Traver Peak

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: happyallyy
Info: hiked 6/22 from Montgomery Reservoir. The hike up the road to Wheeler Lake is dry at the start then turns to a full on creek with decent flow. When you get to the big creek crossing, there is a nice place to cross below the road about 10 feet. Once you pass the crossing, the road has snow patches on and off to the lake. I headed up Traver first, then went to McNamee and on to Clinton. The best spot to head down was off McNamees summit, so thats what I did (completely snow free). Spikes were helpful on a few sections heading up to the lake, but were not needed at all once you gain Travers ridge. Snow free on the descent from McNamees summit to right before the lake, where I was able to do a nice little glissade. wheeler lake is still completely frozen! 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 11/19/2023, By: hatterasdunton
Info: No snowshoes needed. Microspikes absolutely needed for the first 4 miles from trailhead. Trail is extremely icy. 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 7/15/2023, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Climbed Traver - McNamee - Clinton - Wheeler today! The road in is unreal. I thought Lake Como was bad. This road is worse. Just park at Montgomery Res and call it good! Also - the road is a swamp, many water crossings with reroutes through willows. By the end of the day, we were just stomping through regardless of the water. This route is almost entirely snow free, and the wildflowers are popping off. 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 9/25/2022, By: ncxhjhgvbi
Info: The road from the reservoir is a swamp basically all the way to the lake with many deep water sections. All have established bypasses, generally on the right, but some of those are marshy as well. Beautiful bluebird fall day and didn't see a soul above the lake! After initially climbing into the basin from the lake, I stayed a bit right to avoid marshy areas and stay mostly on rock. Eventually angled toward the creek and found walking directly up it to be the easiest. Slope up Clinton looks steep but the rock is pretty solid and it went by quickly. Summit block of Traver from the north had some very short but fun routefinding. It seemed to have the most loose rock on the initial descent to the east, but I could have just been getting fatigued. If your doggo likes rock hopping the route is very doggable - Luna had a blast! 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 8/21/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: The road had the typically puddles I've seen on other reports and there was also a lot of water running down it. With rain the night before the bypasses through the willows soaked us in the morning but they dried up by the time we came down. Most of the rock was slippery on the route up slowing since they were wet and covered in lichen. Weather started to roll in during the hike down and we made is back to the car just in time before the rain (11.45 mi; 3,301' gain; 5:54:39 total time) Start at TH 6:05am; Traver Peak 8:55am; McNamee Peak 9:10am; Clinton Peak 9:35am; Back to TH 12:00pm 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: Chelsea
Info: Some unavoidable snow patches around & above Wheeler Lake. Microspikes weren't necessary. Lots of water along the road and in the basin. Be prepared to get wet feet. Summer conditions along the ridge. 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 9/30/2020, By: MC.Ikema
Info: Snow free to Montgomery Reservoir TH. 

Route: Combo Clinton/McNamee/Traver
Posted On: 9/13/2020, By: gluckhikes
Info: Route above Wheeler Lake is not obvious but easy enough. Snow all the way up, with mixed talus and snow near the summit. Dry to McNamee, mostly dry to Clinton. Class 2+ descent from Clinton to the Wheeler saddle is very snowy and takes some time. Cairned route from saddle to Wheeler Lake is mostly easy to follow. Terrain between the two lakes is very wet with snowmelt, try to stay on the high side to avoid swampy vegetation. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/22/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: A much easier climb than it looks from Wheeler Lake. Just follow talus and boulders in the general direction of Traver and the terrain will open up above the lake. There's maybe a couple moves of Class 2+ but it would be entirely avoidable. In the basin above the lake the terrain is mostly easy angled tundra and talus to the ridge, and from there it steepens a little and becomes a Class 2 talus hop. Numerous options for gaining the ridge. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/1/2018, By: pixelpeter
Info: Trail is largely wet and snow covered. The 4x4 road has some scattered dry spots but also has standing and moving water from a trickle to about 12" deep. We saw ice covering that looks to be 24" thick. Snow drifts on the trail range up to ten feet deep. We used snowshoes across the bigger snowfields and over the drifted snow on the trail. Snow conditions added significant time to our summit trek and return. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/17/2016, By: jasayrevt
Info: Clear and very nice enjoyable trip w/ reaching summits. Invigorating, Inspiring Hobby. Great, beautiful 13er mountains. This quality, classic route is a unique undertaking and lightly traveled. Incredible views of Mosquito Range peaks. Prime, excellent, and bluebird summer conditions up high for navigating slopes & ridge line extremely well. Successful traverse to McNamee (13,780') too. Trail runners and light pack were good. Climb safely / swiftly in the hills folks. Big Thank You Bill Middlebrook regarding detailed information & Colorado Mountaineering Community consistency. Pictures included as beta 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 9/27/2015, By: BagginPeaks
Info: Did the combo Traver - McNamee - Clinton from Montgomery Reservoir. There is an old jeep road/trail that skirts the SW side of Wheeler Lake after the parking area. Soon you will see the gully/talus slope to take into the high basin. The terrain from here on is off-trail, talus, and tundra. The upper basin could be confusing to some, study your map and use your routefinding skills to find a line up, paralleling the stream. Stay on the rocks as much as possible and not the fragile wetlands. When convenient, pick a line and gain Traver‘s East ridge. The talus gets tedious. Traverse to Mcnamee and then Clinton is straightforward, took me less than an hour with no time spent on Mcnamee other than to take a picture of the Climax glory hole. Once one Clinton, continue over the summit and down the ridge maybe 50 feet before starting a scree-filled descent of Clinton‘s South Slope. Retrace your steps back through the basin and back down to Wheeler Lake (hopefully you made mental images of what it looked like behind you as you were ascending). 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2015, By: mjlucarelli
Info: Summited Traver Peak on 4th of July, the goal was the Clinton/Traver Combo but I ran out of time. Crossed two small snow fields above Wheeler Lake and the 4wd road to the lake was pretty wet from snow melt but there is no need for any snow gear. I was able to access the ridge between Traver and Clinton climbing a section that was free of snow and then came down a snow free East Ridge. I ran into a couple that was going to ski off of Clinton, which there was plenty of snow in the basin, but this is a totally doable summer hike. 

Route: South Slopes
Posted On: 5/18/2014, By: Grover
Info: The South Slopes of Traver Peak are in great shape. Snow covers the entire route and a summit descent is possible if you are skiing or riding down. No issues riding down into the basin. Some wet slab activity can be seen as you ride out of the South Slopes and down into the valley. The summer trail (see: 4x4 road) is covered with snow, but it was soft in the afternoon. It would be possible to skin up the entire way in the morning (as of this report). There are only some small spots that have melted away entirely.