6/16/2022 Route: Grizzly Couloir Posted On: 6/16/2022, By: Wildernessjane Info: Carried skis all the way to the base of the couloir. There were a few patches of snow here and there that were easy to navigate without flotation. Conditions in the couloir were fine for climbing and the route was dry from the top of the couloir to the summit. The ski down was a bit rough with lots of rocks to dodge (rocks that had fallen into the couloir not due to coverage) and there was a fair bit of avi debris/poor snow quality in the middle of the couloir. We did get some good turns in at the top and bottom of the couloir though, plus we were able to get in some additional turns on the way down by linking together snowfields. |
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6/5/2022 Route: Grizzly couloir Posted On: 6/6/2022, By: VeraUndertow Info: Lincoln Creek Rd is open to the portal campground. Grizzly lake trail is dry until ~11,200 where there is a large snowfield, which was supportive in both directions, the next snow patches on the trail are under tree cover and did not freeze as solidly so we tried to follow other people's post holes with mixed success. The rock at the creek crossing was covered in ice in the morning so we stayed east of the creek on snow/willow bashing the whole way up. Snow starts to be continuous on the east side of the creek around 11,6 so we started skinning here tho it is still a winding path to stay on snow from here to the east gully from grizzly lake. We got to around 12,800 and switched to crampons and started booting up from here. We stayed climbers left to boot, since this whole couloir is littered with wet slide debris from the recent snow events except the very skiers left path which is smooth but covered in dust and has rock fall all over towards the bottom. About 3/4 the way up we joined in with some ones previous bootpack but it was winding back and forth for no apparent reason so I gave up on it and booted up to the top. We took our time as cloud cover and wind were keeping the snow cold. Made the summit around 10 and hung out till 11 to drop. The skiing was decent as long as you stayed skiers left and dodged the avy debris and small rocks in the snow. We were able to ski down to around 12k continuously then had to do some work to patch together a decent to 11,7 or so where we crossed a snow bridge to get to the trail. On the way back over the creek crossing the rock was unfrozen but overflowing with water, which explains why it had such a good sheet of ice in the morning. Overall a great day of June skiing tho it is getting thin down low and the snow is very inconsistent in the couloir. Hopefully a few freeze thaw cycles will make some of the avy debris a bit more homogeneous with the rest of the snow. |
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5/27/2022 Route: Grizzly Couloir Posted On: 5/27/2022, By: Grover Info: Visual condition update only! Sharing these images from the vantage point of Twining Peak. |
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12/23/2021 Route: Graham Gulch Posted On: 12/24/2021, By: blazintoes Info: Happy photo bomb Oh let it snow, let it snow It is time to rest ~Blazin Haiku I know this mountain well. 4th time up. And was very glad tower one didn't have as much snow on the left side as last year. It was easily bypassed this time and now that I know the ridge scramble it was fun! Started at 0400. Gained the mountain boy ridge by 0600 and the sun was coming up by the time I got to the first tower but the storm came early. I thought I'd have until noon. Nope. So I rushed the scramble with crampons, stashed snowshoes afterwards and got to the top by 0830. The sun poked out occasionally and was nice to see. It seems like this is a slow heavy wet front moving in. Didn't take many pictures. Only when the sun would poke out. I found the snow in the Sawatch. It seems Grizzly gets a lot of snow. I glissaded the MB ridge down, and rode my bike back in the snow to the car. This was a fast mission. Glad I'm done with the Sawatch. Now we wait and let the mountains rest. Merry Christmas! |
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10/30/2021 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 10/31/2021, By: wintersage Info: Parked 0.4 mi from the gate at the camp area. Beyond that, deep slippery snow blocks access to the gate and there was evidence of someone else getting stuck. Not a good place to get stuck as it's very narrow and uphill so making a 3 point turn can be difficult. From there on, it was ankle to mid-calf post holing pretty much the entire way. I did not use flotation but microspikes helped with the slipperiness of the snow. Once I reached the saddle between unnamed 13441 and Grizzly, I stayed on the ridge crest the entire way because the slopes below the gendarme looked very sketchy. It was a warm day with minimal wind, wore only my base layer the whole time |
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10/7/2021 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 10/8/2021, By: zootloopz Info: Snow above 13,800 on the west facing side of the ridge. Spikes helpful for a couple of sections. Garfield is completely covered. |
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10/2/2021 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 10/3/2021, By: geg86 Info: Road and trail are dry until ~12,800'. A couple of inches of snow along the ridge, micro spikes were helpful along the summit ridge. |
