Gladstone Peak

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: Did Gladstone on the way back from Wilson. No cairns, but there's a ton of options and hard to get lost anyway. On the way up mostly stayed to the left of the ridge and it was ok-ish. On the way back tried to be more true to the GPX and description and stay on ridge proper for the first 2/3 back to the saddle and more often than not it actually worked pretty nicely. So choose your own adventure :) The route is no harder than class 3 (and quite a lot of it). The section marked as class 4 in the route description is not harder than a bunch of other sections on the route. Not sure by what principle this is supposed to be class 4. 

Route: East face
Posted On: 7/3/2024, By: gcook33
Info: Summit from Cross Mountain trailhead. Not sure why this isnt the standard route, it was incredible. Mostly class 1 and 2 on the approach. Then the last 500 some fun class 3, mostly solid. Snow on the route can be navigated with crampons or microspikes, but we had a guy without either and he just rock hopped around. Thanks to the trip reports written about this route, they were very helpful. 11 miles, ~4800 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 5/26/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Dry for the first mile from Cross Mtn TH then various levels of patchy and consistent up to and on the pass.(Obligatory stops to look at Lizard Head required.) We booted down from the pass into Bilk Basin and then very consistent coverage. We skinned up into the basin then transitioned to crampons. We left skis at the cliff band. There was a bit of weird scrambling over the cliff band then a more mellow slope to the final push. The couloir does truly feel steep and the rocks are exposed so theres not an easy option but the snow was thankfully about as good in crampons as you could ask for. Summit block felt truly epic (thank you to the awesome group on Wilson for the pics). Due to clouds we took our time overall on the ascent and thankfully it meant we timed the snow perfectly for some fun turns in the basin. full trip report as I felt this was a great snow route: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=22525 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2023, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Was snow free to final scramble, however did not use traction. Sticking near or on the ridge crest was the way to go, ended up doing the Class 4 crux following the route description. Used the trust but verify approach with hand/footholds, didnt fully commit till I knew the hold(s) were good. Had a helmet for protection. Long ridge though, especially since you have to do it twice 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/27/2023, By: swilson753
Info: As other reports have said, the route is in summer conditions. There's one 50 ft snow field to cross in Silver Pick Basin. It was a little slippery at 5 am after a bunch of rain the day before, but I was able to kick steps in hiking boots without any issue. I had more trouble with a couple spots up high in the basin (around 12.7k and 12.9k) where the trail to the Rock of Ages saddle appears to have washed out. It made for sketchy route finding in the dark. On my way down, I heard spontaneous rockfall above me as I crossed the washed out gullies. I'm glad I left my helmet on. Overall the first half to 2/3 of the ridge to Gladstone is really fun scrambling on surprising solid rock. After the low point, the rock gets a lot looser/tippier, especially on some of the lower ledges we took to bypass some difficult sections on the ridge proper. Lots of the large flat plates will tilt unnervingly when stepped on. I thought the ridge would take 2 hours each way from the Wilson-Gladstone saddle, but it wound up taking just under 3 hours each way. It's a long and committing climb. We got rained on/graupeled on the way back. I was glad to be past the loose section when the weather rolled in. Thank you to the two guys who let me invite myself along with them. You made today a lot of fun! 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/6/2023, By: daway8
Info: Only a few trivial snowfields going up towards Wilson Peak (see reports for that peak). After that, the traverse to Gladstone is totally dry. Lots of snowfields left on the north slopes of the El Diente-Wilson Traverse but from the looks of it (and what I've heard) the Traverse itself is dry. Mt Wilson East Face route had a surprising amount of snow left but is no longer continuous. Ridge proper from Wilson to Gladstone was fairly solid overall but, as others have reported, there are some very large rocking horses on this route that will get your heart pumping if you step on one unawares. Route quickly goes from class 2 to 3 to 4 if you stay ridge proper, with a couple isolated class 5 moves with easy bypasses. Agree with the note in the route description that you're typically better off staying on or near the ridge crest, but it does get tiring by the time you go there and back (especially if you just did Wilson Peak before going over to Gladstone). 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: Veory
Info: Summer conditions. I thought that the looseness of the route was overhyped, aside from the start of the ridge from the saddle with Wilson. Thought the scrambling was enjoyable, although it was a bit hot with a lot of direct sun and this recent heat. 

