San Luis Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/16/2015, By: LoveThisSite
Info: Trail completely dry up to the final creek crossing at roughly 12k. It is possible to find a dry line all the way up to the saddle at 13,200 ft, and beyond that for a little bit as well. The final 400 ft of the summit ridge still holds plenty of snow. It looked like there was a cornice as well. Since we started late, I decided that it was too risky to attempt to cross below the cornice, and bailed. If you start early after a good freeze, you should have no problems with crampons and axe. Or wait a couple of weeks and climb in what will likely be summer conditions by then. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2015, By: Mt_DAN
Info: Slushy, sloppy, and snowy! Bring snow shoes or maybe skis. Route isn‘t bad to San Luis Pass. Lots of deep slushy snow to the last saddle. Route is good about the last mile and a half to the summit. Standard trail is mostly snow covered. Several weighted cornices over hang parts of the route. Some cornices have revenge failed causing small slides. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2015, By: trsippel
Info: The trail from the trailhead to about 4 miles in, just above treeline, is mostly free of snow but wet and muddy in areas. Once to this point we found a side trail down to the creek where the snow started. Not knowing we could get to the main route (on snow) from here, we took what we thought would be a short cut up a gully to the east of the standard route. We ended up on top of a cliffed out area which took us a while to navigate - so don‘t go that way, keep heading west, parallel to the trail! We did make it to the ridge and stuck to the standard trail from here, which is snow covered. There were a few small cornices, but the snow was super stable and we weren‘t too worried about them (though just to be safe we crossed below them one at a a time). We made it to the large point on the ridge (where you would cross to the other side) before having to turn back due to weather. Once skiing down, we found we could get from the main route back to where we started on the snow covered creek. Hope the pics are helpful, let me know if you have questions! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/27/2014, By: ksteinhaus
Info: Drove up to the trail head on the 4x4 road past Equity Mine that is mentioned on the route description. Road was clear of snow but had some small puddles that iced over in the morning. About 50% of the trail is snow covered and due to warmer conditions we were post holing for the most part on any section that was snow covered on a north face. The snow was stable but it would have been good to have flotation and gaiters. Overall The trail was in good condition and did not prove to be a technical challenge. One word of wisdom would be to get out early as this is a longer hike, took us about 8 hours to complete due to the snow slowing us down significantly. Tip* We got a little turned around at the very beginning of the route, there is a nice trail that goes north of the The old 4x4 road mentioned in the route, THIS is not the correct trail! Look for a small carin that marks the old 4x4 road that gains the first saddle, once on the 4x4 road it is easy to follow. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/26/2014, By: ebromfield
Info: Trail is dry until treeline and snow packed on the climb up to the saddle. From the saddle to the summit there are patches of snow that are avoidable, but also easy to traverse. Snow is firm and easy to kick-step, brought microspikes and poles but did not use either. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/18/2014, By: TakeMeToYourSummit
Info: Similar conditions to the last report... that should change in the next few days with snow forecast. A GPS is needed to stay on the snowy trail leading up to the saddle. I brought Yaktrax but never wore them. (continued on the Baldy Alto page) 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/8/2014, By: Unknown
Info: Snow above 12k, knee deep in sections. No need for snowshoes. Microspikes are helpful above 13k. The road to TH is dry. Watch out for a BIG moose along Stewart Creek. I ran into him at 3am (did a night hike) and it was a moderately scary encounter seeing as he was only 15 feet away from me and I was by myself. In fact, I never saw another person the whole time I was out there. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/16/2014, By: 14RBND
Info: Route is open all the way to the summit from the trailhead with only two small patches of snow to cross. The only suggestion I can give with all the recent weather is a very early start to avoid the lightning. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2014, By: scottaskinger
Info: A few snow fields but all are easily crossable. No ax or spikes needed. Also, I took the "point fest" (the 13ers ridge South of the South Ridge route) route on the way up San Luis and this was also free of snow. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/24/2014, By: rhickman213
Info: The route was wet/muddy in places with approximately 5-10 snowfield crossings. It may be prudent to bring microspikes and gaiters but they aren‘t a necessity. There are lots of beautiful high alpine flowers in bloom right now so bring your camera. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2014, By: The_Flex
Info: The parking lot next to the Stewart Creek TH is being closed down. Parking will be available along the road. Bathrooms should be added to the TH also. The pine trees have mostly died due to the beetle along the trail. The hike down is relitively easy on the knees. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2014, By: csmith
Info: 4WD Trailhead is accessible for any 4WD with decent clearance (my 4Runner had no problems). The route has a handful of mid-size snow fields that require crossing. They were nice and solid early in the morning, but we experienced some postholing on the way back. Overall nearly summer conditions on San Luis from West Willow Creek. It was a great day - we were the only ones who climbed San Luis from West Willow Creek on a Saturday in late June! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/20/2014, By: scootmanjones
Info: The drive from Hwy 114 on the dirt road is long. 27 miles of moderately rough 2wd dirt road. The two stream crossings are not worrisome if you have made it that far - 6-10 inches of water with low likelihood of not making it across. The trail itself is in good shape. Some patches of running water/mud in the first 4 miles but easily avoidable. Had 4 snow crossings, 2 in the basin and 2 on the northeast ridge. Didn‘t wear spikes, gaiters or anything special. Don‘t believe the sign at the trail head which says 5 1/2 miles to San Luis Peak. It was 6.9 miles each way on my GPS. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/16/2014, By: transplant_hiker
Info: Route was simple and straight forward to navigate. The lower portion of the trail is muddy in a few spots but nothing that you cant easily avoid. There are two places you need to cross the stream but we were able to find places near by to cross (old logs or narrow spots to jump). Once into the basin there are a few snowfields to cross. They were nice and firm in the morning but by 9 am they were starting to soften up. On the upper ridge, the snow fields was pretty easy to navigate and again were firm in the morning. We did not bring any microspikes or snowshoes and we didnt need them. Snow is melting fast! 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/28/2014, By: bunny256
Info: Trail is very wet in some places, around 11,800 it is obstructed by intermittent large snowdrifts which makes route finding difficult. Above 12,000 it is still covered by several feet of snow. Due to very warm temperatures by 9am, we decided to turn back at 12,300 instead of postholing through waist-high sloppy mashed potatoes.