Route: West Ridge Posted On: 4/15/2024, By: Alexarcher Info: Mostly dry, only one snow crossing that gave me a little pause. Traversed over to Atlantic rock hopping basically the whole way. Nice trench/boot pack from the top of Atlantic. Snow was supportive the whole day, no signs of instability but I was done by noon. Awesome day |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 11/4/2023, By: Logan5280 Info: Climbed Pacific today via the West ridge, traversed to Atlantic, then descended Atlantic's west ridge. And wow, Pacific's West ridge is an excellent climb with snow (especially the middle third of the ridge). The road is packed all the way to the mining structure, then there are some faint boot packs up to the Pacific Creek basin, but it's mostly chose-your-own-adventure. Snowshoes not necessary yet, but don't forget the gaiters. Once in the Pacific Creek basin, it's a very tedious traverse of snowy talus, trying not to fall into the gaps between rocks, hidden by snow. Pacific's West ridge currently has some snowy talus scrambling sections, couloir-style climbing sections, and a few rather tricky mixed sections. Crampons and axe are mandatory for this ridge right now. Some of the narrow snowy sections on the ridge top are unbelievably beautiful right now and provide some aesthetic climbing. I also found the infamous slabby section a bit crux-y. The wind picked up a lot on the false summit, but the actual summit pyramid wasn't too difficult to navigate. The ridge to Atlantic has some rather annoying post-holing, even on its windward side. Progress was slow-going, but it eventually turned to easier snowy talus-hopping near the summit. Atlantic's west ridge is currently a somewhat -exposed, mostly class 2 snowy walk on the ridge crest, where traction is probably advantageous. Near the bottom of the ridge, I decided to descend the south face of the ridge, which ended up being an extremely frustrating steep, punchy, snowy talus descent. The standard route near Pacific Creek seems much better. Thanks to Daway8 for the condition photos yesterday. Overall, excellent autumn climb! |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/28/2023, By: gmarcotte Info: Fully snow-free as of 9/28. The use trail that starts next to the black sand patch at Boston Mine leads through a section of the willows that is extremely muddy/swampy. I left the road about 100ft early (near what looks like a firepit) and was able to find a pretty easy path through without any mud -- if you do this, it's worth reconnecting with the trail as soon as possible, as it's much nicer than bushwhacking through the forest. The ridge itself I found pretty much exactly as described -- a bunch of interesting class 3 sections, but very suspicious rock quality and a lot of steep scree and talus. I also traversed to Atlantic, and that ridge is snow-free on the Pacific side, and has some snow on the Atlantic side but it's not too difficult to weave around it. |
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Route: Described below Posted On: 7/30/2023, By: backcountrybrodes Info: See my "Atlantic Peak (13,841')" update |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: __brandonwhite__ Info: East ridge is in good condition. If you approach from the north (Spruce Creek), be careful in the woods you come through as there are widowmakers everywhere that you may not notice in the dark. Head up. Descent down Southwest Slopes is still very snowy. Be prepared with traction or glissade gear. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: glenhanderson Info: Gate is still closed at Mayflower Gulch TH. We wouldn't have driven up anyway. Arrived at 6:30am on July 4, only 5 cars. Headed out by 6:45. Plan was to ascend Pacific via West Ridge, take the ridge down and back up to Atlantic, descend via Atlantic West Ridge, and re-join our original trail - sort of a lollipop loop. The forecast was mixed today, with small chances of rain and thunder storms by 11 and strong winds forecast. We probably should have started an hour earlier. After 7 days into a Colorado climbing trip, this was our first encounter with real storms. We hiked up the 1.5 mile road which was no problem, then headed across the meadow near the old Boston Mine. We encountered very wet ground in the small willow patch and had to navigate around some deeper sections by bushwhacking. We both went into the mud up to 4" a couple times, but our boots stayed dry inside. After that, hiked up the meadow to the base of Pacific West Ridge. Weather was nice, though there were clouds in the distance east and west. Took us about 1:30 to reach the base of the scramble. Weather looked clear so we decided to move ahead. We had researched the scramble and had GPX tracks. It