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9/6/2021 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 9/8/2021, By: cougar Info: Summer conditions with tundra turning to fall colors. Of note, the gpx track from this site leads up very loose sketchy slopes. There are cairns that lead up to a somewhat better loose dirt trail more towards the peak, but these are widely spaced. Avoid the red rock slopes and traverse farther west to find thus route. Route to Garfield was better, descending the loose slopes off there had a loose track with a bit of switchbacks, glad I didn't go up that way, but ok scree sliding down. |
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8/24/2021 Route: Northeast ridge Posted On: 8/24/2021, By: blazintoes Info: Biked up Graham Gulch to the wilderness boundary then willow whacked to the north ridge and scrambled all the towers. Kinda fun! |
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8/2/2021 Route: Combo: Garfield from Grizzly Posted On: 8/2/2021, By: GordoByrn Info: Got a 545am start, see McNasser Gulch update. Started towards the ridge too early so ended up having to do some unnecessary traversing/scrambling. Key thing would be to show patience and wait until you can ascend "green" rather than hurrying up the "red". I'll post a pic I took on the way down that should help. Fogged in up high and I got disoriented with vertigo. Sat down for a regroup. Strava track looks like I cut below, West, of the summit. This was perfect for picking up the route over to Garfield, which was great and I perked up. 3hrs to Garfield from gate. After Garfield, I checked out the right-hand gully immediately after the summit. It looked like a faint trail heading down. When I tried to get back to the ridge found, fog, wet rock, and it didn't quite match the trip reports. So back up and tried a little further along. This was the correct down climb. So I'd recommend you go about 30 ft past the summit, then look down/right, for the way through. Scooted down/over on a wet, wide ledge and then the going was easy. More fog had me confused around the saddle. Figured it out with some help from a track I'd created from Dave's late July trip. Dave's track went down then more directly back, going down/across the slope to descender's right. I found a line of soft gravel/scree and took that straight down to a tarn in the Upper Basin. Then cut across to the Grizzly side of the basin so I could figure out a better way up for next time. 7.85M, 3,400 ft, 4:20 total time. |
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7/26/2021 Route: Combo: Garfield from Grizzly Posted On: 7/26/2021, By: brauda02 Info: Hiked in from the La Plata TH last night. It's 6 miles to the mine where I camped. Rained hard for hours last night but rock was dry this morning. No snow on/near the Gendarmes. Traverse to Garfield is easy. Go right off the summit of Garfield to find the easy class 3 exit. Scree slope is fine going down but I think it would be awful up. Saw another climber about a half mile ahead of me. I picked up a couple of your food wrappers. |
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6/19/2021 Route: E Ridge up, N Couloir down Posted On: 6/19/2021, By: slawrence2011 Info: Some snowfields on the ridge turned the class 2+ into exposed class 3 in boot packed snow that is rapidly softening, which was easier to avoid on class 4 rock. Fairly short section. Couloir skis well, embedded rocks are starting to become uncovered, though still embedded. Small runnels starting to form. |
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6/16/2021 Route: Combo: Garfield from Grizzly Posted On: 6/22/2021, By: pjcolorado Info: As j_vada pointed out, the road to the gate is snow free. The last bit up FS 394 is rough. I made it to a nice flat spot on a switch back 3/4 of a mile before the gate. I did see a guy on a RZR when I walked back to my car who made it to the gate. After the gate there were at least two snowfields covering the road to the upper trailhead. There were also willows growing in the road. After the upper trailhead there were a few snowfields on the way up to Grizzly. You can walk around most of them. There was a big snowfield of soft mushy snow alongside the 3rd gendarme. I chose to climb the rock to avoid sloshing through the deep, wet snow. Once on the ridge it's clear all the way to Garfield. After coming down the scree-fest of Garfield's north slope, you cross another snowfield or two back to the main path down the road. It's a wet and marshy slog. It will likely be that way for another week or two as the snow melts out. |
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6/11/2021 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 6/11/2021, By: j_vada Info: Forest Service road 394 to the gate is snow free. From the closed gate at 11,360' to the upper basin, there are several patches of snow covering the road. On the slopes up to the ridge, and along the ridge itself, there are several steep and consolidated snow fields. I was treating this as a ridge run with only micro spikes and trekking poles, but there were multiple points that I wished I'd brought an ice axe and crampons instead. I scrambled the direct ridge to avoid traversing on the steep snow slopes. The short summit ridge section and final push are dry. The ridge from Grizzly to Garfield appeared to be dry all the way to the 13,650 point. |
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6/5/2021 Route: Combo: Garfield from Grizzly Posted On: 6/6/2021, By: angry Info: Still a lot of snow on the route to Grizzly, both in the gulch and to gain ridge. Despite warm temps it was surprisingly supportive. Did not use flotation. No summit register. |
