7/23/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/23/2023, By: -wren- Info: summer conditions. what an incredible route! one tiny snow patch on the challenger descent, and a good bit of running water. pretty disgusting amount of flies up near the lake in the afternoon, and a lot of mosquitos the evening before as I pulled into the trailhead. road to trailhead should be accesible to any vehicle with some care and maybe a little spinning out for 2wd on some of the bumps. |
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7/16/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/16/2023, By: kalestew Info: Summer conditions, only one small snowfield to cross during the climb up Challenger that has solid steps already kicked in. C3 bits didn't feel like C3, no hands really needed. Mosquitos are awful at the trailhead & initial climb. |
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7/16/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/19/2023, By: astromuni Info: Mosquitos were present at both the trailhead and campground, but seem to respond well to bug spray (I was diligent with applying and never got bit). That said, they seem to be abating, based on local intel ... so expect things to improve further. Trail is almost dry but not quite. There are two or three very brief snow crossings. One of them I found a bit hair-raising, particularly in the afternoon when it was slushy. In the morning I crossed without incident. In the afternoon I took out my ice axe and was glad to have it since I slipped a bit on a few steps. I was literally the only person with an axe that day, but I was definitely glad to have it. Your mileage may vary. My other hot take: Kitt Carson is easier than Challenger. Don't at me brah. |
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7/16/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/16/2023, By: mjordan Info: Summited both KC and Challenger today on July 16th We started from the trailhead at 3:40am and got back to the car at 3pm. The mosquitos are significantly better than reports from last weekend it seems like. They were actually the worst at the TH parking lot when we got there around 8pm. But there were zero mosquitos, I mean literally none, from the time we started at 3am all day until we got back to the lake in the evening. They really werent bad, bring some spray and an arm band and you will be fine. Most of us hiked in shorts and short sleeves. Theres one 30ft snow crossing halfway up Challenger but theres steps through it so its solid (see picture). Otherwise the rest of Challenger and all of Kit Carson are completely dry of snow. There is NO snow on the Avenue before the prow or after the prow. You wouldn't have anything to use an ice axe or crampons on even if you wanted to. Love the rock in the Sangres its so solid and fun to scramble class 3 and 4. Its full on summer conditions up there now and mosquitos are still above average but are not unbearable by any means and seem to be getting better week by week. |
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7/15/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: kpeltz Info: Started at 5 am and arrived at the north ridge around 8 am. I brought crampons and an ice axe but quickly realized that I didn't need them. It would have been better not to bring the extra weight lol. The outward bound couloir had some snow still, but it was easily avoidable by getting onto the right wall of the couloir. The initial move to avoid the snow is maybe low class 5 with a little exposure, but the rock is solid and the moves were pretty straightforward. Other than that there is no snow on the ridge itself above the couloir. |
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7/15/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/15/2023, By: Skitch Info: Mosquitos at the trailhead and the campground truly were horrible. Recommend covering up and/or bug spray in those areas, but the rest of the hike was fine. The climb up was great. Full summer conditions. The Alley and Kit Carson were lots of fun to climb up, great holds on the class 3 portions. Kit Carson had better views than challenger at the top. The climb down was tougher, especially down Challenger. The rock is loose and usually wet in certain areas. Add that to some significant elevation grade and its not fun. Overall it was a great hike. Long day, we clocked it at 7.5hours of moving time RT. |
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7/12/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 7/12/2023, By: colekics Info: Started at around 3:15 am from willow creek TH, at willow lake at about 5 am. Once the "trail" to the north ridge diverges from the standard route (via challenger), route finding is a bit messy. Once the actual trail ends, I ended up following sparse cairns to the left of all of the bushwhack. They guided me along rockier areas but then you have to cross a stream and then recross it again. Like the previous report said there are a few snowfields under Kirk couloir to cross to get up to OB couloir, but you can nearly completely avoid them by simply staying on the rocks and climbing to a point where the snow to cross is at a minimum. Once actually on the face going up to the ridge, there are some wet spots down low but the actual tough stuff higher on the face and on the actual ridge is completely dry. |
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7/8/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: triordie Info: We did the North ridge route from a high camp at Willow Lake. A couple of snow crossings before you reach the class 4 portion. First, Kirk couloir lower potion, was icy and need both ice are and crampons or spikes. We only had axes and could not safely cross it, ended up going higher to get to a narrow crossing. Two more crossings were softer already at 7 am and were easily crossed with are only. The ridge portion is totally dry. From the summit of Kit Carson to the avenue there was absolutely no snow. The avenue had two tiny patches of snow but since the previous reports they shrank and did not present any challenges, can be crossed in boots easily. Going down from Challenger there are three snow field crossings. Not a problem late in the day, we didn't take our axes out for those, but imagine can be tricky early in the morning, traction would be helpful. The class 2 trail down has some running water and is loose as always but nothing extraordinary. |
