Stewart Peak

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2019, By: WildWanderer
Info: Creek Crossings on the drive in are negligible, the drive in is clear. Light dusting of snow from yesterday, both below and above treeline, should be gone by tomorrow. No traction needed. I saw several large hunting camps in the area, so wearing bright colors is probably a good idea. Very windy and very cold on the summit. 

Route: West Ridge from Stewart Creek
Posted On: 9/3/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: I came from Baldy Alto, and it was a long, high, Class 2 talus hike from there. I stayed on or near the "Column Ridge" ridge crest most of the way, then split right/east to climb Stewart. Stewart's west ridge is easy Class 2 talus. 

Route: From Cebolla TH
Posted On: 8/24/2019, By: dwoodward13
Info: Drove from Lake City to the Cebolla TH via Los Pinos Pass. Directions in Roach's book are spot on both from Lake City and then back to CO 114. Was able to pretty comfortable make it in my Camry. Rocky in places that caused slow going, but nothing requiring clearance. Similar to the Shavano road. Road grater was going over the pass so it may even be better now. This is a great route. Below treeline the trail is in great shape. Thru the willows the route is still pretty good. Large posts mark the route, but you can also see the trail thru the grass in between bushes. Route above the willows is straightforward. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2019, By: Tisch
Info: Trail is totally dry until the upper portion of the ridge. From there, a hard layer of snow exists for about 400 feet. It's easily walkable without spikes, but you may want to bring them if you don't feel comfortable on snow. The last 400 feet to the summit is dry. I did Column Ridge and Baldy Alto as well, descending the Baldy Alto ridge and cutting back down into Nutras Creek. Pic 1: The drainage I descended off of the Baldy Alto ridge. Pic 2: Descending Baldy Alto Pic 3: Looking back at Column Ridge and Stewart Pic 4: The upper route on San Luis Pic 5: The solid snow ridge on Stewart, which starts at 13,100 Pic 6: Still at 13,100, looking down at the route 

Route: San Luis/Baldy Alto/Stewart
Posted On: 6/30/2019, By: PBR Powered
Info: First off, I think Stewart has better views of the San Luis valley than San Luis.... Leaving San Luis for Baldy Alto there were a very minor snow fields to glissade down/ navigate around. I tried to avoid the snow because all the post-holing. The climb up Baldy Alto was snow free but still a fair share of scurry. Coming down Baldy Alto is also kinda loose but also free of snow. I advise to hold the ridge all the way to Stewart, entering the basin (which had a herd of 100+ Elk) looks tempting, but not worth it. From the top of Stewart I headed ~150 yards down the east ridge and then proceeded to glissade all the way down to the basin. Exiting the basin I used game trail turned hiking trail (of visa-versa) to avoid most of the willows. It was easy going, surprisingly. But still bring your willow-fighting attitude. The road back to Stewart creek trail-head is 40min on the road and is a great character builder. 

Route: via San Luis Peak
Posted On: 7/23/2018, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Ridge is in great shape over Baldy Alto and onto Stewart from San Luis Peak. Took East Ridge down - also clear and easy to follow once you get down to Nutras Creek. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2018, By: Kitten
Info: Practically no snow in the entire route, only a patch on the ridge. No microspikes needed. Surprisingly summer conditions, the vegetation looks really dry. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 1/8/2018, By: bmcqueen
Info: With this odd, virtually snowfree winter, I made a loop of San Luis, Baldy Alto, Column Ridge and Stewart, descending down Stewart's east ridge to my car parked just above the Nutras Creek TH. Sadly, no floatation needed although I wore my spikes most of the day. There is a large ice floe across the road just after Nutras Creek. Virtually any vehicle will make it down there (gravity and all). Only a beefy 4x4 with tire chains will make it back up the hill. Proceed all the way to Stewart Creek with extreme care! 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 12/19/2017, By: blainerblainer
Info: Climbed Stewart via the East Ridge today. Very little snow that was almost completely avoidable above treeline. Was able to drive within a quarter mile of Nutras Creek, and relatively close to the Stewart Creek Trailhead. A forest service friend told me that they don't gate the road to Stewart Creek until spring. With this years drought, and a good 4WD car, one might be able to reach this area for winter ascents of Stewart and San Luis. 

Route: From Cebolla Trailhead
Posted On: 11/26/2017, By: osprey
Info: Very little snow. No flotation or traction needed. Extremely windy on the summit. Saw no one else in the area. The last 12 miles of the road before the trailhead are snow packed but several vehicles have driven the road after the last storm and my Subaru Forester made it fine. 

Route: Std.
Posted On: 6/26/2017, By: Shattuck311
Info: Summer conditions. Only had to take 2 steps on snow, and that will be gone by the following weekend. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2016, By: desertdog
Info: Almost summer conditions. Camped at Nutras Creek Trailhead and followed a good trail to the base of the east ridge. No snowshoes or traction needed. There are some patches of snow that we climbed to avoid talus hopping. The route over to Baldy Alto is free of snow as well. We saw a bear fishing and having fun in the sun about 1/2 mile from our campsite. Beautiful area! 

Route: Cebolla
Posted On: 9/10/2012, By: JosephG
Info: It‘s hunting season, and the hunters are out in force. Wear orange and leave the antler hats at home. The leaves on the drive to TH are changing and display some brilliant yellow and orange (less of the latter). 

Route: Nutras Creek Approach
Posted On: 6/7/2012, By: Matt Lemke
Info: Long drive on a pretty nice dirt road last night and I woke up this morning in the La Garitas! The trail up Nutras Creek is disappearing...I guess not many people use it but I was able to follow it all the way up the wrong drainage...lol it led me up a side drainage to the right of Nutras Creek looking up so I ended up climbing to the top of Willow Mesa (12er) and traversing the ridge to Stewart. It was a quaint climb I'd describe it as. Very beautiful and simple area...green right now. The beaver dams I saw were quite impressive and I saw two full herds of elk roaming the tundra above treeline in upper Nutras Valley. After a windy stay on the summit I traversed to Baldy Alto and then ran the ridge on the other side of the Nutras Valley to treeline and back into the valley to pick up the trail once again. There is something about the simplicity of some peaks I just like. I saw signitures from "IHikeLikeAGirl" on both summits (I think that was you as you just posted a report as well). Snow free the entire day 

Route: Cebolla Trl via Column Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2012, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Plus Baldy Chato, Column Ridge, and Baldy Alto Few small patches of snow, but basically it‘s summer there. The roads are in perfect condition. Any car could make it. Amazing how smooth those miles and miles of back roads are. Looked down the Nutras Creek side, did not see any significant snow on the ridge or in the basin.