Trinity Peak

Route: West and Middle Trinity
Posted On: 7/7/2026, By: dcsheldon
Info: Hiked West Trinity and Trinity July 2. We went up the basin east of Vestal. Snow in the climb to the WT/Vestal saddle is avoidable. 

Route: Trinity Traverse
Posted On: 6/22/2026, By: Cereal
Info: Summer/dry conditions.

The Colorado Trail from Molas Pass is free of downfall and goes quickly. The trail from the Beaver Ponds up to Vestal Basin felt MUCH more established/easy to follow than five years ago.

Since I came from the back side of Vestal, I can't speak to the "standard" ascent from the basin up to the Vestal/WT saddle. There was some snow in it, but I'm not sure if it's avoidable. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 5/26/2026, By: andy_schlichting
Info: Packed in to Vestal Basin from Molas Pass on Friday and camped just on the other side of the ponds after leaving the Colorado Trail. CT was completely dry and in great condition (as expected). Over the weekend I summited West Trinity, Trinity, East Trinity, Arrow and Vestal.

Saturday I went for the Trinity Traverse with my sister and brother-in-law. The trail from camp was decent after the Elk Creek crossing, though there are quite a few downed trees (I suspect most of these aren't new from this winter either). Intermittent snow until the upper basin. The meadow was mostly dry. After heading up the wall through a snow-filled gully, we were on snow most of the way up to the saddle between West Trinity and Vestal. Once on the ridge, it was dry rock 99% of the way to the summit and any snow was inconsequential. Fun class 3/4 scramble up. The hike down to the saddle with Trinity was easy and also dry.

The route up Trinity was mostly dry, though there were a few snow patches to deal with. All of the class 3 and 4 rock was dry and in good condition. We had an adventure finding the chimney to get up near the summit ridge, but once we found it, it was smooth sailing to the summit. Note to others: search for the cairns until you find the chimney. You'll climb some class 2 and 3 ledges to get to it. The descent off the summit of Trinity to the saddle with East Trinity was very steep and loose. It's an absolute nightmare...

And so was the ascent up East Trinity's west couloir. We took snow about half the way up until it exceeded 45 degrees and then jumped on class 3/4 rock to the top. If you get into the left split of the couloir about 2/3 of the way up, you'll need some class 5 moves to get out of it and either back to the right side or to the top.

The descent off the northeast ridge of East Trinity wasn't too bad. It was class 2 rock for the first bit, then good snow. The final couple hundred feet to the gully that drops back into Vestal Basin was shockingly steep and a mix of snow and rock. From the top of that gully, it we were on snow until we got back to the meadow around 11,500 or so. Snowshoes were helpful here.

Sunday I went up Arrow and Vestal solo. I turned off the trail a bit before the wall and went up mostly good snow, following someone else's bootpack (turned out to be Eric Gilbertson's, who I met as he was descending--very nice guy!). Once at the bottom of the NE gully of Arrow, I ascended the whole way on rocks, which was a fun class 3/4 scramble again on good rock in the top half of the gully (steep walking and easy class 2 scramble in the lower half). I would have considered the snow ascent, but was concerned about the snow condition in the midday sun, though I tested it out on my descent and ended up going down on snow most of the way. Much quicker than downclimbing some very steep rock.

After finishing Arrow, I went descended to the bottom of the gully, then hiked to the amphitheater between Arrow and Vestal, and went right up the middle of it on snow. I'll be honest, I hated Vestal. After getting off the ridge of the amphitheater, it was steep and loose all the way to the top with a lot of class 3 and 4 higher up. Just a nasty choss pile and one of my least favorite peaks.

Packed out on Monday morning. Really fun, exhausting weekend! For gear, crampons are necessary right now and snowshoes recommended. I wouldn't haul my skis all the way up there. That would be a nightmare through the forest with all the downed trees, not to mention the distance from Molas Pass.

These peaks are no joke. I've done all the grand traverses and I would rank these five peaks up there with those as far as climbing difficulty, route finding and exposure, and they're as loose or worse than the Wilson/El Diente traverse. I haven't done Jagged yet, but with only a few more centennials left for me, these were toughest on that list. 

