Mosquito Peak

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 10/30/2022, By: bangerth
Info: We did the Tweto -> Treasurevault -> Mosquito -> Kuss loop yesterday and winter is definitely here. There is between 4" and 2' of snow pretty much throughout the entire route. Two of us wore microspikes for the entire distance, two others took them off at the top of Tweto -- either was probably fine, but bringing them doesn't seem like a mistake. Most postholing can be avoided, but expect to just be stuck down to your knees half a dozen times throughout the route. For pictures, see the conditions report on Tweto. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 9/24/2022, By: mtngoatwithstyle
Info: Cold and very windy day.I did the loop counterclockwise and enjoyed very much going up road 856 until it faded out.There are remnants of a mine there and it is incredible to see steel cables wrapped in boulders.Those miners were something else!. Heading up the upper basin to the saddle to get to the ridge was easy.It is mostly tundra with a few rocks here and there.The streams are covered in a layer of ice already from overnight temps.Going towards Treasurevault was mellow albeit the strong wind and gusts that kept rocking me . The hike from Treasurevault to Mosquito was also enhanced by the wind. Going up Mosquito there are some game trails that one can follow up to Summit.There are patches of consolidated snow in parts of those trails.Views from Mosquito's summit were beautiful but wind was strong and cold.Coming down from Mosquito was quick.I decided not to go up Kuss because of wind and instead walked road to Mosquito Pass and from there hiked down 12 to my car. A real Fall day out there!. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 9/11/2022, By: Danger_D
Info: Route is in great shape, but about 100 yards before the trailhead there are 2 very large puddles that were surprisingly deep. I made it in my RAV-4, but I wouldn't attempt again. There is a pull-off just before the puddles 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 6/11/2022, By: frigidridge
Info: Road to the trailhead is completely free of snow and debris except for a large pond on the road just before the trailhead. Potholes can be avoided so a standard car with a careful driver could probably get to the roadpond. I did London and Tweto as well and there are only a few patches of snow to swim through the whole way, so traction is not necessary. 

Route: Mosquito Pass (Leadville side)
Posted On: 1/24/2022, By: cloudkicker
Info: Mosquito Pass Road (7th Street leaving Leadville, CR 3) is still plowed to 11,040ft, the newest snowfall hasn't changed things. Park just before the giant snow bump in the road which was placed there intentionally by snowplows to stop people from driving higher and getting stuck. Everything above is snowmobile/skier land. I will not be posting a separate TH report for this, it's fairly common knowledge that this road is plowed up to here in winter. Past the winter parking area, it still has nicely groomed snowmobile tracks up to about 11,800ft, and nice bootpack higher than that. Minimal post holing and zero trailbreaking up to the ridgeline/top of the pass. From the ridgeline, Kuss->Mosquito->Treasurevault is mostly windblown. Some new snow made for a little bit of punching through (watch out for the occasional trapdoor feature). There is some cornice buildup on the east side of the ridge but 100% avoidable without any added effort. We also noticed a loaded convexity on the NE side of Mosquito but again, 100% avoidable. On the way back from Treasurevault we opted to take the road contouring the W slopes of Mosquito & Kuss. From either side of Mosquito Pk there appeared to be no slab features over the road. Unfortunately there was one small area just above a chute, not visible from either side, which had some slab built up. We had to skirt cautiously over and around it on some kitty litter in order to pass. This of course can be avoided if you regain summit of Mosquito coming back from Treasurevault. You can pick the road up on the side of Kuss and save that little bit of regain if you want. Floatation not needed. Traction not used either but may have been helpful in places. Overall a great day and nice opportunity to grab 3 new 13ers in winter starting at treeline, without any trailbreaking, and with zero avy danger. (TONS of wind though!) 

Route: Mosquito Pass via Leadville
Posted On: 11/9/2021, By: zootloopz
Info: No traction needed. Drifts over the road though between the pass and peak with a bit of knee deep postholing. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 10/30/2021, By: Carl_Healy
Info: Sorry to have missed the welcomer today, but had a good day in the Mosquito Range nonetheless! Condition notes common to overall route (London Mountain West Ridge + Kuss -> Mosquito -> Treasurevault Loop): Brought microspikes, but didn't use them the entire route. There is definitely snow there, but for the most part it can be avoided and when it can't you're doing some short 4-6” postholes or when hardened the snowfield section is too short to make putting spikes on worth it. Beautiful weather. A lot of the route there was no wind but when it was there it was measured as only 10-15 mph and briefly 20-25 mph at worst. Temperatures measured high 20s to start with but got all the way into the low 40s on the ridges and summits later in the day. Condition notes specifically for the Mosquito part of the route: A bit more snow heading down from Kuss to the Kuss-Mosquito saddle, but still not too problematic and for the most part avoidable. More snow closer to the summit of Mosquito that could still be sidestepped effectively. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 10/24/2021, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: No flotation or traction needed. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 7/10/2021, By: dwoodward13
Info: London->Kuss->Mosquito->Treasurevault->Tweto loop is in full summer conditions. 

