8/18/2024 Route: From Independence Pass Posted On: 8/18/2024, By: dr_j Info: Not quite from Independence Pass, but I parked at the 12000' level west of the pass in a small turnoff. Bushwhacked through willows for about 5 minutes, then was able to gain the ridge, and eventually find some trail fragments. Conditions were fine, no snow left, just a bit of routefinding around the summit block. On return, the trail is easily visible, and will eventually drop you on the east side of the summit pond at the pass. Didn't see a single soul today, despite the audible traffic on Hwy 82. |
|
5/27/2023 Route: Northeast Gully Posted On: 5/27/2023, By: Chicago Transplant Info: Skinned up from Upper Lost Man trailhead, snow starts right out of the parking lot, dry stretch just below the saddle with Twining and part way up the north ridge. Northeast bowl skied great at 9.15am, some old wet slide debris near the bottom but you can go on either side of it for better skiing. Skinned back to the saddle on continuous snow in a good skin track then went up Twining. |
|
8/26/2022 Route: Ridge from Indy Pass Posted On: 8/26/2022, By: cdgibbons Info: New register. Some folks got married here in early July and left a guest book notebook as a register in a fishing tackle box. |
|
8/7/2022 Route: Indy Pass Posted On: 8/8/2022, By: kwhit24 Info: I got to Indy Pass at 5:15am and waited a little bit until it got a little lighter. There were only about 5 cars there at the time. The route up Pt 13,500 has a good trail most of the way and over to Twining wasn't any more difficult than class 2. It was still class 2 coming off Twining Pk to the saddle aside from one class 3 move towards the bottom. The route up Pt 13,545 had a little maneuvering and Class 2+ stuff with a little exposure in spots. Coming off Pt 13,545 had a few Class 3 area but I mostly tried staying close to the ridge. That was the most difficult part of the hike but Mav handled it with no help needed. Once at the saddle you can see the trail down to Lost Man Lake which you follow for like 3/4 of a mile. Saw 7 mountain goats past the lake. Picked my way up to Pt 13,001 (Now 13,006 and no longer the lowest ranked 13er) with no issues then back to the saddle. The route up East and West Geissler Mtns were pretty straight and lead to some great views of the surrounding areas. To get back to the car I just contoured between 12,400 and 12,500 to avoid too much extra up and down on the rolling slopes. (11.94 mi; 4,790' gain; 7:34:45 total time) Start at TH 5:45am; PT 13,500 6:40am; Twining Peak 7:15am; PT 13,545 8:00am; PT 13,001 9:25am; East Geissler Mtn 10:45am; West Geissler Mtn 11:35am; Back to TH 1:20pm |
|
7/17/2021 Route: South Ridge via Indy Pass Posted On: 7/17/2021, By: LetsGoMets Info: Dry if you take the trail the majority of the way up 13500 (marshy if not). Took about 48 min from Indy Pass. Continued onto Twining. |
|
6/20/2021 Route: From Indy Pass Posted On: 6/21/2021, By: CaptainSuburbia Info: Snow is not an issue to summit of both 13500 and Twinning. I returned through the basin which still had many snow fields to cross and lots of marshy areas. Reclimb 13500 if you want to stay dry. Saw 2 goats and a porcupine. |
|
6/18/2021 Route: Loop from Independence Pass Posted On: 6/18/2021, By: angry Info: UN13,500 > Twining > UN13,545 > East Geissler > West Geissler. There is some standing water and mud in the willows. Beyond that summer conditions and any remaining snow patches are avoidable or of no consequence. No summit register. |
|
5/27/2021 Route: From Indy Pass Posted On: 5/28/2021, By: Tony1 Info: Ski is in from the summit and should be for another week or so, maybe two. A little bit of zig-zagging is required but not bad. No sharks! Hiking condition is good too if you're fine with hiking on snow. Likely frozen in the morning but floatation recommended later in the day. |
|
6/1/2020 Route: From Independence Pass Posted On: 6/1/2020, By: cloudkicker Info: I biked to the top of Independence Pass this morning before it opened to cars (as of noon). I went for PT 13500 but did not complete the traverse over to Twining, due to starting at 830am instead of 630. By the time I reached PT 13500 the clouds were billowing up huge so I turned. From the road (west side of lake) there's about 0.35 miles of wallowing through stretches of snow & boggy willows before you make it to the rocky tundra ridge. This section was pretty mild in my opinion and only took me about 10-15 minutes to complete. Your definition of mild may vary. The rest of the route up to PT 13500 is 95% snow free. There are two tiny snow crossings (one just below the summit) but neither are exposed and both are low consequence. The traverse over to Twining appears to be dry. Looks like there's some good skiing to be had from Twining on the west side but since I'm not a skier I'm not sure if that's a line you'd normally pick. I'll add pictures later once I've made it back home and can pull them off my camera. |
|
9/25/2019 Route: From Independence Pass Posted On: 9/26/2019, By: supranihilest Info: There's a trail that starts on the east side of the pond (pond is on the north side of the pass) and goes all the way to the summit. The trail is dry, though if you go around the pond on the west side expect to get your feet wet, it's a bit boggy even where it seems like there wouldn't be any water. |
|
9/21/2019 Route: Independence Pass Posted On: 9/21/2019, By: Flyingfish Info: Follow the CDT all the way to the top. some ice in the morning but melted off quickly |
|
6/10/2017 Route: Independence Pass Posted On: 6/10/2017, By: jasayrevt Info: Also, traversed over to Twining Pk (13,711'). 13er summits are an inspiring, invigorating hobby. This classic route is another recommended, straightforward path. It has incredible views of many quality neighboring Sawatch Rangers (i.e. Geisslers, 13,545, etc). Conditions up high were spring bluebird. So, perfect for navigating these slopes and ridge line extremely well. Standard light pack plus trail runners approach was good. Climb safely out there mountaineers. Pictures have been included as beta |
