Hesperus Mountain

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/18/2023, By: taboose395
Info: La Plata Mountains are still basically snow free. Didn't see another person the entire day. My truck was the only one at the Sharkstooth Trailhead. Morning was perfectly clear skies, although Forest Service started a controlled burn near Dolores in the late morning, which drifted into the area. 

Route: Standard gully
Posted On: 9/22/2023, By: ryansunshine20
Info: This route kind of sucks. I saw there was a trip report where someone went the entire ridge and I wish I did that. The gully you have to climb to gain the ridge is crazy long steep scree? Im not sure its even scree it feels like a pile of ash. I was kicking steps into it like I was climbing a snow filled couloir. The last 100 feet I think has been scree surfed to death because there wasnt really anything to kick into for a bit and it was pretty treacherous. Once on the ridge there is a climber trail that goes to the summit which was fine. Im not sure how taking the entire ridge is but I would bet its better than what I did. 

Route: Traverse from Lavender, West ridge descent
Posted On: 9/5/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Spectacular peak - so many colors! Colorado version of that very colorful peak in Peru. Descending it was probably better than ascending though. Good trail up the West ridge. Scree skiing is best in class. Route back to Sharkstooth TH is well cairned. Wildflowers still blooming! 

Route: From Sharkstooth TH
Posted On: 7/3/2023, By: pmodell
Info: We crossed several snow fields by kicking-in a boot trail. The scree was a challenge because most rocks moved underfoot. We got as high as 11500 ft below the West Ridge of Hesperus and saw that there was much more dangerous snow ahead. This route to Hesperus seems much more strenuous than the trail to Centennial that I did last year. We did not have micro-spikes or crampons with us today. 

Route: MISSING HIKER
Posted On: 6/26/2023, By: rmlewis0143
Info: Missing Hiker of Hesperus Mountain - Saturday June 24, 2023. His name is Ian O'Brien (6ft 5inches, blond hair blue eyes) he successfully summited, communicated that he made the summit, and has not been seen since. If you have any info please reach out to the local authorities in the area. 

Route: Standard from Mancos Trail #621
Posted On: 9/3/2022, By: Grover
Info: The Good: Extremely well cairned route; beautiful peak, especially at sunset; excellent camping around the TH; no crowds The Bad: Very steep route to gain the ridge after leaving Mancos Trail #621; this peak makes the Maroon Bells seem stable The Ugly: Everything is loose; top adjectives include chosstastic, chossarific, and chosstacular; soft lunar-esque dirt gully to gain the ridge will make you contemplate why you do this activity 

Route: west ridge
Posted On: 6/8/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: Car camped by twin lakes part way up the 4x4 road section. Beautiful spot with an amazing view of Hesperus and a bunch of dandelions. Mosquitoes are out though. Bushwhacked SSW using supranihilest's GPX as a guide directly to the start of the west ridge. Messy, steep, plenty of blowdowns. Did the same on the way back. Took longer the first time. Some may prefer just taking the West Mancos trail. Played around on the loose west ridge higher up to the extent of class 3/easy 4. Especially on the white/orange cliff band near the top. Went direct the whole way up and down to avoid sidehilling on the south side. Longer day than expected. Summer conditions, no snow gear needed. 

Route: From Sharkstooth TH
Posted On: 5/23/2022, By: hr011242
Info: From the split of Spruce Mill Rd and Twin Lakes Rd, you can maybe drive up another ~.6 miles before the road is impassable due to snow. From the Sharkstooth TH via the West Mancos trail, snow started out as intermittent and unsupportive, then within about .5 miles changed to constant and unsupportive. Due to the snow-buried trail and deadfall between miles ~2-3.5 (from the road split), I opted to take an alternate route down that cut out most of the postholing by glissading down a mellow section of the north ridge. In hindsight, I would have taken this same route up as a snow climb with an earlier start and good overnight freeze. Trail runners were NOT ideal just yet, so my wishful thinking did not pay off. :D 

Route: Full West Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: Most people go through the basin below Hesperus and up steep talus to where the west ridge of Hesperus steepens dramatically; my partner and I did the full west ridge. The terrain is basically similar in that it's all loose talus, we just had a more pleasant stroll along the ridge than chuffing through the basin on a nasty rock glacier. From that point there's some Class 2+ to Class 3 scrambling on highly questionable rock as well as lots of steep hiking on loose and unstable rock. The south face of Hesperus is almost entirely dry and what little snow there is doesn't change the route in any way. The summit is capped in snow. We also investigated the traverse to Lavender and the rock is somehow even more loose and rotten; a thin veneer of snow over dirt with wild exposure caused us to turn around at the first major notch and we were sure there was more snow in the other notches that would make things very sketchy and make retreat difficult or impossible. 