was a fun time - solid class 3 in places and we stayed on the ridge for large sections, with good exposure especially on the north side. By the time we arrived at the summit 1:30 later, the clouds and wind had moved in. Not too bad, but we knew we shouldn't wait too long. After a quick snack, we headed down towards Atlantic. Part way there, we were hit by a first storm. We had about 5 mins of 20 mph winds and snow/hail. We kept trucking up to Atlantic. At the top we met two guys we had started together with in the parking lot who were planning on doing Mayflower Gulch Grand Traverse. We chatted for a bit and they had decided to push on, though there were more storm clouds in the distance east and west. We headed down the Atlantic West Ridge and shortly the wind started picking up. At times it seemed close to 40 mph and we felt we were getting blown around. This storm wasn't passing so fast. As it got worse, we decided to descend down off the ridge since we suspected an electrical storm. Sure enough, 100' down the boulders, we both felt a couple static/hair raising events on our heads. That was scary. We picked up the pace descending the steep boulder field, but it was tricky. There were a ton of loose rocks and some of them were starting to get slippery with the precip. We made it alright with no injuries and by the time we got down to the meadow, the sun was shining on us. Welcome to Colorado summers! The rest of the trip as uneventful. Hopefully the 2 guys on the grand traverse made out OK, as they were definitely up there when the electrical storm hit. |
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Route: North Face Couloirs Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: GreatGlissader Info: Went to do North Couloir, but when we scouted it out the day before it looked pretty thin. Looking around we saw some other couloirs on the north face that looked fun. There are 3 next to each other and we picked the right one because we could see it all the way and the middle was very skinny. Started the couloir at sunrise at 540, and topped out at like 620. near the top was a steeper thinner section and we were breaking through to the rocks for like 10 feet. short and sweet, but they are probably done for climbing this year, so add it to the list for future. We are naming this couloir "I know what boys like", because that was the song stuck in my head during the climb. It has a good beat for climbing. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/9/2023, By: timewarp01 Info: Road to Mayflower Gulch is still pretty snowy, lots of mud and running water between the snow drifts. The willows honestly weren't too bad, but the snow sucks on your way towards the upper bowl. Somewhat supportive in the morning, but a postholing nightmare on the way out. The first third of the ridge up Pacific is dry and chossy, then snow bridges and some steeper fields make the scrambling more interesting. Used crampons from about 13,200' and up. There's still several feet of snow on the traverse to Atlantic, and I kept the snowshoes on all the way down Atlantic's ridge until a short dry section at 12,800'. I'll include a pic of Pacific's north couloir, as well as the chutes on Quandary's north face. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 4/10/2023, By: ReggieBop Info: Amazing day out on Pacific and Atlantic. Other than BRUTAL winds (>50mph), the day was stellar. I would highly recommend snowshoes, microspikes, crampons, and a mountain axe. The first part of the ridge is exposed rock, so I just booted the whole rigde; but, as the climb continues, crampons (which were in my pack, but I was too driven to not pause and allow the wind an upper hand) would be 100% recommended to travel across some snow chutes. Booting was a little sketchy. Once on Pacific, the route to Atlantic was bomber. I used microspikes on the ascent of Atlantic, after the saddle. The descent from Atlantic was once again just a battle against the wind, but it was a stellar day out! |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 3/31/2023, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh Info: Excellent mixed climbing conditions from base to finish, some loose rock, but avoidable. Stayed on the south side of the ridge during the tougher sections. Recommend the full arsenal/winter climbing gear (i.e. ice, axe, helmet, crampons, snowshoes for the approach). Having microspikes instead of crampons would be a bad idea for a route like this. To note, the road going into Mayflower Gulch did not require snowshoes, however the approach to Pacific/Atlantic Pks certainly did. