6/22/2025 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/23/2025, By: ColoNativeGal Info: Summer conditions. Hermit Pass road has 2 snow fields near the top, one you can drive through, and the other you cannot. These patches are totally avoidable hiking. Winds yesterday were insane, had to be approaching 80+mph. The class 2 slope turned into "class 3 and 4" (because were were crawling on our hands and knees) due to the high winds. At one point I was sitting down and got knocked over from the wind. We wanted Rio Alto too, but decided against it due to the winds. It was a bummer, such a beautiful day otherwise. |
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6/1/2024 Route: Megan Lake TH Posted On: 6/1/2024, By: man_of_nature Info: Climbed Hermit and Yahoo from Megan Lake TH. Road to TH was worse than I remember, but snow free and I was able to get up in my Outback. Still a lot of snow on the northern side of the creek, which was flowing pretty good. Couldn't do the second crossing without getting feet wet, so bushwhacked up to a point where I could cross. At this point there was a decent amount of snow on south side as well. Crossed back over and used snowshoes up to treeline before ridge running parallel with 160. Stashed snowshoes on ridge at my planned exit off ridge on way back before heading up to Hermit Pass. You can avoid most snow after pass to summit of Hermit. Descended ridge to saddle with Yahoo, where there were some patches of snow on ridge direct which I put on microspikes and used axe for. After summiting Yahoo, glissaded down to saddle, then a short hike to glissade down again to Hermit Lake in the quickly softening snow. Hiked up from the lake back to where I stashed my snowshoes on the ridge, then glissaded down from ridge back to treeline. Used snowshoes for a while and kept to the south side of the creek, following the trail for the most part. Continued on the south bank after the second crossing that I missed going up, which was pretty slow but I didn't want to get my feet wet. |
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7/9/2023 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: emilyexplores Info: Traversed from Rito Alto then back to Hermit Pass for descent. Bottom of ascent was marshy and soggy but snow free and doable, embedded talus to ridge. Really appreciated the low gain from the pass at this point in the day, really did not enjoy the long road walk back to the car. Road is all ankle rolling unstable rocks and loose sand, as expected. Large snow field on road at the last switchback from the top - blocked access to the pass for the handful of ATVs that headed up. |
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10/16/2021 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 10/17/2021, By: CheapCigarMan Info: Parked at the switchback at just under 11,200' as I couldn't get past the icy rocks at that point. Beautiful Colorado bluebird day. No wind. Wore microspikes and gaiters. Postholed above ankles at times, nothing major. Microspikes were doable but would have been nicer to have had crampons instead for the ascent up Hermit. I found the views here to be spectacular. |
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4/10/2021 Route: From Eureka Mountain A Posted On: 4/10/2021, By: supranihilest Info: Hermit is Class 2 from Eurkea. There's plenty of snow between the two but for the most part it can be avoided by staying along the ridge crest. The bump in the middle, Point 13,005, can be skirted on the right. The rock between these two peaks is somewhat loose but it's never in great enough quantities or high enough angles to be troublesome. Gear: If doing Hermit from Eureka like I did you'll want snowshoes for the approach, then crampons and ice axe for Eureka! couloir. Traction and ice axe are not necessary between Hermit and Eureka, depending on comfort on snow. |
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7/12/2020 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/14/2020, By: aaroncovey Info: I was able to drive all the way to the top of the pass with my stock 2012 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4, so we parked there. Small hike to the summit and nothing to really say besides a great view. No mud, snow, or anything out of the ordinary on the route we took (pretty much just walked up grass). We were gone for about 20 minutes when another vehicle parked next to me, and the second their dogs got out of the car they chased a Marmot from underneath my SUV...so be mindful of those wiring eating monsters |
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5/16/2020 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 5/16/2020, By: Reg0928 Info: I parked at a campsite at around 10,900 ft. There is one large, steep drift high on the shelf section of Hermit Pass Rd to deal with. I didn't bring my spikes, and I made it across. That being said, it's worth carrying spikes to deal with that drift, as you'd slide for a little ways if you fell. One other large drift in the final switchback of the road can be avoided using the social trail above/near the road. No other snow to worry about. |
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4/29/2018 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 4/30/2018, By: drop_bear Info: Hermit Road is clear of any snow until around 10,400. From there until the saddle there are a few hardened snow drifts over the road. Saddle and final pitch to the summit is largely clear of snow. Managed the whole thing in trail runners with no problems. Photos are: 1) Eureka's north face 2) Hermit's north face 3) Rito Alto's SW face |
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7/10/2016 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/11/2016, By: JasonKline Info: The small amount of snow left was easily avoidable. It was extremely windy, with gusts making it hard to stand up at times. |
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6/22/2014 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/24/2014, By: lowlandnerd Info: The road up the pass is blocked about a mile down from the pass by a large drift. Another large, deep patch of snow blocked the last push to the pass. Alas, I left my 2.5 year-old‘s crampons back in Arkansas. |