Redcloud Peak Trip Report 08/17/2023

Report Type	Mini
Peak(s)	Redcloud Peak - 14,037 feet Sunshine Peak - 14,004 feet
Date Posted	08/17/2023
Date Climbed	08/14/2023
Author	helenalabree

Steep and Loose Sunshine Descent
Great weather conditions for the day. Began the ascent up Redcloud around 4:45am. Pretty straightforward class 2 trail up to Redcloud and on the saddle to Sunshine. The trail down sunshine isn't super clear from the top. There were a couple of cairns on the way down that helped with route finding. The route is pretty tricky to find when the trail cuts downward into the gullies. Do not be fooled by the casual nature of the route description, the gully off Sunshine is by no means a straightforward class 2 section. The standard route gully is filled in with snow, so I descended via the gully hikers right, lookers left, of the standard route. There are some rocks to hang onto on the sides of the gully, but the center is incredibly loose. Took me a lot longer than I was anticipating due to the change of route plans from the snow. The trail after the gully is marked sporadically by a few cairns and is most scree. There is one small steep and loose section before the trail becomes well defined dirt again around mile 8.5. The trail after has lots of down trees and vegetation until it links back up with the standard route at the river crossing. Because of the snow conditions in the gully, I would probably recommend descending via another route further down the saddle of Sunshine. ALSO: I accidentally left a small blue cooler at the TH with some beers, a coffee cup, and a small saucepan inside. My name and phone number are on the outside of the cooler. Would greatly appreciate if someone in the Denver area would be able to bring it back! Beers inside are yours if you find it.

Steep and Loose Sunshine Descent

Great weather conditions for the day. Began the ascent up Redcloud around 4:45am. Pretty straightforward class 2 trail up to Redcloud and on the saddle to Sunshine. The trail down sunshine isn't super clear from the top. There were a couple of cairns on the way down that helped with route finding. The route is pretty tricky to find when the trail cuts downward into the gullies. Do not be fooled by the casual nature of the route description, the gully off Sunshine is by no means a straightforward class 2 section. The standard route gully is filled in with snow, so I descended via the gully hikers right, lookers left, of the standard route. There are some rocks to hang onto on the sides of the gully, but the center is incredibly loose. Took me a lot longer than I was anticipating due to the change of route plans from the snow. The trail after the gully is marked sporadically by a few cairns and is most scree. There is one small steep and loose section before the trail becomes well defined dirt again around mile 8.5. The trail after has lots of down trees and vegetation until it links back up with the standard route at the river crossing. Because of the snow conditions in the gully, I would probably recommend descending via another route further down the saddle of Sunshine.

ALSO: I accidentally left a small blue cooler at the TH with some beers, a coffee cup, and a small saucepan inside. My name and phone number are on the outside of the cooler. Would greatly appreciate if someone in the Denver area would be able to bring it back! Beers inside are yours if you find it.

Comments or Questions

terribletigzy	Wrong Gully 8/17/2023 10:09am Difficult to tell what route you are describing, but the gully for the route listed on this site as "Sunshine Peak - Northwest Face" is not filled with snow. I descended the route a few weeks back and it hasn't snowed since then. Whatever snow-filled gully you were looking at is not where you wanted to be. The correct gully is pretty nasty and loose, and it is not something I would particularly recommend, so you may have been in the right place. Secondly, this is more of a conditions report than a trip report, hence the dislikes you are getting.
greenonion	More Details Needed 8/17/2023 10:14am While your CR here is appreciated, I feel like better details are needed to distinguish between the ok gully and the not ok gully that is clearly emphasized on this site. My concern is that your description could lead others to the not ok gully. Actually wondering if you took the wrong one down, but that may not be the case. Not meaning to be overly critical, just wondering about further details and clarifications. Edit: Agreed with above and I missed it originally. This is a CR, not TR
Full Curl	Snow 8/19/2023 4:19am It snowed on Sunshine and Redcloud last Friday night, August 11.

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