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 2/11/2023, By: sarahmariekirk Info: Summited Pacific Peak West Ridge to Atlantic today with my buddy Matt. Conditions were insane, so much snow & absolutely no trench despite all of the recent reports. This one was no gimme, and it was extremely tough. Going up Pacific took hours, and the ridgeline along Atlantic had deep snow along the entire ridge that was pretty sketchy in places. Definitely a day for the books. Bring snowshoes, ice axe, and crampons! And plan for a big day in the mountains. We saw both sunrise & sunset on the mountain today. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 2/4/2023, By: stomblin7 Info: Snowshoes required from road departure till base of ridge. Snow was soft and slick, we opted for crampons on the ridge with the steepness. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 2/5/2023, By: Emusgro Info: Started off strong out of the th on some packed snow (used micro spikes, but wasn't necessary) for about 1.75mi. Transitioned over to snowshoes to go north toward Pacific Peak's west ridge. About 0.25mi into the snowshoeing, my heel strap breaks. Not a huge deal, I had an extra ski strap with which we made do. Snowshoes for a couple miles (very enjoyable) and then started to transition to climb the class 3 ridge. Transition goes fine just cold af. Climbing is slooooooow bc of the snow and using axes. Really hard climb, prob bc of the snow and wind, but like the hardest 13er I've ever summited. This is where things start to go to shit. This wind- it was supposed to be 20mph sustained which B convinced me wouldn't be that bad. It was not that bad on the approach, but after the ridge it really picked up and started blowing ice in our faces! It was also at this point we realized we may run out of sunlight. Both B and I felt terrible at the summit. Prob not enough food/water/electrolytes in our systems, but we wanted to keep moving. We post holed basically every other step all the way from the summit of Pacific to the saddle. My legs were jelly, and a couple times I just sank into the ground after a big post hole. At this point we are certainly running out of daylight, so we decide to cross the boulder field below Atlantic's summit instead of going all the way to the summit and back down the other side (do shortcuts ever really help?). The boulder field is treacherous. Remember the wind? It's worse now. At one point in the middle of the boulder field, I try to cross a wind blown slab that is slippery and crusty as hell. Obv didn't go well, and I had to self arrest! I picked myself up and tried to stay on the rocks from then on. We finally cross the boulder field and make it to Atlantic's west ridge. More post holing! How fun! At some point on the ridge, B post holes so deep that the hole consumed his left micro spikes. It's inconvenient but okay; we didn't really need them anymore anyway. Then he bangs his shin into a rock - ouch. And then about 10 min later, I lose MY left microspikes to a hungry post hole. At the same time, the buckle on my left gaiter breaks, leaving nothing to secure the gaiter to the bottom of my shoe. Now I have a 8in strap dangling from my foot - cool! Once we make it off the rocks (for the most part) we transition back to snowshoes. In this process, the right gaiter buckle breaks, now allowing for snow in both of my boots I glissade down most of the slope with my snowshoes acting as brakes but at a certain point the snow gets too powdery and deep, so I have to get up and actually walk. We are on the trail back to the summer road at this point, but the sun had just gone down. We were really running out of light. With only a bit left to go to the summer road, we decide to skirt the trail already broken and take a shortcut through the powder. Apparently my snowshoes aren't big fans of powder, bc now the strap on the right shoe will not latch. This essentially left me with a clog on one foot which, of course, slides off every time you take a step. Brutal last 0.5mi to the summer road trying to walk without the snowshoe or with it broken. Fucking finally, we made it to the summer road. The moon is out now. What's that thing w winter months having less hours of light in a day? I have to carry my snowshoes bc ain't no way in hell I'm taking the time to strap them back to my bag. After what felt like 5mi but was really only 1.75, we reach the parking lot. I had never been so happy to hear the sounds of cars. Gear Used: Mountaineering axe Helmet Microspikes (should've been crampons) Snowshoes Hiking poles + wearables Gear Brought (but not used): Avy safety gear (beacon, probe, shovel) Water, snacks, electrolytes Hand warmer packets Prefrontal cortex / hippocampus https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/10445995149 |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 1/31/2023, By: Will_E Info: Did Pacific and