4/23/2023 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 4/23/2023, By: sarahmariekirk Info: Summited Lackawanna today (4/23) via the Southwest Gully with Matt, Kyra and Ryan. We saw someone go up this route recently on 4/18 but with the recent snowfall, I would say this couloir is not exactly in yet. We were in snowshoes the entire time because the snow was not consolidated enough to switch to crampons, and the steeper slopes we would sink in to our knees in some spots. I would give this route another week or two to firm up before hitting it. The warm temperatures today made for a great glissade nearly the entire descent. Also thank you to the awesome dude who found my second ice axe on the upper slopes and returned it to me at the trailhead! You are a real one! |
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4/18/2023 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 4/18/2023, By: spoony Info: Road is open past La Plata Trailhead, so I parked right at the base of the gulley. Snow does go to the road, but the vegetation makes it almost impossible to ski. The twigs abate a few hundred yards up the hill and snow in the gulley was consolidated and firm when I started at around 7:30 am. I walked up in my ski boots for quite a ways then put on crampons. Brought my ice ax, but just used my ski poles the whole way up. Once you leave the gully, there is a nasty breakable crust over top of 5-10 inches of unconsolidated snow sitting atop a firm base. The crust made for slower stepping, but it was manageable. You can stay on snow until the summit but you have to wander a little bit once you reach the ridge. Unfortunately for me, the clouds and wind came in early today and the snow never softened so the skiing was absolutely awful. The breakable crust skied like breakable crust and the scrape-y firm snow in the gully was almost as bad. It only softened in the last five turns right above the road. Nevertheless, this route is in if you need a good workout close to the pavement. |
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10/15/2022 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 10/17/2022, By: jmhauck Info: Stayed dry in trail runners. Little bit of packed snow here and there. |
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10/1/2022 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 10/1/2022, By: jbealer Info: Way more snow then expected, wish i had my winter boots, gators and heavier mitts. Wore spikes on the way down. But we made it. Then got caught in some thunder snow around 2pm still above the trees. Expecting more snow later today |
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6/20/2022 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 6/21/2022, By: zootloopz Info: If you like 8 different colors of wildflowers on your hike then Lackawanna is in right now. Summer conditions on ridge from Casco as well as NW ridge route. 87th centennial! W/ vertical_volume |
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7/16/2021 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 7/16/2021, By: mijoflynn Info: Spring snowmelt is done, so North Fork Lake Creek has come way down since the last CR on Lackawanna; crossing was a breeze. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to follow the trail; the route description makes it sound really sketchy, but it was perfectly clear all the way to treeline. Beyond treeline, actually -- the trail continues to traverse south across the west face of UN 13,660 after it clears the trees, so if you don't like the gully that Middlebrook went up, you can follow the trail until you find one you like better (I ascended one gully further south, and descended one gully further south than that). No snow anywhere. Quick and easy centennial hike -- 3:00 hours up, 1:45 back. Saw one other person as I was descending Lackawanna. Great views, as there are from any peak in that area, but the view straight up the North Fork Lake Creek valley is especially nice. |
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6/19/2021 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 6/19/2021, By: jsommer Info: Creek crossing was knee deep in the am and waist deep on my way back. Turned Lackawanna into a big loop adding Casco, Frasco, and French for a nice long ridge walk. Summer conditions on all peaks 1 or 2 small unavoidable snowfields (no spikes needed) and below treeline is a muddy mess |
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6/10/2021 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 6/11/2021, By: MC.Ikema Info: Be prepared for a creek crossing in knee high to thigh high water (2-2.5 ft deep). We did not find any log or rock hopping opportunities to avoid this. By afternoon the creek runs noticeably higher and swifter. In the morning we crossed at the GPX line, and in the afternoon we went 100 ft or so downstream to cross a broader section of the creek (pictured). Snow banks on the trail were hard enough for micro spikes in the morning and total slush by noon. As a two-man plow team, we did our best to blast a trench through those snow banks blocking the trail. Above tree line snow patches are avoidable if desired. Micro spikes taken but not used. |
