Gladstone Peak

Route: East Face
Posted On: 6/15/2020, By: dhagan
Info: Great day for Gladstone Peak via East Face (except for all the smoke from nearby wildfires). Cross Mountain trail snow free to Lizard Head Pass. The low traverse around Bilk Basin below Cross Mountain and Gladstone has a few snow patches that are easily passable. There continues to be nearly continuous snow until the steeper final summit pitch. The upper cliff band just below this is an easy scramble between snow sections. The snow is well consolidated and easily manageable with the morning sun without crampons, though crampons would be very reasonable to use as well. I am so glad we did this rather than the "standard" North Ridge route. Way more fun with snow ascent and descent and reasonably stable rock for the scramble sections. Much better than the treacherous reports for the North Ridge route. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 6/11/2020, By: KalenJones
Info: Trail to Lizard Head saddle essentially snow free. Good coverage on east face up to steeper rock. Crampons much appreciated on ascent, good glissading conditions with 10:15 am departure from summit, on sunny but breezy and cooler than average day. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/15/2019, By: tjf242424
Info: Dry the entire way from Rock of Ages saddle. The ridge is long (took us about 4 hours round trip). 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 8/13/2019, By: angry
Info: Recommend carrying an axe, as a slip on the snow field would send you into rocks. Dry from ridge to summit. Ascended same route as hiker guy but descended below cross mountain ridge to avoid snow on the way out and head directly back to the cross mountain trail. 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 8/8/2019, By: glenmiz
Info: Less snow than the previous condition report. Snow was supportive but mushy and slippery. 

Route: East Face/Cross Mtn TH
Posted On: 7/21/2019, By: HikerGuy
Info: What a cool peak, this route will make you love Gladstone. Awesome snow climb right now. Cross Mountain trail is snow free and dry all the way to the Lizard Head saddle. Snow travel begins after a few hundred feet down in the basin. Snow travel is low to moderate-angle up to cliff band. I carried an ice axe, but did not use it. Traction needed, I used crampons as they provide more bite on softer snow. Once on the left side weakness of the cliff band, no snow from there until summit. Rock was surprisingly stable. I was able to stay on lichen-covered rock the whole way. This should be the standard route, I think it would even be good in dry/summer conditions. 11.3 miles roundtrip. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/17/2019, By: 5ClimbingCooneys
Info: VIA BILK BASIN:
There has been significant avalanche activity in this basin. We rode bikes from the Sunshine Mesa trailhead to the creek crossing. The 1st mile is good to go, but the last mile has frequent slide debris that makes passage via bike very time-consuming (mainly downed trees). Could not find much evidence of the railroad car or old structure immediately on the other side of the creek after crossing. The log jam has been partially removed by the high waters and is not currently usable as a suitable crossing. There's a snow bridge where the old railcar used to be that we used to cross, but it's showing signs of melting out soon. After it's gone, it may be necessary to wade the creek to cross.

The upper basin is mostly buried in deep snow starting around 11,200'. We found a single usable tent site just before the trail drops out of the trees around 11,200'. The upper lake is still covered by snow, as is the entire basin. Great climbing conditions if you like to avoid all the rock! 

Route: East Face up, north ridge down
Posted On: 5/27/2018, By: bmcqueen
Info: We climbed east Face from Cross Mountain trail. Snow was great in the Basin, but gets mighty thin at the cliff band. We climbed the rocks on the south side of the face to access the snow again above the cliff band. From there, climbed the snow straight to the summit, but that won't be there much longer. North ridge descent was mostly dry. 

Route: SE Face
Posted On: 5/11/2018, By: cottonmountaineering
Info: From Cross mtn TH, there is intermittent snow to the pass, the trail is very muddy. Snow in bilk basin is great and did not posthole or need snowshoes. Snow conditions on the route are good, but was a bit slushy coming down around 8:30am. Get this route while its still in! 

Route: East Face
Posted On: 4/28/2018, By: dude4mountains
Info: From Cross Mountain TH - First mile: mud/slop. Mostly continuous snow to Lizard Head/Cross Mtn saddle. Solid snow across Bilk Basin. Continuous high quality snow climb to the summit. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 8/10/2017, By: zinj
Info: Route from the high saddle above (near) Rock of Ages is not at all clear -- which is fine, but plan for this to take longer than you expect. I did a lot of E side traverse below the ridgeline on the way out and mostly stuck the ridge on the way back.

Neither choice was obviously better than the other. This is a loose, long ridge that exhausts the mind as much as the body. Nearly every step required a decision -- there were few stretches of more than a couple of steps in succession where a climber could just 'obviously' continue in a particular direction.

Got beat up enough (and delayed enough) by Gladstone that I had to drop my attempt on Wilson Pk as weather rolled in. But came back following day to tag Wilson Pk.

While sharing an approach, from the point of splitting off, Gladstone and Wilson Pk aren't even in the same zipcode. Gladstone is a much harder climb. 

Route: E slopes
Posted On: 8/15/2016, By: Monster5
Info: From Cross Mtn Trail, went up lizard head (dry, anchors in good condition), then hiked up the east slopes (tundra/rock hop) of Gladstone and gained the SE ridge a few hundred ft from the top (class 3). Route is snow free. I guess a bit loose, but nothing unreasonable or unpredictable. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/7/2016, By: asnellstrom
Info: Yesterday we climbed Wilson Peak and Gladstone. The ridge looks way shorter and more inviting than it really is! All of the reports live up to its reputation of being quite loose. Some snow on the ridge just below the summit can be easily navigated through closest to the top of the ridge. Overall a fun hike! No traction necessary. Also, I like how the summit registry is held in place by an old crowbar, very unique. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/20/2015, By: VR_CO
Info: Not sure how much melting has taken place in the past week-and-a-half, but recently there were several inches of snow in Silver Pick Basin above ~12,700ft. Along Gladstone's north ridge there were at least a few inches for most of the route. This slowed the pace but was not insurmountable and made for a scenic day! I tried to stay on the ridge itself as much as possible, as it was difficult in some spots to re-crest after dropping down to the east. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/26/2014, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: Climbed Gladstone from the point where the Wilson Peak trail hits the Wilson-Gladstone ridge. The entire ridge was dry.