Mt. Bierstadt

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2025, By: maxavanzi
Info: Summer conditions. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2025, By: hkroyall
Info: We got to the parking lot at 5:45 and it was already full. We were in the first handful to park on the street. It was bright enough when we started that we did not need headlamps. It was mid-40s when we started the hike, but warmed up considerably when the sun peeked over the ridge. The trail was wet from runoff above 13,000 ft but it was mostly avoidable. One snowfield left before the final ridge, but there's a path worn through it. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/23/2025, By: SWINTJJ
Info: We started at 0455 this morning with only a few cars in the lower parking lot. I saw at least two headlamps ahead of us. We ran into one of those on his way down, but the other must have taken the Sawtooth. We only made it to 13,300 as runoff had made the trail icy on a steady basis from about 13,000. With the possibility of rain and snow coming we did not want to risk injury, so that controlled our decision and we turned around. I don’t think spikes would have helped much. As we descended there were a lot of people still coming up. Some were not really dressed for the potential incoming weather, but that is their choice. We got back to the parking lot by 0905. We saw a few goats on the trail, and I saw a female moose on the way back home. 

Route: Tour de Abyss with Mt. Bierstadt - West Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2025, By: rmcpherson
Info: We climbed the Tour de Abyss clockwise via Bierstadt from Guanella pass. 14 miles, 5900 feet, 12 hours (5AM-5PM), 3 14ers. Perfect weather for a long day, with no risk of storms. As far as snow, there Is zero unavoidable snow on the entire route, including both the eastern ridge of Bierstadt and the Sawtooth. We brought spikes but did not use them. We did walk over a couple hard snow patches on the Sawtooth but they could be easily circumvented too. On the Tour de Abyss Route itself: starting from Bierstadt, by far the toughest section of the Tour de Abyss loop is not the Sawtooth but the segment between Mt. Blue Sky and the summit of Bierstadt. Descending the gully from Mt. Blue Sky down toward abyss lake, so briefly mentioned in the route description, is a sea of loose choss and scree. There is no trail to speak of between Blue Sky and Bierstadt. We saw a total of 4-5 cairns on that entire section of route so route finding, especially while scrambling on the East Ridge, is more involved than on the generously-cairned Sawtooth. It turned out to be a perfect, if long, day that involved nearly all types of 14er travel: 1. Engineered trails the size of small roads, supporting tens of thousands of feet per year on the ascent from Guanella pass. 2. Class 3 ridge scrambling on both Bierstadt East Ridge and the Sawtooth. 3. Loose, steep gully descent full of unstable talus and rivers of scree to drop down into the Abyss. 4. An abundance of talus hopping. 5. Fording a stream and boggy wetlands to cross Lake Fork below Abyss Lake by hopping on rocks and tufts of grass. 6. Almost no willow-whacking, happily. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 6/21/2025, By: MMAfightingClimber
Info: Only a couple snow crossings on the sawtooth, Bierstadt standard route and over to west/blue sky. A bit more snow on the back side of Spalding to get gray wolf but you can circumnavigate them with some zig zagging. Came down gray wolf back to the road, lots of bushwhacking in there! I didn’t use spikes at all and did it in trail runners 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: Gandalf69
Info: Route was mostly dry, except for snow up above the saddle, and melting snow on the trail. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: DVD1330
Info: Used microspikes for the hike, definitely helped a lot on the snowfields up closer to the top. Minimal postholes even on the descent in late morning, just stay on the more well tracked path. One thing to note - there is a creek crossing just a little bit after TH. If the water is too high or you don’t want to cross it continue on the trail directly left of the crossing all the way until you find a wooden plank to cross (picture of crossing and plank attached) 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2025, By: CookaMan
Info: Muddy under 11,800ft; between 11,800ft and 12,800ft good, dry trail; above 12,800 still a lot of icy snow, micro spikes would be very helpful. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 6/10/2025, By: mountain_guy
