6/26/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/26/2023, By: infinitealpine Info: Trail is in summer conditions. Lots of log hopping, at least a dozen or so downed trees, and one log tightrope walk. |
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6/19/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/19/2023, By: hanada Info: Summer conditions. A couple snow crossings but nothing you need to bring spikes for. |
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6/18/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/20/2023, By: KevinHadley Info: Early Summer Conditions. A few, 50ft / 100ft patches of stepped snowpack with clear trail the rest of the way. Plenty of deadfall on trail as you get closer towards treeline. Brought traction but wasn't needed. |
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6/17/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/18/2023, By: scvaughn Info: Several inches of snow fell during my climb, but it should melt quickly. The trail is mostly clear, as stated below, and easy to follow. Microspikes helped, but are not absolutely necessary. |
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6/16/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/17/2023, By: emself Info: 99% snow free. Only two spots with snow were short: one ~60ft long, the other ~30ft on a hillside, and both are well-trodden so you just step in others' postholes. Waterproof boots were good to have, but didn't use gaiters or microspikes, despite having carried both. Just not worth the hassle of putting them on for the rare, short, and manageable snow patches. There are two large log jams of deadfall on the trail and a handful of single downed trees in addition. Nothing crazy. Trail's in great condition overall. |
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6/15/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/16/2023, By: scott_s Info: Early summer conditions. Trail is wet, lots of muddy spots, lots of trees down between 3 and 4 miles in. Pretty easy to navigate. The trail avoids most of the major snowfields but there are still 2 significant snow crossings. The first is around 12.6k, about 100 feet long, mostly solid but postholed to the hip on the far side. The second is around 13.7k, 50 feet long, has steps that are semi-frozen. Didnt use or feel the need for traction. Planned to sleep at the TH then hike in the morning but I got there early, weather looked good and I felt ambitious so I started this at 7pm. Was fine except the last 300 feet to the summit was shrouded in cloud which reduced vis to about 10-20 feet. In the dark this was pretty challenging and I was thankful for GPS to help my routefinding, especially on the descent. 3h up, 2h40m down. |
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6/10/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: 14ersRN Info: Close to summer conditions. No traction needed to summit. There is a Moose (Mom & Calf) that were at the standard NE Ridge TH. (Look for them to the L as you drive off or to the R as you hike back to your vehicle) As well as a Bear that likes to eat grass..Regardless they were all easily spooked by the presence of hikers. Side note, I believe San Luis might be the most mellow 14er in regards to elevation gain and mileage. Happy hiking & leave no trace. |
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6/10/2023 Route: South Ridge Posted On: 6/12/2023, By: Athiel Info: Equity Mine to the Junction of CT is free of snow- after that both basins contain quite a few snowfields. If you don't make it back over both basins by mid afternoon, it will be a post holing war zone. Very taxing if you do not hurry back. If you're short the post holing is up to your waist in many spots. Ridge to the summit was pretty dry, two-ish avoidable snowfields. It might be a bit until this routes dries out completely. Also, the creeks were pretty high, especially the one by upper trailhead (which was closed). |
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6/10/2023 Route: South Ridge Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: Embercleave Info: A deceptively long day for an otherwise straight forward route. Gate is closed at equity mine so you need to park there and hike the extra 1.5 miles each way. The route past the CT turnoff (normal trailhead) is muddy for a bit and then the snow starts. Its intermittent but its obnoxious. Causes postholing. Add on the deadfall and loss and gain and its a frustrating traverse through the valley and up and over the bump there and back. Probably added an hour extra both ways. Spikes are helpful but not necessary and snowshoes would be useless. NOT trail runner conditions yet. My feet in my poor tx4s were soaking wet at the end of the day. Started at 3:45 am. Summit 8 am. Back to car 1215 Pm. |
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6/4/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/5/2023, By: amitchell Info: Can't add much more than the other two just before me. Started at 3:45am. Summit in 3:15 from start, finished in 5:30 at a moderate hiking pace. 14 miles on the odo. The dirt road to th is long (about 1.5 hours off the paved stuff), but relatively easy, nothing 4 wheel drive. You'll post hole, but not long enough stretches of snow to put on snow shoes. I might recommend snow gaiters if you don't like getting your feet wet post holing. Also, bring decent layers, as it could still be mildly cold on the summit if its cloudy/breezy. Otherwise, consider the NE ridge a summer hike at this point. Instagram @the_floridian_machine for pictures. |
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6/3/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 6/4/2023, By: ashleyelizabeth0312 Info: Summitted on 06-03-2023. Only ones on the mountain that day, besides someone who turned around early morning. We didnt bring snowshoes and felt that spikes were sufficient. Snow was super soft coming back down but nothing too bad. Post-holing did occur. Lots of fallen trees that were kind of exhausting. Beautiful and worth it! River crossings on road were not bad. |
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5/31/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/31/2023, By: runningbuff Info: Nearly summer conditions. The deadfall starts about 2 miles in and continues sporadically for 2 miles, though I didnt find it terribly annoying. Took the direct route up to the ridge and the summer trail down. There is still a little snow on the summer trail, more of a nuisance on the lower section, but its passable. Only a couple small patches along the ridge with plenty of footsteps that make them easy to navigate. A little bit of postholing in the willows around 10:30am, but I think I got lucky with the cloudcover today. Started at 7:30, summit just before 10, back to the car at 11:30, 13 miles total. |
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5/28/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2023, By: hikesalpinemeadows Info: Basically summer conditions up untill tree line. Lots of fallen trees across the trail, so be prepared for some tree scrambling until they get removed. Patches of snow from treeline to the summit, the largest of which is when you ascend out of the valley to the ridge. Didn't use snowshoes, although the snow was getting soft enough to posthole in places by 10 or 11am. Microspikes were nice for climbing the big snowfield to gain the ridge, and otherwise not needed. |
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5/28/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/30/2023, By: mjordan Info: We summited on 5/28. The road to the Trailhead is cleared from all the winter fallen trees, thank you whoever did this! The trail through the valley has a lot of fallen trees you have to navigate though. Definitely adds some time and annoyance to the hike but nothing too difficult. The first snow starts around 12k feet where you have to cross the creek right before you get into the willows. Solid snow for the ascent, we went steep and direct because the summer route was covered still. Only a couple snow fields after the saddle and they have tracks through them so they are easy to cross without spikes. If you are coming down through the willows after 10am expect to posthole. I would say 80% summer conditions as of this weekend. Snowshoes not needed, you will regret it if you bring them. Spikes not even needed. A couple more weeks and most of the snow crossing should be gone and the summer route fully in. |
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5/27/2023 Route: Northeast Ridge Posted On: 5/28/2023, By: XterraRob Info: Route: There seems to be a slight change to the route posted on here. You now do not need to cross Stewart Creek and back again, the trail stays to the north side below treeline. Where you would originally cross, the trail veers right. 30-45 (understatement) deadfall trees are down across the trail below treeline, making it a bit of a timesink. If you have a chainsaw and are motivated, you'll have your work cut out for you. No snow until you hit the willows above treeline, where you will encounter 20-30ft snowfields here and there. Lots of postholing in the willows. As you leave the willows and head for the saddle, there is a good snowfield that stretches almost the entire ascent. Great in the morning for the climb (microspikes would help but I didn't need them), good for glissading in the afternoon! Above the saddle, San Luis's ridge looks caked with snow but the trail only cuts through a few sections of it. Once you swing around the westish side of the ridge, it's 90% bare to the summit. |
