Bushnell Peak

Route: Northern Sangres Traverse
Posted On: 5/17/2025, By: Lubellski
Info: I finally decided to take a shot at the Northern Sangres Travers, from Hayden Pass to Salida. I kept delaying my attempt due to fresh snow, and I wanted some snow because there is no reliable water on the entire route. A downed tree, and a very bad road, kept me from driving to the top of the pass from the SLV side. There is also still one big drift that will prevent passage even if you clear the downed trees. The windchill saved this route, keeping the snow firm enough to hold my weight and actually just about perfect for plunge steps. I brought spikes but never used them. And there was usually plenty of exposed rock too, but the firm snow made for quicker progress. An epic ridgeline traverse! 

Route: West ridge from Ferguson creek
Posted On: 1/17/2025, By: Will_E
Info: Bushnell and Twin Sisters today, I started just before the Raspberry creek crossing, lots of parking and easy dirt road to get here. I only needed snowshoes for a short distance from the end of the road to where I bushwhacked up to the west ridge, could probably survive without them, but might not be fun. I left my snowshoes about half way up the slope to the west ridge, no traction needed rest of the way, but this forced me to go out and back same way instead of doing a loop. Along the west ridge there was a fair amount of nasty trap door action. 

Route: Brook creek
Posted On: 12/20/2024, By: Dobsons
Info: Did a loop with bushnell and twin sisters north via brook creek today with the amazing forecast. First mile on the road after I parked was dirt. Gained the ridge right at the cabin and followed it all the way to the summit. Snow was very difficult completely unsupportable with lots of trap doors all day but also broken enough to never use snow shoes but it was a difficult steep ascent and decent with the footing being so unpredictable. Route wasnt nearly as wind blown as I expected. Traversed to twin sisters north which was straight forward and fairly wind blown . To descend twin sisters I stuck to its southwest ridge descending quite a ways until I used mixed exposed ground and snow through an aspen glade back to the road in the low basin. 9 miles on the day but it packed a punch with 5200 of elevation change. 

Route: West Ridge from Ferguson Ck
Posted On: 4/12/2024, By: Reg0928
Info: 4wd road is brutal your cars paint. I jumped strait on the west ridge from the 4wd parking lot instead of following the old closed road like most do in an attempt to avoid snow since the closed road is on a northern aspect. Ridge was short and steep af, 4k vert in 2 miles strait up from the valley floor to the summit. 4 miles RT. Continuous snow started around 10.5k. It was supportive all day both up and down, didnt use snow shoes or traction, only 4 or 5 post holes all day. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 2/18/2024, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Successfully made a winter summit of Bushnell Peak on 2/17/24. No access to the 4WD parking lot, however Saguache CR57 is plowed all the way up to the 2WD parking lot (this adds about 1.6 miles each way). Less than a foot of snow on the valley floor up to the TH but I kept my skis and skins on from the car all the way to ~12,000 feet. Once in the forest, the snow was deep and the skis were absolutely necessary. Followed the trail for another ~1.5 miles then left the trail after the switchbacks. Zig zagged my way up the north side of the ridge and eventually gained Bushnell's west ridge. Ascended the ridge to about ~12,000 feet, ditched the skis and my pack and made a push for the summit. The top 1000 feet was extremely wind scoured and very rocky, not my idea of a good ski. I used my AT boots with micro spikes and poles for the final 1000 feet and was pretty comfortable. Views from the summit were exception; very clear day, could see Pikes from the top. Big cornice on the ridge. Summited at 2:30 PM for a total of roughly 7 hours to ascend. Descended to my skis and had the best ski descent of my life: one transition all day and managed to ski all the way back to the car in about 2 hours. What a blast! Great winter route. 11.6 miles total ~5,000 feet of gain 

