Party: Myself (25 year old small female), my boyfriend (25 year old tall male), and our dog (1 year old / 65 lb / German Shepherd mix). These peaks were #25/26 for us and #3/4 for the pup - she's previously done Gray's and Missouri.

Vehicle: 2005 4Runner with off-roading tires and 1" lift

Route: Northwest Face ascent up Sunshine (non-standard), traverse to Redcloud, Northeast Ridge descent from Redcloud (standard)

Conditions: Snowfall overnight above ~12k', cold for August, very windy on the ridge, bluebird for hiking day

Car camped Thursday night 08/19 at the Silver Creek / Grizzly Gulch Trailhead. Driving from the east, I agree this trailhead is 2WD accessible, but be prepared for rough patches and some serious exposure. The road is wide enough in most places that encountering opposite traffic wouldn't be terrible, but could be a bit nerve-wracking. We drove west the rest of the way through Cinnamon Pass to get to Silverton the next day, and portions of that stretch of the road do demand 4WD (or some serious skill with 2WD that I certainly don't possess), so be aware of that if approaching the trailhead from the west.

We started hiking around 5 am. The cold front which came through made for a chilly but comfortable start and blanketed the peaks in a few inches of crunchy snow. Finding the turn-off for the Northwest Face route wasn't easy by headlamp, but following the route description perfectly at this point isn't critical -- the creek has an obvious branch off to the southeast, so following that into the valley gets you going where you need to be. We found the trail along the left side of this branch of the creek after about 0.1 miles of bushwhacking. Once reaching the boulder field above treeline, staying on the trial isn't necessarily easy or critical -- just head for the gendarmes in the route description. We reached the base of the gulley that's shown in the route description when it was light out, but the sun hadn't yet hit the North face of the mountain, so it was extremely cold. Identifying the correct gulley to climb was very straightforward. Approximately half of the vertical gain in this gulley is on loose talus as the description suggests, but even with the rocks frozen together (and therefore more stable), this was absolutely class 3 climbing. It took me about 15 minutes to reach the more stable rock halfway up on the right side of the gulley. Boyfriend and dog did it in about 10 minutes. From there, it was about 5 minutes of scrambling up stable rock on the right side and then the left side to get back to level ground. I know this route is rated as "difficult class 2," but I would say this section is absolutely class 3, and not easy. This assessment is my main purpose for writing this trip report. Once we made it through the gulley, we agreed that going back down that way would be very dangerous and difficult to self-arrest. All this being said, we were still happy with our decision to do the CCW loop route and avoid the re-summit of Redcloud that's required for the standard route double summit; but we would not recommend doing the loop clockwise.

Summiting Sunshine was very straightforward Class 1-2 climbing for the remainder of the route, and the traverse to Redcloud was very easy Class 1. Prepare for wind though! Based on all the rock semicircles that people have built along the way, it would seem that strong winds typically buffet these peaks, and our experience wasn't just a consequence of the cold front.

Summiting Redcloud was gentle and easy. Descending it was a bit tough on the knees but still Class 1 the whole way back to the car. Much of this hike is above treeline, so be sure to bring sun protection! Lots of water sources with the creeks, so filtering water was a great option for us to keep pack weight down, especially with the extra food needed for the pup.

Hope this report is helpful for anyone debating which route to take for these peaks!