6/20/2020 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/23/2020, By: gr82bjulie Info: Started at Sheep's Gulch TH. Road is fine for 2WD vehicles. Summer conditions. Once you start heading up Quail from Hope Pass, there is a tempting social path that goes to the right of the ridge and then peters out in some loose sand and rock. Don't go that way. It sucks. Stick to the ridge. There was one small snowfield crossing just before the summit. Photos 1: Summit cabin 2: Summit views 3: Quail summit, with Mt Hope in background 4: Looking down Sheep's Gulch trail from Hope Pass 5: What not to do, unless you like loose sand and rock |
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6/17/2020 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/29/2020, By: Brittanyjomad Info: Wild flowers galore and essentially snow and did not see another person. Once you get to the ridge and have to turn right to begin the full ascent to Quail the trail was difficult to see, but if you look closely you will see the trial wraps around slightly towards the left. Garmin calculated 6.67 miles, 4 hours 19 minutes, 3,484 feet elevation gain. |
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6/10/2020 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2020, By: Flyingfish Info: Summer conditions with a small stretch of snow at around 13,200 but would be gone in a week or so. |
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5/26/2020 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 5/26/2020, By: JasonKline Info: The Colorado Trail from Sheep Gulch to Hope Pass is almost entirely dry. The small amount of snow can be easily traversed or avoided. Hope Pass to Quail is mostly dry. There is a large amount of snow between the final false summit and the true summit (Picture 1) that can be avoided by skirting to the north. Hope Pass to Hope still has a lot of snow (Picture 2). If you traverse the ridge or slightly to the south of the ridge, you can find a convoluted snow-free path except for two places near the summit. The first crossing (Picture 3) is about 30 feet, and the second crossing (Picture 4) is about 15 feet) The crossings are simple, but a slip (especially to the north) could have severe consequences. Traction and ice axe recommended. This route up the Hope ridge took a long time. The snow allowed for a marvelous glissade (Picture 5). You have to look hard at the picture to see it, but I was able to string together glissades pretty much all the way back to the Colorado Trail. |
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5/9/2020 Route: SW Couloir Posted On: 5/9/2020, By: Trotter Info: Trail to Hope pass is mostly clear of snow below treeline. Above treeline, large patches of snow cover the trail, but detouring gets you around them. West ridge of Quail in good condition, only snow you have to cross is near summit, about 100 yards of it. Was holding firm, no snowshoes or traction needed. Would recommend gaiters for the occasional posthole at treeline. SW couloir of Quail in excellent condition. Summit register needs new paper, and a pen. |
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7/9/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/10/2019, By: IHikeLikeAGirl Info: Came in from Sheep Gulch side. A small bit of avy debris to get through on the trail to Hope Pass, not bad. Significant snow field on the ridge, but one could get around it, if they chose to. Did not use traction and felt comfortable, given the conditions that day. |
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7/6/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/8/2019, By: Bombay2Boulder Info: Same status as the other one. The summit register put in in 2009 is in shreds and missing pen/pencil. Whoever is heading up there, please get a new summit register and a pen. The register iron pipe is in good shape though. |
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7/6/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/6/2019, By: nyker Info: Route up to the first false summit from hope pass is totally dry. After that point there will be some patchy snow, the most of which will be on route to the true summit where a cornice and back fill will leave you post holing to your waist if you're not careful. Walking well to the left is the better idea. Awesome view of Mount Hope though! |
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6/30/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/1/2019, By: sdicenso Info: Trail is in good shape, until a rocky spot where there is some avalanche debris. More debris and snowfields beyond that point almost to Hope Pass. You can get through it all though. Easy to lose the trail through the debris if you don't watch it. There are some trail segments from Hope Pass towards the first false summit. A lot of loose scree though. From there some boulder hopping to the ridge. I turned around at the last snowfield on the ridge as I watched a storm form pretty quickly to the north. Traction probably only necessary on the ridge before the summit. Just be careful at any other snow crossings as it is getting slushy. |
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6/15/2019 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/16/2019, By: supranihilest Info: From Hope Pass to the summit ridge is dry. It's steep and loose but there's some braided trail you can follow. There's a snowfield on the summit ridge but if you hit it when it's a little bit soft you won't need traction or flotation; microspikes will suffice otherwise. Ice axe not needed unless you get the willies on snow with a little bit of exposure. Consequences of an uncontrolled slide would probably be bad. |
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8/11/2018 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/12/2018, By: AnnaG22 Info: Trail is thin but cairned from Hope Pass. Highly recommend that anyone going up there soon pack in a new summit log so that the old one can be packed out as it is pretty beaten up. |
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10/27/2017 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/27/2017, By: mikemalick Info: Didn't hike Quail today, but I did have a good view from neighbor Mt Hope A. Took the shot below on my descent of Hope and by the time I reached Hope Pass, a good bit of the snow in the photo was melted away. |
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8/22/2015 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/23/2015, By: BagginPeaks Info: While stationed at the aid station on the north side of Hope Pass, covering a portion of the Leadville 100 for my Forest Service job, I decided to make a charge up Quail. Hope Pass can be reached by good trails either from the North (Willis Gulch TH) or from the South (Sheeps Gulch TH). The trail from Willis is longer but not as steep as from Sheeps. Once on the saddle there are eroded social trails up Quails west ridge and the scree and dirt is very loose. |
