San Luis Peak

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/11/2014, By: DynamicPursuits
Info: Thanks phatteus for your report on 4May2014. This is an update to that. There's also a TH update. The road was closed at the turn-off at Equity Mine due to snow. We skinned/walked from the parking area to the trailhead, approximately 2 miles. It was a slow few miles with inconsistent patches of snow. At the trailhead it was fine for skinning. I carried skis though 4 small, dry patches between the actual TH and the summit and ditched them at 13800ft. Snow was mostly hard packed all day. Below ~12500 it was soft for turns but never soft enough to necessitate flotation. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/4/2014, By: phatteus
Info: The road is open pretty much to Equity Mine or certainly will be clear in another few days. One other Tacoma and I parked about 100 yards shy of the Equity Mine. The road up to the turn off for the alternate pass was mostly skiable thanks lots to the recent snow storm but will not remain so for long. The Yawner Gullies are in and were a beautiful powder filled bliss ride from top to bottom. As always, a long trip with lots of uphill battles but plenty of snow. Being a boarder without a split board, I boot packed up the Yawners to the summit while two skiers that were there stayed high and were able to skin all the way up the south ridge. I did not use snow shoes and post holed waist high maybe a dozen times or more, no real problem with staying on top of the snow. I did use crampons on the climb up the gullies and would not have felt safe without them. Attached are photos of some menacing cornices along the way (avoidable) and a shot of the Yawner gullies as well as an early morning shot leading up to point 12540'. The final shot is the route all three of us rode down the mountain. There were definitely signs of large wet slides from before this last storm both on San Luis and the surrounding peaks. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 11/4/2013, By: KTC88
Info: Started from the parking area near the Equity Mine due to deep snow on the road to the 4WD TH. Used snowshoes to gain the 12,300‘ saddle east of Point 12,540 (snowshoes were definitely necessary from this point on). Made it to the second saddle at 12,360‘ and decided not to descend into the basin due to avy danger. Tried to ridge walk around the basin, but after being pummeled by high winds for 30 minutes decided to call it a day. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/22/2013, By: bmcconahey
Info: No traction was needed up to the first saddle and up the summit ridge, but snowshoes very helpful along the Colorado Trail section. We ditched our snowshoes at the base of the summit ridge. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/25/2013, By: sheller
Info: It was very windy on the saddle, but no snow. Summer conditions on San Luis. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2013, By: My-Therapy
Info: Trail is in good shape and dry the entire route, except for one small snow patch about 20‘ long. The weather was great today and we only saw 3 other people all day. It took us 6 hours and 15 to complete the 13 miles round trip, not including the 45 minutes we spent on the summit relaxing and enjoying the views in the nice weather we had. Be aware the rocks and logs at the creek crossings have a thin and hard to see coating of ice on them first thing early in the morning. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/9/2013, By: illusion7il
Info: About a dozen Snow Crossings. Mostly dry. Bring Gaiters and walking stick 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 3/20/2013, By: KyleS
Info: Although I didn‘t summit, I hiked up from the Equity Mine today and I wanted to add a little info to the most recent trip report: The county road to the equity mine has dried out quite a bit and is totally passable by 2WD cars. Use caution, though, because I hit a big, loose rock that was camouflaged in a shadow and blew a tire. San Juan Snowcat has been out in the last week and the cat road up to the CDT is solid. I definitely preferred the road over the streambed which is drifted in with unconsolidated snow. My other concern was that, although the streambed walls are short, there are precarious cornices that could pile up pretty deep in the terrain trap created by the streambed. Albeit much less recently, the snowcat has also packed out the stream crossing shown in photo 2 of the normal route description. Definitely the preferred route if you‘re snowshoeing. For the most part, snow seemed nicely consolidated and I didn‘t observe any indication of instability. That doesn‘t mean there aren‘t deeply buried persistent slabs, but I felt that the probability of release was low. Lastly, the peak still appeared skiable from the summit, especially the line furthest West. 

Route: Yawner Gullies
Posted On: 3/5/2013, By: ap snow
Info: Skied San Luis via the South Yawner Gully (lookers right in the picture you can see my tracks). All 3 of the gullies are in great shape. San Juan Snowcats has been operating in the area and has a track to San Luis Pass. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/28/2012, By: Hypersnow
Info: In spots the snow was easily 2 ft in the North Facing cirques you have to cross; although the ridge to the summit was mostly snow free. Unless you like postholing through unconsolidated snow, I would suggest the Colorado Trail approach to the South Ridge or the Stewart Creek TH (which both looked mostly snow free, and have a better aspect). The picture shown, is looking back across towards the 2nd saddle. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/1/2012, By: MOJO8800
Info: Intermittant snow on the trail above the upper meadow. Drifts led to short streches of postholing. Took gators and micro-spikes, but didn't use them. Saw no other hikers, which kind of suprised me for a sunday. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/21/2012, By: desertdog
Info: GREAT fall colors. We found a good camping spot on the left 100 yards before the TH. CFI has cleaned up the trail. Saw Moose on the way up. Snow free. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/22/2012, By: sad2
Info: I hiked San Luis from Stewart Creek on 07/22. Great trail. Some trail work is going on there. One of the workers put down orange "pine needle markers" on one section of the trail. Not sure if this is the re-routing and eventual new trail. Also, there is a toaster on the summit, with an outlet as well. Unfortunately, no electricity, lightning notwithstanding. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2012, By: Zaigon99
Info: Road to trail head is excellent. Sign about 10 Miles from trailhead indicates that high clearance vehicles are required. Not true, you could probably get a low-rider to the trailhead. But we followed the signs advice and camped near the sign. Peak in the distance is Baldy, not San Luis. Camping available at TH, but no toliet. Trail to top is in good condition and easy to follow. You don‘t see San Luis peak till you get on the ridge line. 11-12 mile RT. Less than 1/3 of vertical in first 2/3 of horizontal. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2012, By: talusman
Info: Trail is mostly dry. 2 minor snow fields to cross between 12K and 13K. Very easy crossing. No additional traction needed.