Route: East gully
Posted On: 5/28/2021, By: VeraUndertow
Info: Able to drive a Subaru to ~11,375 on Mosquito pass and was able to get my Tacoma to 11,500' where the road turns left and starts gaining elevation in earnest. From here there was consistent snow and ice covering the road but this is only 2 miles or so from mosquito peak summit so we started booting up the road and up into the basin. We got to the bottom of the gully and donned crampons around 7 AM, this gully is decently steep around 40 or so most of the way with an even steeper finish for the last 30 feet before it flattens out as you gain the ridge. Very direct way to gain 1000ft from ~12,500 to ~13,500. We summited around 8:20 am, so 2:40 minutes car to summit, then we transitioned to ski mode and dropped at 8:40 which was perfect timing. The ridge was a little skittery but turns were had and we gained the gully which was very thin right at the top roll over so some sidestepping was necessary for 2 ft or so. From here we asked 2k of premium corn back to the truck only walking once above the upper lake that feeds into Oliver twist lake so we could ski down a steep little chute we were calling Cam's extra credit, since he pointed it out on the way up and asked if we could ski it for EC on the way down. It was only 20 ft or so of vert to regain and 6 of the best turns all day were had by each of us as this chute touches 50 degrees for a second at the top. Made it back to the truck at 9:30 so a quick little in and out ski before I have to work tonight. This line won't be in much longer as it gets hit by the sun from very early AM but there was still a deceng amount of snow back here to ski some other fun lines 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 12/5/2020, By: jbealer
Info: 4wd road was snow covered in places but we were able to drive to the parking spots in front of the true off road part of mosquito pass. We took the summer trail up to Tweto wearing spikes, left ice axes and snowshoes in the car. We were passed by some guys later on that broke the rest of the trail, thanks! We followed their tracks and cut up tweto before the gully/saddle section. It was steep, deep snow in stops with loose rocks, 2 of us had poles, 1 nothing, she wished she had her axe with her for support. Those guys headed to Arkansas and we didn't see them again. We continued on to treasurevault, mosquito and kuss, making a loop. The ridge was a mix of rock and deep snow patches that were not supportive. We discussed if snow shoes would have helped and decided based on the bare sections we would have been putting them on and off all day or scraping them on the rock. We suffered with the postholing. Spikes stayed on all day, could have used the axe on a few snow fields. The descent off Kuss held some of the deepest snow all day, be careful of the hiding rock, mosquito Pass Road off Kuss was covered in more snow then expected, we stuck to the outside edge where it was less deep. Overall not bad for Dec, lacking snow for sure, but enough to make everything extra work. Get it while you can! 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 11/1/2020, By: habaceeba
Info: Went up the Mosquito drainage first so Treasure, Mosquito, Kuss. A little snow, but super shallow and mostly avoidable. I would recommend gaiters, but spikes aren't necessary. I was wishing I packed the spikes for a few short sections up the steep N face of Mosquito, but it wasn't a deal breaker. This route will definitely be different after the next storm. Big thanks to the jeep that went up Mosquito Pass road. It made the shady north side under the shadow of London Mountain a breeze. My knees say thanks too. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 9/19/2020, By: montanahiker
Info: Back to summer conditions. 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 7/3/2020, By: wildlobo71
Info: Road is clear to the London Mine TH; it's got some depth of running water in places and is more suited for a good 4WD vehicle with clearance. Hiked London Mountain to the saddle of Tweto/Treasurevault before weather came in. Entire loop is clear of snow on trail - lots of good cornices remain and some snowfields but the exit basin between Tweto and Treasurevault is clean of snow, but wet. Enjoy! 

Route: Loop: Kuss, Mosquito, Treasurevault
Posted On: 4/27/2020, By: bludwig
Info: We did London, Kuss, and Mosquito. Road to trailhead is clear until right passed the 4WD turn, about 2 miles from the trailhead. Even with this warm week ahead, it'll be a while before that drift melts out. Snow was pretty compact, even in the afternoon so snowshoes were not super helpful, spent most of the day using crampons. Treasurevault was also clear but we turned back at the saddle due to weather. Overall, not bad and I'm sure more will melt out this week. Picture 1: London Mountain Picture 2: Mosquito Peak from Mosquito/Kuss saddle Picture 3: Kuss from London/Kuss saddle