Chiefs Head Peak

Route: From Sandbeach Lake
Posted On: 7/18/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: One minor snow field at tree line which is avoidable. There is a legit climbers trail from the lake to tree line. I eventually found the climbers trail in the early light at 5am but much easier to follow on the way down. Above tree line to the 11er there are cairns to help you avoid the thick brush/willows. On the summit, I rescued the summit register from a deep hole. It goes back to 2016 and is in adequate condition. 

Route: Spearhead - NE ramps and standard route
Posted On: 7/8/2024, By: Kbrown321
Info: CR for The Spearhead. Ascended the NE ramps (or the Zig Zag as the group I met along the way called it) and descended the standard route, both in full summer conditions save a few inconsequential snowfields at the base of the Spearhead. NE ramps was much less scrambly than Id hoped, more of an exposed walk with a few scramble sections that were not super exposed (really only the first moves in the lower ramp had an element of exposure, moves to get on the upper ramp and summit ridge felt fairly protected). Standard route was typical 2+ loose talus fare. For the short kings, theres a hole sneak to the summit block (pictured) that avoids the massive exposure of the final moves on the summit ridge. In general I didnt find routefinding in upper GG to be very hard, good social trails get you up out of the krummholz then you can cruise around the meadows wherever you need to go. For other peaks in the area, Arrowheads S ramps looked good to go, Stone Man and the backside of McHenrys still had plenty of snow as did the Arrowhead-McH traverse from the looks of it. 

Route: Southeast Slope
Posted On: 5/17/2024, By: PeakMiller
Info: Followed the Sandbeach Lake Trail up until snow and skinned to gain most of Mt Orton and the ridge to Chiefs Head. Snow was not continuous on the SE slope so I booted the rest. Decent snow in Wild Basin still. Here are some of the usual suspects. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/21/2023, By: madmattd
Info: Picked up Chiefs Head today to take advantage of this insanely nice weather we're having - I'm guessing conditions will change soon. Basically summer conditions to Lion Lake 2. I initially thought I could go up one of the gullys from near Lion Lake 2 to the "North Ridge" (actually the South ridge) of Chiefs Head, but once on-site, none looked appealing (actually they all looked awful!) so I just went up from the Alice-Chiefs Head saddle. A few patches of snow mixed in gaining the ridge to the saddle (seriously, take the ridge, ignore the gully!). Minor snowfields here and there in the lower 1/2 of the ascent from the saddle, but nothing more than a couple inches deep - if one were so inclined, there's probably a way to avoid all snow. One fairly exposed move just below the summit with a couloir going way down into Glacier Gorge under the step between a couple solid boulders - if things looked looser I would have been looking for a different line but the ridge is quite narrow here for a short stretch. Stunning views towards Longs as mentioned in TRs and such. Ledges on Longs looked to only have spotty snow, same in the lower part of the Trough (I'm going to guess more snow higher in the Trough). Narrows looked completely dry, and I did catch at least one person near the end of the ledges with my camera. I would guess the Homestretch is also dry given all the South faces are all but bone-dry in the area. I also intended to climb Alice, but the North-facing Hourglass Ridge looked a little too spicy for my tastes today. Boulder-Grand saddle is also full of snow with a mini cornice right now, so Alice would likely need to be done as an out-and-back from the Alice-Chiefs Head saddle. 

Route: South Slope
Posted On: 7/22/2023, By: dleflar
Info: Went up over Mt. Orton and back down via Hunters Creek. There is some snow still on the east side of the Ortons North Ridge hanging down into Hunters Creek but totally avoidable. Summit is melted off and the marmots are acting pretty ballsy. Had one try and sit in my lap as I ate my strawberry sugar wafers. 

Route: “North Ridge” from Sandbeach Lake
Posted On: 7/4/2023, By: ReachingHigher
Info: Beautiful hike with minimal snow. We used spikes to cross a short but steep snowfield in the trees between Sandbeach Lake and Mt. Orton, but you could easily go around. It was a long day but so worth it! Pictures: #1 Chiefs Head from Mt.Orton, #2 Lion Lakes Valley, #3 Mt. Alice/Hourglass Ridge. 

Route: Southeast Ridge via Castle Lake
Posted On: 9/13/2022, By: supranihilest
Info: From the Wild Basin trailhead we took the excellent Thunder Lake trail to Lion Lakes trail. We took the trail as far as Castle Lake (the horseshoe shaped Castle Lake, not the tiny Castle Lakes to the south), crossed its south side, and headed up the right side of a steep, treed slope next to a large cliff. The slope took us to Chiefs Head's broad southeast ridge, oddly labeled "North Ridge" on maps. The majority of the ridge is open tundra with embedded boulders. This shifts to Class 2+ scrambling up steep, large boulders basically all the way up to the summit. There's multiple ways up the boulders, pick whatever you like. The boulders are generally stable but some caution is required. 