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7/6/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/7/2023, By: delaney_wo Info: Echoing my Challenger post, not quite summer conditions yet. Ridge down to KC saddle from Challenger is snow-free, but the Avenue presents three relatively short snow crossings which we felt ice axe and micro spikes were needed. The first crossing is to access the avenue after traversing down to the saddle from Challenger. The next 2 are in between the prow and the wide notch. All other sections of the Avenue were dry or had avoidable snow. Other than that, its a fun, snow-free scramble to the summit. See attached photos for a preview of the snow crossings. |
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7/2/2023 Route: Outward Bound Couloir Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: Gibson135 Info: The trail up to the lake is totally clear. The first snow I reached was somewhere near the Kirk Couloir which was pretty solid. I actually went halfway across it and realized it wasn't going to work and put crampons on just to cross it. The snow on OB was great heading up - firm, easy to get solid steps, but also never anything too hard to work with either. After the couloir its all dry from there to the summit. I felt like I stepped through a time machine leaving the ice and snow and suddenly in summer conditions on the other side viewing the top. Beautiful day! |
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7/2/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: Swerner Info: Summer conditions up to the lake, then some snow up to Challenger. I'd recommend staying on the rocks on the left side of the big gully up to Challenger to avoid having to cross it a bunch. From Challenger to KC, the Avenue you can see from the summit looks sketchy but it's wider than it looks and it's ok. Around the corner from that there's a bunch more steep snow to cross, and I turned back there. Spikes were useful but I wasn't comfortable continuing further without an axe (which I conveniently left in the car) |
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7/1/2023 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: mapreader22 Info: Started from S Colony Lakes 2WD TH. From upper TH to the lakes lots of running water/mud, some downed trees, and minor snowfields on the trail - all easily crossable without poles or traction. Summer conditions from Humboldt saddle to Obstruction Peak. There is snow on the west face of Kitty Kat Carson, but easily bypassed on the right. Minor, unavoidable snow crossing (just a few steps) between Kitty Kat and Columbia Point - was fine without traction. Descended the third gully off Columbia Point on the way to Kit Carson and came back up the second gully - both had minor, avoidable snow. Final climb up Kit Carson snow was mostly avoidable with one minor crossing (similar to between Kitty Kat/Columbia Point) near the summit. Was carrying microspikes but never used them. Considered going over to Challenger Point but this was already a very long day starting from the lower TH so decided not to. Still some snow on the part of KC Ave seen from Columbia (see pic). I really enjoyed this route up KC but this is a very long day with several hours off-trail above tree line - good weather is a must for this route. Also highly recommend starting from the upper TH if doing this in one day - starting from the lower TH added ~2 hrs and makes for a very long day. |
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6/19/2023 Route: the Prow Posted On: 6/21/2023, By: shattuckml Info: Climbed Kit Carson via the Prow on Monday 6/19/23. Used Spanish Creek TH. A few things: - Mosquitos were horrible the first 2 miles; plan accordingly and make sure all skin is covered. We knew they were bad and we were still surprised by how horrible it was. - We camped at 11k; it took us ~2hrs to hike to the base of the Prow (13k). The sun hit the prow at approx. 7:30am - much more pleasant if you start in the sun! - Our advice for the descent would be to take the couloir down the whole way! We hopped off and onto the rocks skiers right of the couloir and it slowed us down a bunch. We hopped back on the snow after about 20 minutes on rock. Very nice glissade down the whole way. Got us back to camp in roughly 80 mins. - Still a good amount of running water close to the start of the prow if you want to avoid carrying it to the base. |
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6/14/2023 Route: Outward Bound Couloir Posted On: 6/16/2023, By: sdkeil Info: I didn't climb the Outward Bound couloir, but got a great shot of it from 13,580. I just thought I would update the community with a current picture. The appears to still be continuous from the valley floor. |
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6/10/2023 Route: Via Challenger Point Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: ashleyelizabeth0312 Info: There are horrible mosquitos for the first mile and in the parking lot but dont worry they go away after that. We were able to summit Challenger Point but had to turn around for Kit Carson due to unsafe snow conditions sloping towards cliffs. There was a ton of snow going up to Challenger so we just climbed the rocks on the left side. Snow all along the ridge to the summit as well. If you have crampons and an axe to self arrest if needed Kit Carson may have been do-able but we didnt feel safe after trying to go up the avenue with that sloping snow, we ended up turning around. The most fun and longest glissade ever down Challenger with deep snow that made it easy to slow down and stop if needed! No snow until past the lake. |