Route: NE Face
Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: slawrence2011
Info: Started from Sunshine Mesa Th at 4. Dry until upper Bill Basin, great trail, but glad I had the beta for crossing Bilk creek .2 miles past the main crossing, running high! Almost climbed snow to the ridge, but entry to col is getting thin, and took a couple crampon steps on rock. The snow was quite cohesionless by these rocks, but better rest of way til ridge. Class 2 on ridge was cruiser. Skied down from ridge, took off skis to cross bare spots, then took off skis several more times to link snowfields down to 11,8. Much more cruiser when snow covers loose rock! 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: _coloradical
Info: Trail up to Lizard Head pass is in great condition currently. This route contours around Cross Mountain until you gain the eastern slopes. Despite my 6 am start time, the snow was still hard and easy to move across. I highly recommend an ice axe and crampons for the snow section, I noticed I forgot mine at mile 4, when I went to grab my crampons and it made the last portion of the climb a little tougher. The slopes before the ridge are holding some nice snow at the moment. Once you gain the ridge, its got a couple of snowy areas youll need to bypass but mostly dry rock. I havent climbed the North Ridge, so I dont know if the rock is better then how Roach describes it. Followed a similar line on the descent, but a pole collapsed and went for a short slide. Overall it was a great route, conditions are good right now. One other person made summit today that was behind me. Overall great day for Gladstone. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 5/28/2023, By: dcruz654
Info: Snow begins a half mile from the trailhead. Seems like the freeze has been doing well recently. Snow stayed firm enough to stay mostly solid even down low at 10am. I started at 4 am. Was on a split board, but walked for about 1.5 miles before switching to skinning, honestly could have easily walked all the way to the pass between Lizard and Cross. Once at 11,900 there are some spots were there was no snow, so I booted to the saddle, this was avoidable however if you really wanted to stay on snow. The face gets sun early, but held up pretty well while I was climbing it after 7. Summited around 830, then dropped at 9. There was just barely enough snow to ski off the top with a bit of billy goating just 50' vert from the summit. Bit of sloughing in the steeper sections near the summit and the cliff band, but was manageable. Back at car just 1:45 after leaving the peak. East face is good right now, maybe not so much for skiing (it was ok, Wilson looked GREAT though), it seemed walkable from bottom to top and back with minimal post holing 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 7/3/2022, By: frigidridge
Info: East face is nearly entirely dry. Snow can be avoided. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 4/18/2022, By: Geckser
Info: Just the perfect day up there, conditions could not have been better. Snow was firm in the morning and made for great skiing by 9:00. We left at 5:20 A.M. and were back at the car by 11:00 A.M. We skied up to 13,300 where we dropped our skis put on crampons and summited. The snow above 13,300 was supportive but probably had 3 inches of give making for great hiking. The much discussed rock band was easy to find a line through and the summit “couloir” was in great shape. In the morning we were accompanied by a bright moon and it was easy going to lizard head pass (though we took a bad route up). From the pass we probably lost 300 feet before pushing up the east face. The ski descent from 13,300 was awesome with some borderline corn snow for the entire face and some great turns on the other side of Lizard Head Pass. Coverage is perfect. Very, very fun day and if you want to bag Gladstone conditions are not getting much better. 

Route: From Lizard Head pass
Posted On: 1/17/2022, By: blazintoes
Info: Cruiser Cross trail tracked via skis and snowshoes to 3.5 miles then you're on your own. Some dry spots up by Lizard Head so stashed my skis at 11,700'. Circled all the way to the pass then cruised down 400'. And then steep is the name of the game all the way up Gladstones east face. There's a steep 40 degree col right up to the summit for 500'. The snow was absolutely perfect! Muah! I'm on the summit now. Anyone wanna do Vermilion with me tomorrow via Hope Lake? 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/8/2021, By: Skimo95
Info: Summit needs new pen/paper. Packed out old cable, and left register. Judd D. likes South Maroon more than LB. Kiefer, Whitley, and Brad were on the list before the paper got ruined. Holla! Crest direct can go at low class 5, rock was sturdier than expected, still have to look for holds. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 7/29/2021, By: lfishsays
Info: East face is dry. Big thanks to HikerGuy for the GPX file that was extremely helpful as we were crossing the basin in the dark. Really enjoyed this route!