Route: Trinity Traverse
Posted On: 7/5/2025, By: supranihilest
Info: Molas trail and Elk Creek trail are totally clear of trees. The Vestal Basin trail on the other hand has dozens of downed trees and some very steep dirt/hardpan sections, basically the entire second half of the trail. Make sure you have good traction and consider camping at the beaver ponds - carrying a camp pack (and possibly climbing gear) up AND down that would suck big time. A slip in some sections of the trail could be downright dangerous, heavy pack or not.

Trail from the basin meadow to Vestal Lake is very wet. From the bench below Vestal to the ridge between Vestal and "West Trinity" has avoidable snow. The easiest way to gain the ridge is a scree slope as far east as one can go while still gaining the ridge. There's a band of avoidable snow here but rockfall gouged a nice path up through it, I only had to cut one step with a rock.

Rest of the route is as described in many trip reports. I thought the hardest scrambling and best rock was getting up "West Trinity" and each subsequent peak was easier and had worse rock. Your mileage may vary. All three have copious loose rock on the ledges, and the descents off all three (west to east) are pretty crummy. Overall quite fun though. The snow at the Trinity/"East Trinity" saddle is either avoidable by down climbing 75 feet or should be soft enough by the time you reach it to walk across.

All snow on the descent can be avoided but you can get a short glissade if desired. No trail through the willows in the upper basin, a use trail appears on the north side (descender's right) of the drainage lower down by the waterfall and will save you the angst of trying to route find around said waterfall. In general though, just go down the drainage and you should be fine.

Carried but didn't use ice axe and microspikes, helmet highly recommend. 

Route: Trinities Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2024, By: Justin9
Info: Approached via Vestal Basin. No snow and all clear on all three of the Trinities. Continued on Kodiak high route over peak 7/8 saddle and Levathian pass to reach camp below Jagged. All basins are clear of snow and passable. 

Route: Trinity Traverse
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: VeraUndertow
Info: I climbed Vestal and The Kurzhorn first, but looked like you could gain the West Trinity saddle with only a little low angle snow, before you hit the scree slope. The scrambling on all 3 of these peaks was an absolute blast, some of the best I've done in Colorado. No snow to note on route, it took me one hour from Kurzhorn to West Trinity summit, one hour to Trinity summit, 40 minutes to East Trinity summit and 25 minutes to the scree/choss slope to drop back into upper Vestal basin. These peaks seem to be solid scrambling on the west sides and slightly looser and easier climbing on the east sides, definitely recommend going West to East on them. 

Route: Traverse West to East
Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: jahselassie
Info: The slope leading up to West Trinity is holding snow. Once on the ridge its snow free until the couloir between Middle and East Trinity. The descent off of East Trinity is holding snow between E Trinity and Needle Mountain Peak 3. 

Route: trinity traverse
Posted On: 9/14/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: good fun. trinity traverse via the north face route on west trinity. 

Route: W -> T -> E Traverse
Posted On: 7/8/2022, By: TravelingMatt
Info: Dry. Fun. The way is mostly obvious if you have a decent amount of experience in the San Juans, although you have a choice of Class 4 routes up Middle Trinity. I went up two separate sections of what I'd call 4, each about 10-15' high; not sure my choices were the easiest or "standard" route. Didn't find the putative trail that leaves upper Vestal Basin to the Vestal/West Trinity col but I didn't need it -- I ascended on grassy slabs up the west side of the V/WT basin until reaching the scree ocean in the basin itself. Least enjoyable part of the day is the willow-bashing to get back down to upper Vestal Basin. 