Atlantic today from Mayflower Gulch. Mayflower Gulch trail was well packed, no snow shoes needed until branching off. The snow across Mayflower Gulch was deep and soft, but better than the willows hiding underneath. After getting across the gulch I found faint remnants of a trail that I followed for a short distance until it fizzled out. I used snowshoes all the way to the start of Pacific's West ridge, went up Pacific first, then across to Atlantic, and down Atlantic's west ridge. Both ridges were holding a lot of snow, Pacific West ridge was pretty spicy, took me 2 full hours to get up. Cold day out there, -5° when I started around 9am, I showed -4° at summit of Pacific. Wind was calm until I reached summit of Pacific, probably 15-20 mph at both summits, not too bad. Nice day. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/2/2022, By: csf-lhiver Info: Started hiking from 4WD TH at 5:34AM. Rain the night before made for a cautious ascent of the west ridge. Hanging ridge direct the rock was dry for the most part, some sections I chose to not go direct and hang around on easier terrain because of potential slick spots, gullies were loose but went slow and hung to the walls. Bring an extra pair of socks or rain/mud shoe covers... the willows will take you for a muddy spin to and from the peak. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/31/2022, By: Laxer04 Info: Started at Mayflower Gulch TH. Took the west ridge up Pacific and then traversed over to Atlantic, down the west ridge of Atlantic back to the car. Trip was around 8 miles 3400 ft of vert. The route is entirely free of snow. The stream crossing near the cabins in Mayflower Gulch is a muddy mess - I was glad I had my high top waterproof boots on. My climbing partner's trail runners got completely soaked and coated in mud on both the ascent and descent. I found the west ridge up Pacific very enjoyable. Fun climbing on solid rock. The rock was a bit slick due to all the recent moisture, which slowed us down a bit. I made the mistake of trying to drop down to the right to avoid one move and it was all terrible loose rock and scree. Bad idea. |
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Route: East Ridge Posted On: 7/11/2022, By: MTBen Info: Started at lower McCullough Gulch TH. No snow on the ridge. Ridge coming off the summit has some snow but it is avoidable. Route down the southeast slopes still has snow in the headwall so be prepared to downclimb or glissade it. minimal snow to worry about past this section. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/2/2022, By: pbergmaier Info: Did Pacific and Crystal from lower Mayflower Gulch TH, by the highway. Started at 5:45am and reached summit of Pacific at 9am. As previously stated, all snow fields going up Pacific's west ridge are avoidable if so desired. The traverse from Pacific to Crystal is dry as well and all snow fields can also be avoided. We descended west from the Pacific-Crystal saddle and contoured back to the bottom of Pacific's west ridge. Here you will probably need to cross several low-angle snow fields if you want to take the easiest and most direct route. On the ascent, we crossed Mayflower Creek very early, via the concrete flow control system just 0.1 miles from the lower TH, and bushwhacked our way up to the Pacific Creek drainage. On the descent, we instead opted to follow the established trail back down across Mayflower Creek to the old cabin remains at the upper TH. This latter creek crossing was a sloppy, muddy mess and we recommend avoiding it for at least the next couple weeks until it dries up a bit. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/19/2022, By: benopp Info: Pacific West Ridge can be done clear of snow (though there are snow fields on the approach) although ridge holds snow, these can be pretty easily bypassed on the south side. The last, most upper snow field does not cover the ridge. Pacific to Atlantic is completely clear, except for some maneuvering around coming off Pacific. Atlantic ridge has some snow spots, but they can be avoided pretty easily. |
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Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/11/2022, By: rivrrapids Info: Did Pacific, Crystal, and Atlantic. Ascended Mayflower Hill to gain P's west ridge. P's west ridge has some snow, used axe briefly but not absolutely necessary. P>C is dry, P>A has snow on A's ascent but can be avoided. A's west ridge has snow but was not consolidated but alot can be avoided. P's north couloir appears to still be in but not sure of snow quality and may have some rock now; looks like cornice has fallen/dissipated since last report of 5/15. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/8992187305 |
