Uncompahgre Peak

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/18/2024, By: Csteve30
Info: The road up is rough, but seemed to have more pulloffs than Princeton so dealing with traffic coming up on the way back down wasn't bad at all. Actual hike is amazing, only one little scramble just to the right of the tower which seems like the route everybody is taking now. Not sure how it is to the left but going up and down the right side is no issue at all. Great views at the top. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/15/2024, By: eliyancey
Info: Made it up the Nellie Creek Road in a stock 4Runner. Definitely a trip up that road and had some moments a little out of my comfort zone, but in the end was able to make it up. 4WD necessary, good clearance necessary, take note of passing points, and take it at your own pace. Trail was in amazing shape thanks to the CO 14ers Initiative. Steady climb until the class 2 section. Would definitely recommend going up the right side of the rock tower. Very steady rock and was a fun and easy climb. Summit was amazing with views of pretty much the entire San Juans and even over to the Elk Range. Four hours round trip not including plenty of time spent on the summit. Favorite 14er so far! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/3/2024, By: marcusmartin
Info: Drove from Henson Road to the Nellie Creek 4WD in a stock 4Runner no problem. That segment to the 4WD TH takes 45 minutes. Arrived at the TH at around 6 pm last night, and I was the first one there. Camped at the TH. Conditions were perfect all day today: no wind, sunny and warm. Left the TH at 5:45 am and was back to the car at 10:30 am, with a long time on the summit. My only recommendation is that you should stay to the right (not left) of the Rock Tower in photo 11. I went up to the left of the Rock Tower and found it very dangerous - loose rocks, dry/sandy dirt and no good hand or footholds. I descended to the right side and the rocks are more stable. No question in my opinion that the right side is the best way to ascend/descend. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/29/2024, By: Abowser7
Info: Beautiful day on Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre. Started at 3, summited Wetterhorn at 6:30, summited Uncompahgre at 10:15, back to the car at 1:00. Summer conditions everywhere. Wetterhorn was my first class 3 with some genuine exposure, very fun scramble at the top. The connecting route between Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre is well maintained, but the connection "shortcut" going from the Wetterhorn trail to Uncompahgre can be a bit tough to find. Regardless, this is only about a quarter mile stretch and then you cant miss it. I clocked in at just over 19 miles. Long day, but still saves you time if you plan to summit both. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/19/2024, By: F5fourteeners
Info: Great hike today! No snow to cross at all. Wild flowers are tremendous this year! Afternoon thunderstorms are happening, and in the forecast for the near future. Had a little hail coming off the peak at about 12:30pm. So, early start definitely a wise move. The views were amazing and the air was so clear most of the day. 

Route: Matterhorn Creek
Posted On: 7/9/2024, By: dgriff
Info: The route was absolutely stunning and I would highly recommend it. At the junction where R233 turns into 233, I would just take 233 which reconnects shortly - R233 seems to run out of trail and you need to somewhat quest to find your way back on route. There was one snowfield crossing but it was extremely minimal (perhaps 10ft across) and had no consequence if you fell regardless as it was a very shallow angle with no exposure. There are a few creek crossings but you can manage across without getting your shoes wet even if they aren't waterproof. If in doubt, do it - truly a memorable day! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2024, By: PJ88
Info: Pretty muddy, but only a handful of insignificant snow crossings. Brought traction but didn't consider using it. I caught a ride the last mile down and it ended up being just over 7 hours car to car from the 2wd trailhead. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2024, By: chrislwillers
Info: Left at 5 AM and back in camp after a couple of extended breaks at 10:30. As others have said, three snow fields but none particularly interesting. They were mostly crusted over at ~6 AM and pretty slushy at ~9 AM. None of them drop into anything remotely dangerous. Gorgeous day in the mountains. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/1/2024, By: brianpaulhill
Info: Road up to TH is definitely rough with two river crossings, but my 2011 4Runner made it. The trail is perfect summer conditions. The couple of snowfields are very small and easy to pass. We took the right side when the trail splits near the top. Secure rock with light scrambling. We came back down the other route, but the loose scree made it interesting. 