Route: South couloir via Tenmile
Posted On: 3/20/2022, By: blazintoes
Info: Mike and I set up camp .5 miles from Elk Park Friday afternoon then I walked 3 more miles to find a good snowbridge just before Garfield Peak to cross the Animas.
We launched at 0400 on Saturday and crossed the snowbridge then stomped up Tenmile. At first we were in the creek bed but that was tedious so we veered left. Eventually we found a climbers trail and a marked tree. The going was tough as you don't gain much altitude but fight with deadfall. The snow was stable and the slopes shallow so we didn't need avy gear.
We got to a nice snow ramp at 11,000 that aims right toward Balsam Lake. We walked across the frozen lake and studied the next approach while enamored with the beautiful snowy Peak 6 on our right and barren Arrow/Vestal left.
We ascended another ramp all the way to the Trinity's south Couloir, which seemed so far away. We switched to crampons and slowly climbed the warming snow. We found one old wet avy but the conditions were good.
The south col ascends 1800' and has 2 rock steps. There was some bare rock at 12,200.
Finally we got behind a rock buttress at 12,400, turned left and climbed a thin 40 degree slope to the upper difficulties. Mike called it a 7 step phase and we chose to go right after the 40 degree slope to an even steeper face. We both felt it was 50 degrees and the snow was again thin. Neither wanted to descend step 6.
We finally summit at 1430 and weren't as excited as we thought we'd be but we celebrate anyhow!
The views are pretty amazing up here!
We chose to descend directly east off the summit and faced in during the first 100'. Mike found a small chimney and coached me down because it reminded me of our Jagged descent. It's scary. Anyway I nail it and shout, hey that's the way Jagged was supposed to go. Redemption! Yippie!
I don't think Mike is scared of anything.

The snow on the descent was super awesome and after the best glissade on the planet we were off the mountain in 30 minutes.
I love winter climbing.
We got back to our snowshoes and the real torture began. It was warm all day and then a nice cloud layer covered the sun which was nice because we didn't fry and die but it trapped in the heat. The snow back down Tenmile was terrible and we postholed the entire way. Also there is more up than down on the deproach.

We finally get to the creek and the snow is so soft we both dunked in and got wet feet.

By the time we got to our snowbridge, it melted.
Mike found a huge log and I swear he's Hercules because he picked it up and tossed it then we rolled it across. He placed it perfectly across the Animas and we got across.
I had a dream the night before that I fell in the river and bounced down. Thankfully my dream never came true.
By 2100 we were back safe on the tracks and had 3 miles back to camp. I slowed way down and felt immense sleep because I've never had to be vigilant for that long on any winter peak.
Mikes headlamp slowly disappears and I decide to nap by some warm trees.
I made it back to camp by 2300, do some minor housekeeping and we are asleep by midnight for a 0500 wake up because we have to be back to the cars on Sunday by 0922 when Spring begins.
We're back by 0800, say our goodbyes and Sebastian tells me he's going to retire so now I'm going to auction his Fanny pack for $1,000,000 because it's his mountain climbing home so clearly it's worth a lot. 

Route: Trinity Traverse from Vestal Basin
Posted On: 9/3/2021, By: JasonKline
Info: Entire route from Vestal Basin is free of snow and ice. It's starting to get chilly at night. The Colorado Trail is in great shape, but there's decent deadfall from the Colorado Trail to Vestal Basin. 

Route: Trinity Traverse
Posted On: 8/29/2021, By: desertdog
Info: We camped in Vestal basin. It took longer than expected to get to West Trinity. We took the Vestal climbers trail then talus hoped to West Trinity. It may be better to continue on the Vestal Basin trail then bushwhack. The low point seems to be the best way to gain the ridge between West Trinity and Vestal. It was loose. From here it was scrambling to the summit of West Trinity. Plenty of cairns to guide you up Middle Trinity. I was a bit disheartened to see the gully up East Trinity, but it wasn't bad at all. The summit register on West is broken and we couldn't find one on Middle, but didn't look very hard. There is one on East. We did Arrow the next day and then hiked out. 

Route: Traverse
Posted On: 10/26/2020, By: angry
Info: Traverse from West *was* dry. Significant snowfall has changed conditions. 

Route: Trinity Traverse
Posted On: 6/28/2018, By: illusion7il
Info: All clear. Very smokey in the afternoon. 

Route: traverse
Posted On: 5/28/2018, By: tmud
Info: the west gully of East T is completely covered in snow. West and Middle are dry. Had to bail at the Middle/East saddle down a steep snow filled col. Axe and crampons were necessary.

Photos below...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/92276249@N07/albums/72157697402176335