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5/29/2021 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 5/29/2021, By: Carl_Healy Info: Summited Lackawanna today with two others via Southwest Gully. Started at 04:20 and the temperature at the car was already in the high 30s. Bushwhacking up to the start of the gully was dry and thankfully when we got to the gully it looked full of firm snow... at first. Higher up the gully running water had melted the gully completely. We thought about turning around at the point but managed to go ahead sticking the the rocks and dirt on the side without issue. We made a decision point further up where we thought we saw better snow conditions and sure enough when we got there snow was firm and there was no running water. Not to say the gully wasn't looking pretty thin in spots, and once the sun started to hit the snow it softened up a bit but not enough to let us sink in. Summited around 9:30. Given conditions we decided to take the standard route down tagging "Unamed 13,660 B" on the way. This turned out to be a horrible decision. Conditions for the remainder of the route can be found on the soon-to-follow conditions update for that peak. daway8 indicated a Trip Report is pending. |
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5/15/2021 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 5/15/2021, By: Alrightmax Info: Could not have asked for better conditions today. Started at a leisurely 7AM, snow was rock solid until 10. Even as it warmed, it only have enough to get a good bootpack. Summited at 11, was back down by 1. Not much avalanche danger for the moment, but if there's fresh snow that could change. Bring your ice axe and crampons, leave your floatation in the car. You can glissade from the summit ridge to treeline if you have the chutzpah... |
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4/19/2021 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 4/19/2021, By: DrSluice Info: DANGER! An avalanche was triggered at the top of the coulior on our ski decent that was pretty sizable. Approximately 5 inches deep (wind loaded) by 400 feet long that went down at least 1000 feet. I would recommend extreme caution before going on anything with this snow condition. |
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4/18/2021 Route: Southwest Gully Posted On: 4/21/2021, By: adamorsubtractem Info: 82 was open to La Plata TH parking lot. I parked and started climbing at 7am. The route description of "bushwacking" the first 500 feet is accurate. I left the road and headed into the trees 0.25 miles from the TH, but would recommend going farther up the road until you reach the huge clearing where an avy ripped through. Take this up to the gully. I started with snowshoes, but quickly took them off because there was very little snow in the trees. I put them on again around 11,300' and kept them on until the summit. Snow was supportive on the slopes, but became less so when I reached the ridges, approx 800' below summit. There was sporadic post-holing that wasn't particularly fun, but far from deal-breaking. There are some sizeable cornices on the summit ridge, so be safe (it's very easy to see where they start/end). I reached summit at 11:40am, spent 15 minutes on the summit, and began the descent down. Navigating the first couple hundred feet of descent with the snowshoes kinda sucked, so I ended up taking them off. The snow was supportive, but softening, making for perfect glissading conditions. I glissaded for the better part of 1500' and jogged down through the softening snow for another 1500'+, so the descent was refreshingly quick. I reached the road and got back to the truck at 12:05pm. Total time: 4:05 Total distance: 5.58 miles Total elevation 3688' |
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1/10/2021 Route: Southwest ridge Posted On: 1/11/2021, By: blazintoes Info: Parked at La Plata then carpooled 2 miles up IP to a pullout. Low angle surface tension cracks reminded skiing the south gully is not an option. The south ridge is full of unsupportive sugar snow. The longest 2 miles of our lives and we summitted on a chilly minimal windy day. The only thing that made this peak worth it was the company and a herd of bighorns that did a drive by. They are bold. My friends take better pictures. |
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10/30/2020 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 10/30/2020, By: durkan Info: Donned microspikes just after the cabins, was slipping more than expected but could have been my balding boots. Snow varied up to a few inches below treeline, the maybe bootlength at and above depending how you choose to tackle the slopes. Once on the ridge, snow thins out and it's choose your own playground. Ridge between 13,660 and Lackawanna lacked alotta snow. All thin or avoidable. The slopes back down, however, was either too warm or thin to plunge step properly, so it was more like boot skiing. Routefinding was interesting as I definitely broke trail, but it is easy enough to make it if you have the map (definitely use it to avoid some of my silly mistakes). |
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9/18/2020 Route: Lackawanna NW Ridge w/UN13660 Posted On: 9/19/2020, By: PeakSixTD Info: Most of the recent snow is gone. I was totally fine from TH to summit in approach shoes without traction. There were still a few snow fields to cross, but they were non consequential and probably could be mostly avoided. Creek crossing was a non issue. |
