"Sundog"

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 6/6/2024, By: ReginaThomas
Info: The trail is dry to the turn off. The turnoff is not marked but is near where the trail dips down toward Silver Creek. There is currently a snow bridge over Silver Creek which makes the crossing easy as it is running fast and high. Once on the ridge there was a lot of deadfall to navigate, but 97% of the snow was melted/avoidable. There were 2 small low angle snowfields right at treeline at 12100, which were somewhat firm in the morning but mush in the afternoon. Used microspikes to grip the scree on the descent but no snowshoes/ax needed. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 5/21/2024, By: HikerGuy
Info: Started from Silver Creek TH, trail dry all the way. I spied a nice avalanche path on the way up and decided to ascend that way instead of the north ridge. Steep climbing on dry ground out from the creek, but nice once on the snow. Wore spikes. Followed that up to intersect the north ridge. Rest of north ridge was mixture of snow and rock. Snow supportive after good freeze. I descended the north ridge, some firm conditions but frequent posthole suckiness. I was happy with my ascent choice. Overall good first hike of the season. 5.62 miles and 3,091 feet roundtrip. 

Route: from Redcloud-Sunshine
Posted On: 7/28/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Did the loop with Redcloud-Sunshine, as the 14er trail is so nice and makes for efficient elevation gain. After Sunshine, we followed a good trail to the saddle with Sundog. Rock quality was surprisingly good and a bit of scrambling was fun. By comparison, North ridge descent back to the 14er trail wasnt that good and pretty loose. Great views of the peaks. 

Route: Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch
Posted On: 10/2/2022, By: angry
Info: From the creek crossing there is a trail all the way to summit. Faint in places with deadfall but very easy to navigate. Fresh snow and great views. Traction wasn't necessary but may be useful in the near future. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 10/18/2020, By: coopereitel
Info: The turnoff for this is with the other turnoff up to the valley and gully that lead to Sunshine if that makes sense. Just stick to the ridge and you're there to "Sundog". There was a bit of hard class 2 or class 3 near the summit and also on the descent toward Sunshine. No biggie, just keep that in mind. I will put pictures on soon. 

Route: North Slope
Posted On: 8/12/2020, By: Flyingfish
Info: Creek is pretty easy to cross. Finding a good place to start up the ridge and leave the creek is a little frustrating but once you start up it is very straightforward. 

Route: Descent from Sunshine
Posted On: 8/8/2020, By: jslove1
Info: Conditions are as good as can be. I just want to add my two cents. I descended over Sundog after doing Redcloud and Sunshine (started early so figured I'd take the easiest route finding In the dark). I think it's nice going this way, since you get to ascend the greatest difficulty this way, which is the south side of Sundog. Perhaps I wasn't diligent about route finding here, but my chosen line was absolutely 3rd class. I had my dog, who made it up this without issue. We could have gone down it, but it wouldn't have been as easy for her. As far as the whole ridge goes, pretty much just stay as high as you can on it the whole time, except where you exit the ridge on the east side at the bottom, and then however you choose to deal with the aforementioned south side of summit. There's mostly faint but distinct trails that you can follow. I thought the wooded bit of the ridge approaching the main trail was magic. If you're comfortable with 3rd class, this is certainly a nice way to lollipop your day. 

Route: North Ridge
Posted On: 7/31/2020, By: asueagle02
Info: Echoing Vera's report, ridge is dry the entire length. Recommend departing the RC/SS trail and starting onto the ridge shortly before the South Fork trail splits off to avoid most of the avy debris. Some fun, airy 2/2+ moves beyond the summit on the way to SS. Class 3 moves are there if you want them, but not required. 

Route: North east ridge, ridge to Sundhine
Posted On: 7/5/2020, By: VeraUndertow
Info: Jumped over the river at the "beach of rocks" and climbed up the northeast ridge today. Beautiful summer conditions the whole way up and over to sunshine. I brought but definitely did not need my ice axe. My dog also handled the ridge fine the whole way. Only one slightly sketch 40' of vertical section on the descent from sundog heading to sunshine which I would say was the "Crux" of this class 2-2+ ridge climb. This was way more fun then the Redcloud standard route which was also in great condition. 

Route: North Ridge, Ridge to Sunlight Peak
Posted On: 11/12/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: Take the Redcloud/Sunshine trail to below "Sundog"'s north ridge. Cross Silver Creek on any of the giant messes of avalanche debris and begin ascending up the ridge. Since there's no snow you can use my tracks up, which mostly coincided with earlier tracks from a couple days prior. They're closer to the eastern/climber's left margin of the ridge. The ridge is steep and snowy below treeline but nothing insurmountable. Above treeline the ridge is almost entirely dry. There's a short section of Class 2+ scrambling up a rotten outcrop but it's not that exposed and it's short and easy. Descending back down the north ridge would probably be pretty awful but if "Sundog" is your only goal then do just that. If going to Sunlight Peak take the obvious ridge over. There's some Class 3 scrambling on the ridge and there's plenty of snow and terrible rock. I stayed on or near the ridge crest the entire time. Again you should be able to follow my tracks (until the next snow). There's some up-and-down en route to the flats below Sunshine but not a ton. Be extremely careful on the ridge traverse, it's very exposed and with the snow and rotten rock is pretty spicy. I wore trail runners for the entire day and while my feet were wet it was warm enough to be OK; wear appropriate footwear for you and conditions. Carry microspikes or traction, you'll want them for any possible descent route. 

Route: Traverse from Sunshine and down to Silver Creek
Posted On: 6/27/2018, By: Ptglhs
Info: Descent from Sunshine was fine, not much of a trail to speak of. Regaining Sundog was interesting, crux was right after saddle. Summitpost lists it as class 2+. It felt more 3 to me. A lot of the rock is rotten so check your handholds carefully. Ridge walk after that wasn't too bad, exposure on each side but ridge is manageable. The descent off Sundog sucked: no trail, slippery scree, and a long descent. There was no trail I could find, even in the trees, and bushwhacking another thousand vertical feet through the forest was arduous. If coming from Sunshine I'd recommend gaining sundog's summit and then heading back to the saddle between it and Sunshine, there are a couple of faint trails on Sunshine's NW side down to the eroded old glacial morraine that turn to one well defined one that leads back to the main trail just up from the creek split. (This is not a descent from the saddle between SS and RC, that route is marked as no linger viable). 

Route: From Sunshine
Posted On: 5/18/2012, By: ChrisinAZ
Info: Previous Redcloud/Sunshine conditions still accurate. From the Sunshine/Sundog saddle, there‘s a largely-dry class 2+/3 ascent up to the main ridgeline, then some sketchy sections on account of snow cornices still present along the ridge. It‘s best to initially go to climber‘s right of the cornice, where a short, steep snowfield with some exposure must be crossed. Just after, it‘s possible to cross over to the other side of the ridge through a gap between cornices. From here, it‘s mostly more straightforward travel, with the occasional sidehilling just below snow. The summit is dry, as is the rightmost descent ridge above treeline. Below treeline, there‘s a brief stretch where snowshoes would be helpful. There was generally less snow on descender‘s right, and once it was possible to drop down into the drainage, we did, and made it back out onto the main trail with minimal issues. Ice axe recommended, snowshoes optional and probably not needed in a few weeks.