Huron Peak

Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch
Posted On: 9/16/2023, By: minnesotanclimber
Info: Climbed Huron Peak via North Ridge from Lulu Gulch, the Browns Peak direct version. I descended via the normal route. I started up from the 2WD TH at 6:30AM. The gate for this route is closed but you just pass around it. There was a thin layer of ice on the ground but no snow; I slipped on it once or twice. After ascending farther into the gulch there was a pack of coyotes howling, which was a little eerie. I left the road/trail at the hairpin turn and made my way up the gulch per the route instructions. I followed the only cairn I saw, and then had to navigate solo. This is where things started to get tough. There is definitely no trail, only cross-country tundra and gravel travel. The ascent up the ridge was the worst; there is virtually no purchase/grip to be found. It reminded me of my descent of Bross. Just terrible. I gained the ridge, and there is patchy snow on top. No spikes needed.Once I made it past Browns Peak and onto the ridge towards the main route things lightened up and the talus was easy to move over. Then I linked up with the main trail to the summit. Overall, I wouldn't repeat this route up Huron, though it did have benefit of solitude. I was the only person on this route all day. It's not winter but it feels like it in the alpine zone. I was glad to have layers and a puffy with me. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/10/2023, By: Dobbins
Info: Summited Huron today by coming in from Lulu Gulch and descending the standard route. The trail is in great shape, and while we had flurries, the trail is completely clear. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/2/2023, By: Ariella6
Info: trail dry and in summer conditions! weather was a perfect blue sky day! could not take my honda pilot over the 4wd road. A really big pit at beginning of the 4wd road and plenty more as you go. We walked the road from 2wd to 4wd. Thankfully that is not too bad. Road is rough though getting to the 2wd trailhead. Not horrible but definitely not a cake walk either. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/12/2023, By: Kristi_anne
Info: Drove 4WD road, some pretty sticky spots but fine in our 4Runner. Started from 4WD trailhead at 530 and made it to the summit by 8. It was lightly snowing at the summit and drizzling a good portion of the hike but not too cold and still beautiful views. I only wish Id brought my hiking poles because the steeper portions towards the top got slick in the weather. The trail is very well maintained - nice quick stair stepper. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/5/2023, By: SpreadsheetMonkey
Info: Beautiful day and great conditions, thank you CFI for all your work on the trail. Main reason for posting a condition update is to call out the group of 8 women who need multiple lessons on trail etiquette. At ~13.4k ft one of your two off-leash golden retrievers sprinted down the mountain towards our leashed dog, who has no interest in interacting with off-leash dogs when he's leashed (as all dogs should be on hikes). Your dog was 100+ feet away from you, and my 4 months pregnant wife had to grab your dog to prevent it from getting attacked. Then! You had the nerve to tell her that your group had the right of way coming down the mountain and she was supposed to stop her uphill hike for you. Wrong! 

Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch
Posted On: 7/29/2023, By: fdgonzalez
Info: Started from the lower 2WD parking lot/camping area. The route was pretty straightforward, especially with the 14ers.com route description on hand. Saw only 5 other people in Lulu Gulch. Theres a creek crossing early on that has flooded a part of the trail, but with some careful maneuvering we got across with dry boots. The switchbacks going up Middle Mountain werent bad at all. A few narrow and loose areas that can be navigated reasonably. Climbed to the top of Middle Mountain, made a quick detour to bag Cross Mountain, then followed the ridge to get to UN 13462. Ascended Browns Peak afterwards and then scrambled across the west side of the ridge to link up to the main trail. The rock was mostly solid and navigable. Great views of the east face of Huron Peak this route. Ascended Huron Peak via the last section of the main trail and enjoyed beautiful scenery at the summit. Descended via the standard route to complete the Tour de Huron. Lots of flies in the forest. Some of the 4wd drive road is flooded but you can use the rocks to get across. The route ended up being ~13 miles and took us 8 hours. A tough hike, but a very unique way to explore Huron Peak and its surroundings. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: ABQ_Al
Info: Ascended via NW slopes and descended via SW Slopes route. Slippery rocks mentioned in the previous post on the NW slopes route are still wet, worst around 12,500'-12,600'. Not really an issue unless you aren't paying attention, though. SW slopes route was completely dry, but perhaps a bit harder to follow in reverse, and we were glad to have the gps route on the "traverse" section to help avoid unnecessary elevation loss/gain. A big snow patch at the base of the scree slope below the saddle was easily bypassed on the north. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: gratefulliam
Info: Huron is in early summer conditions. A bit of snowmelt still coming down through the ascent of the basin, which makes some of the rocks in that area a bit slippery. In terms of temperature, I think shorts and a hoodie is more than fine. There are two pretty gnarly ruts on the 4WD drive path to the trailhead, so be weary of those. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: devo27
Info: Trail is in good shape. Just a little snow at the edge of the bowl where the trail starts up the mountain proper. But, it was compacted and easily traversed without spikes. There is some mud, but again, nothing bad. Close to the top there was a decent amount of scree and loose rock which made it a little bit of a scramble, but it wasn't bad. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2023, By: cullen
Info: Started between 0630 and 0700 from just beyond the 2wd lot. Temp low 30s, mild breeze, felt ideal. first mile and a half along the road to the 4wd was very easy and was nice to loosen up before the trail. one creek crossing right after the 2wd lot was a chilly surprise, but was wearing sandals so dried and warmed quickly. from the trailhead to the tree line beautiful views, mostly shaded, pretty easy going. from tree line to plateau incredibly beautiful views of river, lakes, other peaks. slightly more taxing, but still pretty easy going. from plateau to summit some mandatory snow, pretty well compacted but not icy. some mandatory mud, but not too much. started to feel the elevation a bit before the final summit push, but a few well placed rests and good to go. footing once we hit the rocks was mostly fine with a few folks slipping here and there but not kicking big rocks down or anything. from the beginning of the rocks to the summit a bit more incline, a few more stops, but went pretty quickly. gorgeous views from the summit and a few mountain goats hanging around just a few yards away. sunny but not hot on the way down. a little muddier from some extra ice melt, but not too sloppy. my first 14er but hard to imagine more beauty for the effort. definitely recommend. 

Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: StevieRay
Info: AM start, only saw one other person before connecting to the standard trail. Did LuLu route up and standard back down. Cut straight through to Browns peak skipping Middle Mountain. We tried hiking up through the scree but either we missed the right line or things were looser than usual but it was slow going. Instead we were able to put on micro spikes and go straight up (photo) some packed snow to catch the ridge to Browns. There's still a pretty large snowfield just under Browns but it was still solid when we were on it, micro spikes were helpful (photo). Ridge from Browns to Huron was slow moving; we picked a line just below the ridge and could kind of make out a trail but it's a bit of a choose your own adventure (photo). Fun day out but definitely plan for more time and a bit of exposure 

Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: yanks8190
Info: Did a tour de huron starting from the lulu gulch TH up Lulu gulch / middle mtn / browns peak and standard way down. Hiked for sunset and did not see another person until back down on the road on the way down. Would recommend sticking to the ridge between browns and UN13518 and staying on said ridge over to the Huron summit ridge so as to not have to do a quarter mile of scree/boulder hopping and losing elevation. Be prepared to get wet shoes on the standard route - trails are streams. 

Route: North Ridge from Lulu Gulch
Posted On: 7/3/2023, By: JJProwe
Info: Beautiful day for a summit of Huron Peak from the less-traveled Lulu Gulch route. There were a few snow crossings below the N slops of Browns Peak ~11,300' in the tree line. We chose to take the switchbacks up to Middle Mountain instead of trying to clime the saddle below Browns Peak, and I think this is the right call. The switchbacks were narrow and got a bit loose mid-way up, but we made decent time and the views were spectacular. As others mentioned, recommend staying ridgeline from Middle Mountain through Browns Peak. A bit of snow crossing was required near Browns. The remaining stretch or ridgeline from Browns to Huron is definitely 'choose your own adventure'; we dropped below the ridge as we were hiking with our dog and it made for some slow-going boulder hopping. Only one other group on the route at this time made for a very secluded day on an otherwise very busy mountain. Highly recommend, but it's a longer day that we anticipated. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/27/2023, By: mcosby
Info: Got an alpine start (~4:00 am) to avoid the >60mph winds today. Was down by 8:20 am. As for conditions: there was almost no snow (a few small flat patches). The cloud cover held the heat down overnight, so pretty post-holey, but no need for traction. The patches would have been frozen solid without clouds. Very, very close to summer dry conditions. Still a little windy, but the views were truly awesome. Intermittent cloud cover combined with the sunrise gave quite the light show. A great morning up high! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/28/2023, By: Slambertjane
Info: It was a great hike! Took about five and a half hours. I was able to drive up the 4x4 trailhead to about .7 from the trailhead. I have an Audi Q4. The road is rough, made it an adventure. We started around 6:15. Windy. Few snow patches right after tree line, but very doable. Huron is ready for the season!