Info: Left the parking lot at 4:15 today. Muddy down in the valley, then dry for most of the climb to Bierstadt. The trail gets very icy around 12,800, but you can pick up a snow field soon after and take that basically to the summit. Spikes helpful but not needed, poles recommended. The scramble up the first part of the Sawtooth was dry, but the traverse in the shade on the north side had some firm snow in narrow places. Totally passable but definitely caught my attention with the exposure below. The plateau between Sawtooth and Blue Sky is basically all snow. Firm at 8:00 when heading up to Blue Sky but started post holing by 9:00 on the way back. Gomer's Gully is even more heinous than advertised. Steep, muddy, slushy, overgrown, trail even just disappears into marshes sometimes. Saw two moose though. Better than a sketchy downclimb on Sawtooth with the snow in the traverse. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2025, By: ny30mil
Info: Blue bird day. Temps at trailhead were in mid 30s. Started at 455am, sun was coming over the horizon, headlamp wasn't necessary. Wooden foot bridges were frosty, but nbd No spikes on the climb just trail sneakers and poles. Snow was crunchy. Its choose your own adventure above 13k. Snow was preferred over rocks. Winds were 20-25 mph on the ridge above 13.5k. Summited at 705am. Summit display was just a sad piece of cardboard. Put spikes on for the downhill, which was very helpful. Snowfield lasts until 13k, started postholing around 740am. Dusting of snow on trail in high 12ks. Some icy spots in 12ks, but nbd. Recommend starting before 5am to avoid postholing. Gloves, hat, layers, with warm long sleeve a must. Back at trailhead at 9am and temp was 50 degrees. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2025, By: maria_rd
Info: Terrific day. Started at 6:45am, summit at 9am and back at the car by 10:30am. Parking lot was already full by the time I got there but there was plenty of parking on the side of the road. Creek crossing without the bridge is very manageable (and I was able to keep my feet dry) but even descending a little after 9am, I was punching through the snow a bit. Highly recommend using the glissade technique to avoid postholing :) 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2025, By: Redelectric3
Info: Was a great day on the mountain. Got there and started @430am and was done by 930am. There creek bridge is gone, you will have to rock hop across. Very muddy on the way up before/after the creek until you get past the pine trees at about 2miles up. Dry from there until you hit the snow, then your hiking on snow. Only post-holed a few times, hard pack is still decent, however due to the amount of people I saw on the way up as I was heading down, I wouldn't be surprised if the trail is a mess of holes now. Also super clear day, so you'll have to factor the melt factor in for tomorrow. Super windy at the top, from the saddle to the peak, serious wind chill, I'm glad I had gloves and a hood on my coat. Overall a solid time, I did have micro spikes in the bag, but didn't put them on at the right time so I ended up not using them at all, so it is/was possible to make it to the top and back without spikes, however that being said, I wish I had put them on. Once you hit the saddle to the peak, spikes would be super helpful to minimize slippage. Thanks 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/6/2025, By: allisonallenau
Info: Started at 6am, summited 9:30am. Trail is muddy and then mostly dry for 50% of the hike up. When you hit the first slope, it’s completely covered in snow from there to the summit. Used microspikes and poles. Def recommend traction. Snowfall and wind this am made the pack hard on the ascent but did post-hole some on the descent. Tracks/cairns easy to follow in the snow. The snow bridge across the creek has melted, so you’ll do a water crossing on the stones. Nice day! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/2/2025, By: psa954hiker
Info: Hiked to the summit today (June 2, 2025) starting at 4:30 AM. The first mile or so is a mix of mud and snow. There is a solid snow bridge over the creek crossing. I put on microspikes at a large cairn at 12,800 feet. Spikes plus poles are very useful from there to the summit with continuous snow; not entirely necessary before then. No postholing even on the descent before 9 AM. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2025, By: imoe1
Info: Started at 2:00 am for a sunrise at the top. Ended up summiting at 4:40, so waited for the sun to rise. Very peaceful. Conditions are good early with the snow (no surprise there). Microspikes will be helpful for the last push to the top. I didnt use mine until descending, but I was slipping around on some icy spots. The trail is muddy and icy even at 2 am, so just anticipate that. Snow coverage is still significant, although it will start to melt fast I bet. I also saw 2 wolves directly on the trail when I was heading down. They howled and did all of their wolf things, and I heard more in the distance. Due to the high traffic on the mountain, I dont think this will be a big issue for most hikers, but on less busy days or at abnormal hours like the hike I did today, be careful and mindful that wolves may be a part of the Colorado mountain experience now.