till 1.5 miles from the parking area 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 1/2/2022, By: gluckhikes
Info: The road is well used up to the trailhead, including snowmobile tracks. I broke trail in snowshoes from the bridge up to the Torreys-Kelso saddle. The snow is all pretty windblown and never got too deep.The ridge is mostly dry from the saddle. While mostly gradual tundra and rocks, there is some fun optional class 3 near the start of the ridge climb. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 12/18/2021, By: angry
Info: Pray for snow! Did not use traction/flotation. No summit register. 

Route: South slopes
Posted On: 6/30/2021, By: Skimo95
Info: Summer conditions. Water all the way to kelso split, 2.9mi from TH > saddle > summit. If you summit by 11, good chance of having a F16/F22 flyby. No summit register. Class 1 trail, took the short way down for 4.4mi RT; Dog friendly