Route: Lion Lake
Posted On: 6/22/2021, By: dbolton
Info: Climbed Chiefs Head from the Wild Basin trailhead via Lion lakes and the saddle between Alice and Chiefs Head. Minimal snow remaining in the trees, easy to navigate to Lion Lake. It looked like the normal route by Trio Falls still had a lot of snow, so I veered climbers right starting from Lion #1 and went up a slope to the right of the entire cliff band. Staying to the right of all the lakes I didn't encounter any significant snow crossings. Summer conditions once above the lakes. 

Route: From Sandbeach Lake Trailhead
Posted On: 1/31/2021, By: bangerth
Info: The trail to Sandbeach Lake is pretty well packed, and one doesn't need either flotation or traction (though on the way down I wished I had put on my microspikes). The real work starts at the lake: The steep slope to Mount Orton. We spent more than 3 hours for 700 ft of elevation from the lake, digging through snow so deep that one generally sinks in to the knees and sometimes to the hips even with snowshoes. It was an incredible amount of work just to make it to 10,925 ft -- only half the elevation from the lake to Mount Orton, and still more than 2500 ft of elevation from Chief's Head. By that point, it was past 1pm and we called it a day. Much fun was had, it was good exercise, and it the views of Meeker, Longs, and Pagoda were incredible. On the positive side, the trench is in -- use it, and improve it for us as we're thinking of coming back next weekend :-) Pictures: #1: From the overlook by Allenspark. Chief's Head is center; Pagoda just sticking out its head; Meeker taking up a lot of space. #2: Looking down onto Sandbeach Lake #3: Meeker (right) and Longs (left) #4: That's how deep the snow was; he's wearing snowshoes, just to be clear. 

Route: Via Sandbeach Lake
Posted On: 12/6/2020, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Chiefs Head is in great condition from the Sandbeach Lake / Wild Basin side. Mostly packed trail to the Lake, bushwack up to Mt Orton ridge is pretty quick and in good shape (solid steps through the snow in place), final tundra / talus push to Chiefs Head is mostly wind blown / minimal snow to deal with. I took flotation and traction and used neither. ~17 mile day from this side. 

Route: Southeast ridge
Posted On: 10/10/2020, By: Jay521
Info: From Lion Lake - clear and dry but the loose gully up to the ridge isn't exactly easy.... 

Route: Northeast Face / North Ridge
Posted On: 6/27/2020, By: MC.Ikema
Info: Small snow crossing between Sandbeach Lake and the North Ridge, however, you can skirt around it if desired. No traction carried. 

Route: West ridge
Posted On: 7/8/2019, By: dbolton
Info: Went up via saddle with Alice from Lion Lakes trail, went down Orton ridge. No snow on route above tree line. Snow on trail from 1 mile below Lion 1, but not hard to follow boot tracks. Normal route by Trio would need traction but going left about 0.25 miles I found an easy way up that headwall. 

Route: Ascend from Sandbeach Lake, Descend past Lion Lake
Posted On: 6/22/2016, By: appleseeds
Info: The route up from Sandbeach Lake to Mt Orton has a few areas of snow below the tree line, but you can avoid all the snow from there up to the summit of Chiefs Head. The west side of Chiefs Head down to the saddle with Alice is clear too, but there is a lot of snow in the drainage around Snowbank and Lion lakes. Be prepared for very wet feet. I'd recommend following the ridge down from the saddle as long as possible instead of dropping into the basin. The trail from Lion Lake #1 is hard to find and covered in snow anyway. It finally dries out around 10,600, but the journey to that point passes through numerous stretches where snowdrifts alternate with standing pools (4-12 inches deep) of snowmelt. Again, be prepared for very wet feet. 

Route: Mt Orton
Posted On: 11/16/2015, By: emgordon
Info: We only made it about halfway up Mt Orton from Sandbeach Lake. There were no clear boot prints leading in that direction so we forged our own path up a couple drainages until a wind loaded section with some knee+ postholes. I‘ll definitely go back in summer to learn the best route. Other notes: the lake has solid ice on the north and east sides, the snow closest to the lake was "punchy" due to wind, and there is still sand exposed near the shore. Conditions on the trail: TH to junction: dry to icy Junction to creek crossings: icy to snow packed Creeks to lake: solidly snow packed (and all rocks should be covered by the next storm to allow for smooth skinning/snow shoeing) Time estimates: About 45 minutes up, 30 minutes down from TH to junction About 2 hours up, 90 minutes down from junction to lake About 1 hour up, 30 minutes down from lake to highpoint (near top of hill visible west of lake, shy of 11000 ft)