6/19/2023 Route: Boreas Pass Posted On: 6/20/2023, By: two lunches Info: definitely not dry yet. there are large snowfields on the approach to black powder pass and the ridge is still covered in places. photo from Boreas Mtn |
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5/14/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 5/14/2023, By: SionaRW35 Info: Snowshoes are mandatory and will be for at least a couple weeks. We put them on around the Iowa mill at 11,200 and wore them all the way to the summit. Ice ax might be helpful on the ridge at a steep spot around 13,300 or so. Saw FIVE foxes at various times today. |
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4/29/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 4/29/2023, By: shepherdkyle Info: Brought snowshoes and axe. Used neither. Take your time once breaking on the ridge with all the snow. From Baldy TH, I recorded 6.8 miles and 3k vert. Thought it would be longer per previous reports. |
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4/16/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 4/17/2023, By: coopergould Info: Fun day on Bald - skinned to ~12.1k, above which the snow became too shallow for an enjoyable, sharkless ski down. Wore hiking shoes from there to the summit and back. Didn't bring spikes and didn't need them although they may make a few sections simpler. The ridge was a blast - killer views to be had all day |
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2/3/2023 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 2/4/2023, By: Elysed Info: Easy AT from Baldy TH, didn't take switchbacks up to weather station but instead skied up to ridge, ditched skis before starting boot pack across ridge to summit. Many rolling hills/false summits and mixed snow/rock scrambling. I just hiked in my touring boots with ski poles, never used spikes/crampons and didn't take my ice axe out. No one had been on the ridge for quite a while but route is easy to navigate along ridge. I started ~6:30am from TH and summited around 11am going at a relaxed pace. Everything was great until skiing back off the ridge, lots of exposed rocks, grass, and ice until you get to the powder lower. Ended up tweaking my knee and having to walk my skis back down. Highly recommend not skiing until you reach the powder/more gentle terrain lower and not attempting summit in higher winds (over 15mph) as it is a very exposed long walk. |
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10/19/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/19/2022, By: Habret Info: Bluebird, 10 mph wind day. Patchy snow above 12,800, but little ice. Snow depth 2 inches at the summit; nothing is packed enough to warrant microspikes. |
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10/15/2022 Route: East and South Ridges from French Creek Basin Posted On: 10/17/2022, By: two lunches Info: Really enjoyable route from French Pass which can be accessed from Michigan Creek Rd. on the way up to Georgia Pass (Jefferson side). Road is 2WD-friendly (mind the potholes) with enough parking for 6 or 7 vehicles. I recall there being a sign for the French Pass Trailhead when I visited the area in early August but did not see it on Saturday morning. The Class 1 trail is DRY below French Pass, but there is light snow-cover above 12,200- just enough to find an ankle-breaker/lose a knee. Above the pass there are patches of grass, dinner plate choss, and microwave to washing-machine sized boulders. It's generally pretty stable but we found no shortage of unstable rocks. On the way up, we cut north fairly early, but the path of least resistance is to stay on the ridge from the pass to about 13,1. From that point we traveled northwest and ascended the ridge again at about 13,500. The true summit is about 500' north of the marked summit on Gaia. |
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10/14/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 10/15/2022, By: CheapCigarMan Info: Drove all the way to the towers about 12,6 or 700'. Started around 6pm. Little bit of snow but traction wasn't necessary. Breezy and chilly. Crystal clear evening. Navigating through the Class 2 ridge on the descent wasn't too bad but a bit of angst as it was my first in the dark and the ridge isn't strait forward. After getting through most of the Class 2 difficulties I happened to look back and seen a light. I thought I was dreaming. Then I thought my headlight was reflecting off the snow. As I watched the light move I realized those were a pair of eyes moving. A pair of coyotes were following me! They stayed about 50 yards behind me and followed me for about 1/2 mile. One time they were as close as 20 yards. I clacked my trekking poles and threw rocks and yelled to compel them not to eat me. After I realized they weren't going to do much I started talking to them like I was talking to my pup. |
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10/1/2022 Route: Black Powder Pass Posted On: 10/2/2022, By: mellymel Info: Big dusting of snow overnight made this hike extra beautiful… started from Boreas Pass up Black Powder Pass trail with ~2 inches of snow (which had melted almost completely by the afternoon on our return), then turned left/north up the ridge with all the false summits. Snow up on the ridge had some wind drifts, but easy to navigate. Saw ~a dozen mountain goats on the ridge and a bull moose off Black Powder Pass. |
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6/18/2022 Route: Boreas Pass Posted On: 6/18/2022, By: MaryinColorado Info: Route is almost completely dry. There were a couple of snowfields that were avoidable and a couple that were minor enough it wasn't worth the effort to go around but did post-hole a bit. Melt-off is making certain parts of the Black Powder Pass trail muddy, so be sure to go through the mud instead of around it so you don't cause damage to the vegetation. We came up Boreas Pass from 285, and the road seemed more rocky and rutted than it did when I was up there last fall. Nevertheless, it is still sedan-friendly - with caution. |
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6/16/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 6/16/2022, By: Gandalf69 Info: Totally dry, met someone at summit coming from south side, boreas pass. Road is rough around treeline. |
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6/13/2022 Route: Boreas Pass Posted On: 6/13/2022, By: kwhit24 Info: There are some spots where you have to cross snow but since it was early the snow was firm. We could see places where people postholed in warmer/later conditions. Some of the snow areas on the ridge could be avoided but we found it easier to walk on the firm snow instead of looser rocks. We didn't use any micros but others might find them very useful. We were able to glissade about 550' towards the bottom. From the Black Powder Pass ridge all the way up Boreas was almost all snow free or avoidable. 8.07 miles; 3,551' gain; 4 hours 45min Start about 5:30am; Bald Mtn 7:30am (10 min break); Boreas Mtn 9:30am (15 min break); TH 10:20pm |
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4/9/2022 Route: Southwest Couloirs Posted On: 4/10/2022, By: bangerth Info: SW Couloir is in great shape. There is a small cornice on the left side that one should stay away from, but other than that the snow in the morning was fantastic. Great climb if you like couloirs that are slightly more than mellow -- at the top, it's probably 50 degrees or so. The road from the trailhead is covered in snow (and dog poop :-( ). Things were nice and crunchy in the morning, and mashed potatos in the afternoon. We used just boots on the way up to the turnoff, snowshows from there to the base of the couloir, crampons up. Then glissaded down, and then again snowshoes all the way back to the car. |
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3/15/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 3/16/2022, By: desertdog Info: Road is ski/boot packed to Iowa Mill. I put snowshoes on about halfway up the slope to the ridge. The north ridge was a mix of firm snow and rock. I wore spikes. Stayed on the ridge proper the whole way. |
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1/12/2022 Route: North Ridge Posted On: 1/13/2022, By: HikesInGeologicTime Info: Road is packed down to Iowa Mill. From there, most tracks continue straight up the slope, though even with the obvious prior traffic, this section is a draining slog of postholery if you're naive enough to have looked at the windswept nature of the ridge from the parking lot and concluded that you'd be totally fine leaving flotation in the car. Snow is mostly inconsequential to nonexistent above the radio towers and can be avoided on steeper sections by sticking to rocks and talus. We did not make the summit (turned around just below the last false summit due to encroaching darkness, increasing winds, and a brazen dedication to, shall we say, establishing a route of our own instead of following the more direct route outlined on this site), but the last stretch looked as barren of snow as the mountain's name would suggest. Conditions from just above treeline and down were enticing enough that we are totally bringing skis on our next time out. Pics aren't necessarily the most reflective of conditions on the mountain; I just thought they came out pretty cool. |