Route: From Bushnell Lakes
Posted On: 11/12/2023, By: greenschist
Info: Didn't summit, but I might have useful info for anyone who wants to approach Bushnell and Twin Sisters from the east. My intention was a similar route to prior trip reports from TaylorHolt and Tomcat32. They both started at the end of Kerr Gulch Rd, a rough 4WD road. I chose to start at Hayden Creek Campground since I know that road to be easy 2WD. Starting from here adds about half a mile and 800 feet of gain to the approach to Bushnell Lakes. The campground is closed for the season but not gated, and the road was dry until just before the campground entrance with minimal snow. Behind the fee sign is a trail that heads north until it connects to the Rainbow Trail, which I followed to the junction with the Bushnell Lakes Trail. There was intermittent snow (~1 inch) on the Rainbow Trail and a few easy creek crossings. From the junction, the Bushnell Lakes Trail climbs steeply to nearly 11,000 feet before entering the basin. Snow on this stretch was also intermittent (up to two inches), but the trail was steep enough that microspikes helped on the way down. At the first clearing the view opened up, and snow was calf-deep along a steep hillside. Once in the basin the snow was continuous until the first lake. The trail was pretty hard to follow after the first lake. Tomcat32's TR mentioned aiming for a white tower on the ridge that separates Bushnell and Stout Lakes Basins. The tower is nearly as far west as the uppermost lake in the basin. The slope to the ridge is south-facing and was totally dry, but very steep and made of extremely loose scree. I didn't feel comfortable on the scree, and the rock ledges throughout looked like tough scrambles for my skill level. I got about halfway up the slope before turning around and trying elsewhere (near the middle lake) with the same results. TaylorHolt's TR mentioned gaining the ridge via a grassy slope. I think the slope in question is just beyond the first lake. It isn't any less steep, but I'd bet it's much more stable. I decided I didn't have time to give it a shot today. I had the entire route to myself today. Lots of coyote tracks on the trail, including up into the basin and beyond the first lake. About 13 miles and nearly 5000ft of gain. 

Route: Ferguson Creek
Posted On: 5/14/2023, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Lots of slushy sticky snow up high. Snow still lingering in the trees above 10K as well. Packed snowshoes since we werent certain about the recent snow and didnt end up needing them (though we did posthole in a few of the snowier spots). Put on spikes at the summit of Bushnell before we headed to Twin Sisters and kept them on until we got back on the road. I was about ready to jettison my spikes into the cloudy abyss as they kept accumulating snowballs. We got a single view looking back at Bushnell but otherwise were inside a cloud. We trusted the gpx from climb13ers to pick the gully to descend (could barely see in front of us at this point) and it was easy enough to plunge step down as it had a lot of snow. 10hrs RT from the end of the drivable road. Slower than expected due to steepness and careful foot placement on the ridge. 

Route: Brook Creek-West Ridge
Posted On: 5/10/2023, By: HikerGuy
Info: There was a bit more snow on this hike than on Gibbs-De Anza the day before. Spikes were needed between 11,600/11,900? and 12,200. No other gear needed. Gaiters recommended for ridge to Twin Sisters North and for snow banks on upper mine road in afternoon. Leave the snowshoes at home. Heel stepped a snow-filled gully down the lower half of Twin Sisters' south face. This is another good early season option, west side of the Sangres are getting bare. Steep second hike of the year after a long day before, 8.76 miles, 5,117 feet and 7h 39m. 

Route: From twin sisters n from the west
Posted On: 12/4/2022, By: yaktoleft13
Info: We were able to drive to within .4 miles of the end of the drivable road in a 4runner. No snow on road till the last .4 miles. From there a thin layer of snow maxing at 6 inches on the road. The upper portions of the mountain don't have a ton of snow, but there is some, and all talus above 12k is rime-covered and loose. We were socked in completely once above 12.5k, 150 feet of visibility. Traverse was windy, but class 2 the whole way. Descent off of Bushnell was tough to navigate with low visibility. Lots of slippery and sketchy sections until back to the road. No snowshoes, no traction. 

Route: Western approach - Ferguson Creek
Posted On: 10/9/2022, By: Jan van Tilburg
Info: Dry most of the way. Closer to the summit was snow. Mainly on the grass and in between rocks. Since it was misty most of the morning till 2 pm, it never dried up. For me it was too slippery and I could not determine the conditions in between rocks. So 300ft below the summit I returned. Not an easy descent. Steep and slippery. Ascent is easier for me when it is steep. I'll return in summer conditions. 

Route: Trailhead Status.Western approach - Ferguson Creek
Posted On: 10/9/2022, By: Jan van Tilburg
Info: From highway 285 I could drive my Subaru Forester without much problems 5.6 miles to the where I parked. This was 0.5 miles into the scrub oaks. It was not bad. Some scratches. Not bad. A truck would sustain more damage. 

Route: West ridge
Posted On: 11/23/2021, By: desertdog
Info: Dry the whole way. The road is in pretty good shape. Bushnell is the easy part. The traverse over to Twin Sisters is longer than it looks and the decent back into the basin is a sufferfest. Give yourself plenty of time. 

Route: Northern Sangre, Western Approach
Posted On: 11/13/2021, By: supranihilest
Info: The western approach and routes for the northern Sangre (Bushnell, Hunts, Twin Sisters, 12ers) is 99.9% dry. 

Route: From Ferguson Creek
Posted On: 11/7/2021, By: WildWanderer
Info: Summer conditions. No traction needed. 

Route: Brook Creek WSW Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2021, By: mikemalick
Info: Full Summer conditions. 3 stream crossings were not a problem. Only a few inches of water and easy to find stuff to walk across on. No snow at all on trail. Pic shows Bushnell from N Twin Sister.