White Dome

Route: east ridge
Posted On: 8/3/2026, By: habaceeba
Info: Full summer conditions. Started from the Hunchback Pass TH and headed up the the road to Kite Lake, then the trail to the pass above Eldora lake, then took a south. Headed across the small flatiron type formations and over the talus field, then picked my way up the ledge system on the north side of the east ridge to the ridgeline and to the summit. Can be kept to class 2+. Looked, but couldn't find a summit register. I was too lazy to dig for one if it's there. 

Route: Hunchback -> White Dome -> Peak 1 -> 3 -> 2
Posted On: 6/24/2026, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Spectacular day out in the Wemis, incredible views of Vestal Basin. Summer conditions on the whole route, a couple snow crossings after the saddle between Hunchback and White Dome but they're barely even a crossing. Class 4 on White Dome and class 3 sprinkled in everywhere else. Talus field going up Peak 3 suuucckkksss, everything else was real enjoyable. Said hi to some trail workers on the Elk Creek trail fixing up the switchbacks back up toward the intersection of the CDT. 

Route: NNW ridge
Posted On: 9/15/2025, By: LizWeiss
Info: Went around the backside of White Dome (past El Dorado lake) and went up the NNW ridge, following the route on climb13ers.com. Ridge was class 2 at max and dirt and small rocks were a bit loose due to the copious amounts of rain from the previous few days. Snow was minimal to nonexistent and was absolutely not an issue. We chose this route bc I had my dog with me, and he handled it just fine. Went over to Peak 1 and also, snow was not an issue. Came back down to El Dorado lake one gully west of the way we ascended White Dome and it was solid. DM me for a GPS route if interested. 

Route: east ridge
Posted On: 7/12/2025, By: zootloopz
Info: 21 miles / 5650' gain from highland mary for both white dome and peak one. 8 hours elapsed. Didn't bring any beta and decided to hit the east ridge after negotiating some 3rd class slabs down low. Fairly solid talus the entire way up and not too steep. Summit register is an old cafe bustelo can that needs to be replaced -- I unfortunately had no room in my vest. Descended from saddle between white dome and peak 1 which is still holding some snow. 

Route: Northeast Slopes
Posted On: 9/2/2023, By: Grover
Info: Summitted White Dome and Hunchback Mountain from Beartown TH, doing a loop. Used the CDT past Kite Lake to get close to White Dome. There is not a definitive route on White Dome, and you can make it as spicy as you want. Various ramps of rock and grass allow for multiple route options. Fun scrambling when needed. I will say it is best to scramble up to the ridge after the notch on the NE side.

Descended back down the NE side of White Dome and went up over Hunchback Mtn., and joined the CDT to make it a nice loop of 7.5 miles. 

Route: East Face from Hunchback Peak
Posted On: 10/17/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: There's some snowy scrambling down Hunchback to the Hunchback/White Dome saddle. Snow there is pretty icy so be careful. Instead of trying to scramble through the cliffs along White Dome's ridge we descended a little bit into the basin between it and Hunchback Peak, crossed some slabs, and gained a large grassy ramp apparent from Hunchback. From the ramp it was steep Class 2 up chunky talus and boulders. No snow on southern aspects when we climbed but Sunday evening's little storm might have left a dusting which should melt in the coming dry weather. 

Route: Eldorado Lake
Posted On: 8/8/2022, By: dwoodward13
Info: Headed up from Eldorado Lake to White Dome's E-ish ridge via grassy slopes from the lake. Contoured around the 13378 point on the SW side. Some reports mention a big ravine, and it is indeed big, but it also is very easy to bypass at class 2+ if you want. We descended to near 12.8 to bypass the ravine. Some fun scrambling after crossing a broad slope, although I think you could also keep it class 2+ if you wanted. Ran the ridge to Peak 1. Not much of a trail, but route is obvious.

Descended the White Dome/Peak 1 saddle and contoured back to Eldorado Lake. Standard loose stuff, but all in all a good descent route. 

Route: Beartown/Kite Lake
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: We parked a couple hundred feet below Kite Lake where we found a good camp before the last switchback. We used the CT/CDT connector trail from the lake to the ridge to both get up and down since it was quicker than picking a more direct route. For White Dome we went up the east slope instead of the NE ridge. Class 2+ stuff.

Followed ridge to Peak One and almost ridge proper over to the Peak 1/3 saddle. We dropped a little to our right a few times to keep it Class 2+ or Class 3.

We took the East (slightly NE) slope up to Peak 3. Pretty much all talus hoping to the summit.

Peak 2 was straight forward with a trail on and off to follow. Went back to Peak 3/2 saddle and followed Elk Creek to the CO Trail. It is mostly annoying rock walking from the Elk Creek lake to the CT.

I would recommend checking out the TRs that go up to the White Dome/Peak One saddle to get to Eldorado Lake. Saves at least 300' and 1.5 miles.

(12.89 mi; 6,192' gain; 9:38:24 total time)

Start at TH 5:05am; White Dome 6:50am; Peak One 7:45am; Peak Three 9:30am; Peak Two 10:30am; CO Trail 12:20pm; Back to TH 2:45pm 

Route: From Kite Lake
Posted On: 10/3/2020, By: WildWanderer
Info: East face is snow free with summer conditions, North face is holding snow. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 7/18/2018, By: illusion7il
Info: White Dome and Peak 1 were both in great shape. All trees have been cleared from the CT. Mostly sunny skies, Sprinkled for about 5 mins at the bottom of Molas pass at 2pm. Isolated storms after 4pm so far...