10/15/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/16/2011, By: metalmountain Info: The road past the upper TH is about 70% snow at this point. Appears to be melting though. The shortcut trail up the South Colony Lakes is almost all snow at the moment, but also appears to be melting on the lower sections, and sun/wind exposed areas. Near the lakes there is snow everywhere, over a foot in some places. The trail to Humboldt past the lake actually will probably be snow free here in the next few days, it appeared to be melting quickly. If anyone needs any info let me know, I have some pics that I just haven‘t uploaded yet. |
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9/18/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 9/20/2011, By: EVEREST DREAMS Info: 3 or 4 inches of snow/slush from saddle to top. Not really a problem to climb up. Maybe less since sunday |
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8/7/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/10/2011, By: apasquel Info: Route is good...Cairns everywhere up to the Summit. Everything starts blending in after 13,000 ft so pay attention to Cairns. They are up there and there are plenty...Rock was solid, but there will be the occasional loose rock you step on. Just be careful and test a foothold before hiking up...This route is straightforward... |
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6/25/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/25/2011, By: tjerasdave Info: Trail is almost completely snow free except for 3 minor drifts. Two of these are easily avoidable and the third one was easy to cross although you can avoid it if you don‘t mind walking a little out of the way. The trail is pretty muddy in parts with some standing and running water but it isn‘t too deep. |
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6/19/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/20/2011, By: AeroFaze Info: Sunday the 19th: Completely dry to the top, save for 3 minor snowfields just above tree line in the willows as you hike parallel to the lakes. The crossings of these snowfields are only about a foot deep and not more than 25 yards across each. Extreme winds yesterday (Sunday). Keep an eye on the forecast, however- sounds like there may have been precip last night and today. |
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6/8/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/9/2011, By: Colorado4years Info: Trail is awesome and 99% clear of snow. Just a few places well below the west ridge approach where you‘ll suddenly sink 3 feet deep in it. Very windy for the day‘s hike, but other than that, gorgeous weather and great conditions. Summer‘s here! |
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6/4/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/5/2011, By: Yalegirl09 Info: The Road is completely dry to the old 4WD TH. We took the standard route up and the South Colony shortcut trail down. The standard trail had a lot of sidehilling on snow and postholing through drifts. Snowshoes would have been needed on the way down. On the descent we took the South Colony trail. There is still snow, however enough people have hiked through it snowshoes were not necessary even in the afternoon. From upper south colony lake the switchbacks to the saddle had two small snowfields that were easy to cross. The upper route past the saddle was dry and any snow could be easily avoidable. |
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5/28/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 5/30/2011, By: Exiled Michigander Info: I only made it up to around 11,700 ft. when I was turned back by high winds, but here are the conditions up to that point. The road to the 9,800 ft. trailhead is in excellent condition; even cars with low clearance shouldn‘t have any problems making it if they drive slowly. Don‘t waste your energy by parking at the lower 8,800 ft. trailhead. You can make it from the 9,800 ft. trailhead to the old 4wd trailhead at ~11,100 ft without touching much snow or ice, although there are a few stream crossings that you have to navigate. Past the old 4wd trailhead, snowshoes are unfortunately still necessary or you‘ll be postholing big-time. Image #1 shows Humboldt‘s south side--not much snow on its high slopes. Image #2 is the Broken Hand Pass. Image #3 is of Humboldt taken from CO-119. The photos are a bit deceptive, as they show very little snow. However, you definitely will need snowshoes from at least 11,100 ft. to the saddle. Also, FYI, I met a few guys on my way down who had climbed Cresstone Peak the day before. They said Broken Hand Pass gets VERY sloppy in the late afternoon. |
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5/6/2011 Route: Southeast Gully Posted On: 5/8/2011, By: BillMiddlebrook Info: The recent snow has added up and a summit ski may now be possible on Humboldt... |
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4/2/2011 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 4/3/2011, By: sevenvii Info: Still not possible to reach the Rainbow Trail TH with a vehicle. Shortly after you leave the rainbow trail and gain the ridge, snowshoes are needed until treeline. After treeline all snowfields can be avoided to the summit. |
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2/19/2011 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 2/20/2011, By: Yikes Info: We attempted east ridge - 1 summited and 3 turned back at 13000 due to very high winds and blowing snow. 4wd road is fairly well packed with minimal new snow. The snow isn‘t terribly deep in the trees on the east ridge; most of the trench is only 6-12" deep with several spots going to 24". Snow seemed pretty stable and more consolidated than the sugar on La Plata. There is one steep hill between 10k and 11k that is a grunt, but otherwise the route is enjoyable. Between 12k and 13k you can find a dry path in the tundra and avoid almost all snow patches. Since I didn‘t make it about 13k, can‘t report about it. Note, in whiteout conditions there is a tendency to drop off the south side of the ridge above treeline. Several people independently made that mistake. |
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2/13/2011 Route: Approach Posted On: 2/14/2011, By: Wyoming Bob Info: Humboldt, Colony Lakes Vicinity > Had to park at junction about 1/2 mile shy of 2WD parking area, snow machine packed to the gate, good trench to Humboldt cut off about .25 miles past gate, then we snowshoed almost to tree line on Colony Lake Road, party of two followed so track of two groups of two up and down by end of Sunday, Bill‘s track up Marble Mountain (our real goal) is gone, wind filling in tracks pretty good by the time we came out of the trees. 25" Atlas shoes sinking 9 to 12" when breaking trail on road, even more off the road. |
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1/17/2011 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 1/17/2011, By: hollamby Info: Humboldt is completely wind sweep. Need snowshoes/skis from about 1/3-1/2 mile from the lower TH to get to the lake. Snowmobiles pack the road all the way to the upper old TH. |
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1/3/2011 Route: East Ridge Posted On: 1/5/2011, By: fortmyers-b Info: Parked about .4 miles above the normal winter closure. 4X4 Explorer couldn‘t make it any farther. Snowmobiled into Rainbow Trail (TH) about 2 miles. Snowshoed through the trees (trail in trees was already boot-packed). No post-holing with snowshoes on. Snow depth in trees ranged from 1.5 - 3 ft in deep. Wind scoured above tree line all the way to summit. Put crampons on at about 13,500. Micro-spikes would have been sufficient. Hiking times from Rainbow TH: 6.5 hours up, 4 hours down. Summiting would be tough without the 2 miles in and 2 miles out on snowmobile. Total distance hiked: approx. 8 miles Typical wind- at its worst between 12,500 - 13,500. Had to get low and balance myself every time a gust came through. |
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12/22/2010 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 12/23/2010, By: Kiefer Info: Road is not driveable 2 miles from lower 2x2 trailhead. New Rainbow Trailhead has about ~2ft. of snow on ground. Good trench in place up the road all the way to the upper 4x4 trailhead. Past the 4x4 TH, snow is 3‘ deep powder with a middle frozen layer and ‘firm-ish‘ snow below that. Oddly stable snow. South aspect of Humboldt is wind blown. Talus and dirt is not yet frozen in place. Summit ridge is holding snow, rimed, feather-iced and the summit (starting about 200‘ below the summit) is HEAVILY, HEAVILY rimed. Either wands or GPS is going to be necessary if the sun doesn‘t come out. The Crestones, because of the copious rime above 13,700ft would be suicide right now. |