Route: via matterhorn creek
Posted On: 6/27/2024, By: zootloopz
Info: 15 miles and 4,500' of gain RT from 0.6 miles below Matterhorn Creek TH at ~10,450'. Some decent car camping here, although mosquito season has begun. The way to go if you don't want to drive up Nellie Creek, and the traverse between Wetterhorn's basin and Uncompahgre is gorgeous with only like 6-7 easy snow crossings. Two of my friends added on Matterhorn since they were feeling energetic on the way back. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: truekyle
Info: Summer conditions but is muddy on the way down. Now, on to the road... I did not drive my tacoma up very far. It's not worth breaking my truck. HOWEVER, I think you could absolutely get a stock 4x4 up. My tip for anyone who wants to cut some miles is to drive .2 miles before the stream crossing. There are 2 nice camp sites there and it's not too rough to get to. They are 2.4 miles from the upper th. I drove up a mile and backpacked in the rest and the sites at the trail head are great. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/20/2024, By: Mountain Goat Magee
Info: Nelly Creek road to the 4WD TH is no joke. Take it slow and youll be fine. A couple of sharp turns plus 2 creek crossings. Started the hike at 5am. The basin was picturesque green with white snowfields mixed in. Truly beautiful when the sun came over the ridge. Following the trail, youll cross seven snowfields. On the way up, they were solid ice and easy to cross. On the way down, everything was melting and made the snowfields more challenging to cross. Gaiters would be nice to have, but not required. Everything above the final ridge was normal summer conditions. The rock to the right of the tower is much firmer than the left. Definitely take this route. The summit was amazing with great views of Wetterhorn. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2024, By: Clairebaums
Info: We camped from the trailhead. There are plenty of dispersed spots. There are still some patches of snow throughout the route. I used crampons to ascend and glissaded with an ice axe on the way down, but it can be hiked without this equipment. My Garmin watch measured the route to be closer to 8.5 miles. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: NOJ
Info: Climbed standard route 7/15 to the ridge Traverse from Wetterhorn. Route is certain early summer conditions. Many 100-200 feet length snowfields that can be easy to porthole in as temperatures rise. Otherwise lots of wet snowmelt rolling down mountain. No special gear needed other than gators to keep socks dry. Beautiful conditions out there! 

Route: West Face Central Couloir
Posted On: 5/29/2024, By: slawrence2011
Info: Started from my parking space 1/4 mile below Matterhorn Creek Road at 4 AM. Made it to the Matterhorn broken peak saddle just after 6. Managed to stay on continuous snow starting at Matterhorn basin. Patchy snow starting just above TH before that, that I now made a posthole highway through. Out of the 3 couloirs, far right looks like it has at least one choke that is 3 ft or less down low. Far left has chokes up high, but it can easily connect to middle on snow up high. The middle one was continuous until right before the snow strip at the top. It is way less steep than it looks, probably high 30s or lower for most of it, and the choke is plenty wide. Sun hit shortly after 9. At the top, I did some easy class 2 mixed through the rocks, and got to the snow strip, followed it to the right and connected to the S ridge finish, though not quite continuous snow. Before this, I explored the snow strip to the left, as it looked like there might be some continuous snow sneak for skiing, but they were all worse than the way I came up. Dropped in around noon, including a forced ski a few hundred feet from the summit, then a few hundred feet of walking, then several hundred feet off the remainder of the S ridge finish, then a walking traverse to the skiable part of the snow strip, then about 5 turns to the rock crossing at the top of the couloir, class 2 walking to the top of a 10 foot steep chute, 2 turns down the chute, more class 2 walking, and finally, continuous skiing all the way to around 11,9 in the basin between Matterhorn and Uncompahgre. I then traversed all the way around the basin back to the saddle at 12,4. I could have cut off much higher and made this easier, but it was worth it for the continuous fall line descent. Skied from the saddle, and attempted to ski down the E side of the drainage (instead of W where the trail was and held no snow), and it was brutal, had to cross a couple creeks, take off skis, ski a lot of sticks and traverse steep snow between trees, but it did end up getting me about 500 feet more skiing, right after where the sign splits off around 11K.