Vestal Peak

Route: Wham Ridge
Posted On: 7/6/2025, By: colingoodman
Info: Wham was completely dry, perfect conditions. There were some unavoidable snowfields in the northern gully below the saddle between Vestal and Arrow. 

Route: Center Shift
Posted On: 7/2/2025, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Center Shift route on Wham Ridge is clear of snow. Snow on the descent was also avoidable. 

Route: wham ridge
Posted On: 6/30/2025, By: zootloopz
Info: via wham ridge in a day. 9:35 RT from molas. summer conditions except for some glissading from the pass on the way down. 22 miles / 7,400ft 

Route: Wham
Posted On: 6/6/2025, By: d_baker
Info: No summit....sigh 

Route: Wham
Posted On: 6/19/2024, By: Jorts
Info: The wham face itself was almost entirely dry. There was a little bit of snow approaching from the basin (see photo). The descent off the back was uneventful and easy to follow over to the Vestal-Arrow saddle. Still a fair bit of snow on the north side of the saddle. I opted not to glissade and was able to navigate around the snow for the most part. Arrow still had snow in the fold (refer to photo). Downfall was heinous along the start of the trail from the CT. That might've been the crux of the day. No bugs yet. 

Route: Backside
Posted On: 9/5/2023, By: ryansunshine20
Info: Packed into Vestal basin Friday and there was only one other person there when we showed up but it a ton of people quickly followed our arrival. I was very surprised how crowded the tiny basin got considering how remote it is. There was definitely a shortage of campsites and groups seemed to start making new campsite in the meadows on flowers/tundra. It was a little tent city with little privacy by Saturday night. Backside route was not as bad as advertised. The loose scree gully to gain the saddle was the worst part but it was not close to the worst scree gully I have ever done. The backside was loose class 2+ maybe 3 depending on the line you take and was pretty fun. The path was mostly obvious. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 8/23/2023, By: Danger_D
Info: Snow free the entire way. All creek crossings are easy to navigate. While there were definitely some mosquitos it was much better than I feared, but there were some interested marmot who were poking around the camp for food 

Route: South Gully
Posted On: 7/31/2023, By: VeraUndertow
Info: The trail up to Vestal basin from Elk Creek Trail has lots of deadfall for the first half but was easy to follow. The trail to the upper basin is loose and steep but still easy enough to follow, once in the upper basin I used spikes to walk on patches of snow to avoid some of the choss and talus, but snow can mostly be avoided the entire route. The south side of Vestal is loose till you get into the gully. Once I got in the gully, I happily climbed the class 3+ on the left of the beat in standard route which is looser scree covered 3. I had a blast climbing this peak, and the gully was no where near as loose as I expected. Took me 4:10 from the Elk Creek, Vestal basin trail split at the lake to the summit, then 40 minutes down and up to Kurzhorn summit. You definitely don't need spikes for this peak now. After this I climbed the Trinity group and that was also a blast with no snow to cross. 

Route: Wham Ridge
Posted On: 10/15/2022, By: seano
Info: Wham looked spicy from Peak Three. Annoying crust-over-sugar snow on north slopes above 12k' or so, but other aspects are mostly clear and dry. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 9/28/2022, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: From Arrow we scampered back down to the basin at about 12,200'. There's a faint trail in the middle of the rock between Vestal and Arrow with cairns. After a quarter or so mile we peered up at the ridge and paused for some minutes to gain some muster and energy to begin our ascent up the Dues Collector. Each of us picking our own route. We found the best strategy was to stay on larger rocks as the lighter in color and smaller in size scree was the more difficult to ascend while the easier to descend. Hiking on the backside of Vestal is a marked trail. Once at the gully we stayed on the west side and scampered up loose Class 2+ / 3 rock. Cairns along the way. Again spectacular views just before the summit with amazing views once on the summit. Very warm bluebird day with no winds. Utterly dry conditions. Once back down the Dues Collector the temps dropped, winds picked up and it began to drizzle. Once back at the camp we watched the Trinities become socked in with wind and rain. A magnificent September weekend shared with two great partners. 

Route: wham ridge
Posted On: 9/20/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: solo wham ridge solo. amazing out there. the camping and water is great at 11,400'. nothing disturbed my tent. big wind against the ridge so I took a couple extra cracks on the face that definitely went 5.4-5.5. 1 bar of LTE on the summit. The descent was straight forward and not that bad! 

Route: Wham Ridge
Posted On: 9/5/2022, By: dogsandguitars12
Info: Great temperature and minimal bugs. Warm temps still and early afternoon clouds, rain, and thunderstorms. Elk creek crossing is easy with multiple solid crossing options. Trail is easy to follow. Easy scramble and route finding for the most part. Don't descend off the Trinities, San juan loose 

Route: Vestal Basin
Posted On: 7/28/2022, By: speth
Info: Beware of mosquitoes, black flies and ticks. Everywhere in Colorado is infested this summer it seems, but Vestal basin is by far the worst place I've been to. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 9/3/2021, By: JasonKline
Info: Entire route from Vestal Basin is free of snow and ice. It's starting to get chilly at night. The Colorado Trail is in great shape, but there's decent deadfall from the Colorado Trail to Vestal Basin. 

Route: Wham
Posted On: 8/8/2021, By: Skimo95
Info: If you have done the 4 traverses, or scramble a fair bit, the crux shouldn't be noticeable. Descent standard was loose off saddle, but not as bad as expected. Rock shoes recommended! 1,700' and 40 switchbacks are demoralizing coming back up MP but worth it