Eagle Peak

Route: NE ridge
Posted On: 10/21/2023, By: Trotter
Info: Still summer conditions. Maybe 3 steps on snow all day. 

Route: Northeast ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2023, By: rachel
Info: Mostly dry. Minor, avoidable snow above treeline.
I think that is a mountain lion print. Can anyone confirm? 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/8/2022, By: kwhit24
Info: Parked just above the campground before the road gets a little rougher. The road walking all the way to the lake. There is a trail on the north side of the lake that makes getting through the steep tree area much easier (route link below). What really disappointing is all the blue spray paint on the trail through the trees. Has to be in about 30-40 spots where cairns should be instead. Most were rocks but some trees were spray painted

You'll continue to contour along the ridge until you complete leave the trees. Once you get out of the trees its a clear route to the summit.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/colorado/eagle-peak-trail--2

(14.00 mi; 4,752' gain; 6:34:31 total time)

Start at TH 6:40am; Rainbow Lake 8:10am; Eagle Peak A 10:10am (20 min on top); Back to TH 1:15pm 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 1/10/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: The road to Balman Reservoir is about half dry, half thin snow. There's ice under the snow, so beware. You may be able to drive to the reservoir if you have the right vehicle and tires though (and balls).

I booted the road to about 9,700, then to 10,200 where I put on snowshoes. I established a trench from there to treeline. Left the snowshoes at treeline and booted to the summit. The hike is straightforward, with the talus and boulders near the summit being the worst part - tipsy and covered in tractionless powder. I beat the trench in on my way down. Good weather all week means the trench will stay until the next storm! 

Route: east ridge
Posted On: 7/23/2021, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: 4WD required above the Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp. I started from there (8,300 ft) and followed the 4WD FS198 road to 9,850 feet, then left the road for a direct bushwhack up Eagle's east ridge to the summit. On descent, I discovered a nice trail that led down to Rainbow Lake. From there, followed FS198 back to the car. Nice loop. Full summer conditions. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 1/3/2021, By: hr011242
Info: Calf to knee deep sugar snow after departing the road @~9974. Deep, soft snow was continuous until we hit the wind-scoured ridge above tree line @ ~1140 where we switched to microspikes. There should be a nice trench through the trees now.

Recommend parking at the 198/Rainbow trail junction as the road conditions deteriorate pretty quickly from that point. There is a signed trail and space for maybe 2 vehicles to park. 

Route: NE Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2020, By: tjf242424
Info: We were surprised to find a well defined trail from Rainbow Lake up onto the ridge and all the way to treeline. From the NE corner of the lake, there's an obvious cairn at the edge of the forest that marks the start of the trail. It continues with multiple cairns and blue/yellow paint markings until you reach the tundra. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 11/14/2018, By: desertdog
Info: We were able to park above the Lutheran Camp although other vehicles had driven further up the road. The road had truck tracks which we hiked and then put on snowshoes when the tracks stopped at about two thirds of the way up. There is a foot plus of snow on the road. We hiked up to Rainbow Lake and gained the ridge from there. It was tough going to get to the ridge. There is a couple feet or more of wet snow on the slope to the ridge. Once out of the trees on the ridge it is mostly wind blown. It took us 12 plus hours round trip for the climb. We worked hard to put in the track up the road and to the ridge. I hope someone gets to use it before the next snow. 

Route: Ridge above Rainbow Lake
Posted On: 4/30/2018, By: RWinters
Info: No snow on FS 198 until 10,200 and very intermittent. Having said that all snow patches appeared to be passable and should melt out in the next 7-10 days. All snow is melted out around Rainbow Lake but some remains higher in the basin. Up higher around tree line there is about 1-2 feet in the trees. All but 50 yards is avoidable along the Ridge. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 2/4/2018, By: dolfh
Info: 12-18 inches of snow on FR 198 between RT Lutheran Camp and Rainbow Lake. 12 inches of snow on 25 degree slope above lake to merge with east ridge of Eagle. Steeper slopes nearby. Snowdrifts on east ridge just below treeline. Long east ridge above treeline was dry and windy. The ridge narrows near the summit with a 30 degree snow slope to the east and a steep drop to the west. 

Route: Rainbow Lake
Posted On: 12/17/2017, By: Tufftommy-BV
Info: Road drivable to Rainbow Lake. We parked at the last Rainbow Trail junction but we saw a truck at the lake and an ice fishing shack out on the water. The trail to the ridge was fairly easy to follow. A fair amount of snow climbing to the ridge ~ 4-6" but not enough to warrant floatation. Once on the ridge is was pretty snow free with the exception of the last couple hundred feet of vertical with snow in the talus. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/9/2017, By: JasonKline
Info: Summer conditions. No snow. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 1/20/2015, By: Bethie
Info: We parked at the Lutheran Rainbow Camp at 8400 ft although if you are a good 4wd-er you could make it up to at least 9000 ft with careful driving on the ice. We didn't put snowshoes on until we entered the trees offroad around 9800 ft. From there we broke trail in a foot or deeper of snow until treeline. We stashed the snowshoes at treeline as the ridge was blown free of snow. The broad ridge was snow free & grassy. The final narrow ridgeline to summit was snowy in the scrambly rocks but we didn't even needed to use our microspikes. The surrounding peaks didn't even to have much snow & most ridges were blown free. 

Route: NE Ridge Up/Sth Ridge Down
Posted On: 6/16/2013, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Did Eagle/Lakes/"Thirsty"/13123B/Cottonwood. Unless something drastically changes: leave the gaitors, ice axe, crampons, etc. at home. Route was 99% snow free and any snow encountered could be avoided with slight effort.