Route: Sharktooth TH
Posted On: 11/6/2019, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Summited Nov 2. Road's good until you reach the final section where you have 1.5 miles left on Forest Rd 346, best to park at the turnoff and walk the rest of the way, not worth getting stuck if you don't have 4WD. Hardest part will be reaching the final summit ridge. Couple of inches of snow (powder quality) on the west/northwest aspects of Hesperus. Best to hit sun lit ridges leading up to the final saddle on Hesperus where the snow is more consolidated, otherwise snow is fresh powder with rocks slippery underneath. Microspikes recommended. Great views from up top, could see all 4 states, including Shiprock, Monument Valley, Navajo Mtn, La Sals, Valles Caldera, Mt. Taylor, etc. Not much snow in the lower San Juans (i.e. southern aspects of Mt Wilson/El Diente, pretty bare, more snow further north, Needles/Grenadiers look great), get it while it's good! 

Route: Standard Route from Sharkstooth TH
Posted On: 7/18/2019, By: bdloftin77
Info: Above treeline: Intermittent large snow patches on north face, mainly vertical. Varied between fairly slushy and more firm. Most can be avoided via the route I took going up (approximate route in yellow). Snow crossings are circled in red. The first snow crossing can be avoided by going further up and to the left beforehand. The second two were only ~20 ft patches, but relatively sleep. I had microspikes (not extremely helpful) and an ice axe (very helpful). The second two snow crossings could be done without an ice axe but with much caution and likely short falls to the bottom of the snow crossing. Summer conditions following the ridge to the top. Coming down (approximated by blue line) I glissaded for much of the downhill slope (~1100 ft, ~0.5 mi) til the forest. The snow was much more firm where I glissaded, so this could be a possible uphill snow route with proper snow travel gear, though it might be more slushy as time progresses. The first section though was ~40? degrees though. A bit steep, and glissaded more via a controlled self-arrest position while looking downward. The second, longer section was a lot less steep and easier to glissade in a normal position while controlling speed. (this was my first glissade in the mountains). West Mancos Trail through the forest: Great conditions from TH to stream crossing. A little ways after the stream crossing, the trail is lost in a confusion of snow drifts and avalanche debris. At this point, I headed up the snow toward broken trees, but went further right (west) because of smaller, more annoying trees (willows?). Lots of downfall, avalanche debris, and intermittent snow. Snow was a little slushy, but I didn't posthole much. Let me know if you have any questions and I can further detail the conditions. 

Route: western ridge line
Posted On: 6/18/2017, By: keeperoffrisco
Info: Lots of snow, very difficult. Crampons, ice axe required. Rope would have helped and allowed the rest of the party to summit. Recommended to wait until the snow melts. 

Route: Mancos Trail 621
Posted On: 6/17/2014, By: Horehay99
Info: Trail conditions were a little wet in the trees at time, but melting fast. Once above treeline there are some snow fields but all avoidable. Once on the west ridge line and summit shoulder there is no snow and you can ascend the west ridge line to the peak with no problem. Approach or trail runners are fine in regards to snow. May want some lightweight gaiters for the loose dirt. 

Route: From Sharkstooth Trailhead
Posted On: 6/26/2012, By: ChrisinAZ
Info: Snow-free. Gaining the ridge from the basin seemed the crux of the route; of the three major options, the leftmost scree/grass gully will go, but is uncomfortably steep and loose in spots. The rightmost option (a noticeably more grassy ramp) involves more distance and crossing tedious vegetated terrain lower down, but is probably the safest way up, and the ridge affords some nice views of Hesperus. The middle option, all talus, was not explored. Roads in were washboard-y, but in otherwise good condition. The last 1.8 miles to the trailhead is rocky, rough, and almost requires at least high-clearance; it‘s likely possible, though not recommended, to get a passenger car to the trailhead. Some fires are burning just outside of Mancos, and the smoke somewhat obstructed our views. Be aware of local fire conditions should you attempt this peak.