Rito Alto Peak

Route: Combo from Gibson Creek TH
Posted On: 6/21/2025, By: Veory
Info: Looped Spread Eagle, Peak of the Clouds, Rito Alto, Hermit, and the unnamed 12er nearby. Super windy today, but everything there is snow free or extremely easy to go around. 

Route: From Rito Alto TH
Posted On: 3/9/2025, By: Will_E
Info: Tough conditions on Rito Alto and Hermit Peak today with Blazintoes, ArthurSpiderman and Geckser. First 4 miles from the TH were mostly dry, after that we encountered some of the hardest trenching I've ever done, and I only had to do 25% of it. The snow was knee to waist deep most of the way from 10k' to treeline, I'd have never been able to do this on my own, we were moving so incredibly slow. We pushed on and after getting out of the trees the day became much easier. Long hard day, glad to have great company. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 11/20/2023, By: Will_E
Info: Road to Hermit Pass is pretty snowy, I pushed my luck getting to 9300', but a real 4wd vehicle could likely get further. Snow was mostly 4"-6" on the road, with some deeper drifts here and there. I didn't take snowshoes, no regrets. The ridge from the pass held a fair bit of snow in places, but nothing too difficult. Cold, snowy and windy today, I showed 14f at summit. 

Route: Megan Lake to Hermit Pass loop
Posted On: 10/13/2023, By: Sbenfield
Info: Hiked along with Peak of the Clouds. Started at Gibson TH and hiked the rainbow trail until intersecting the Megan Lake trail. I followed the good trail to Megan Lake and went up Peak of the Clouds south slopes which were completely dry. From Peak of the Clouds I went to Rito Alto. I was happy to have brought my spikro mikes because the last 200ft or so were a bit snowy/slippery on its northern ridge. After Rito Alto, the descent to Hermit Pass road which was basically snow free. Followed hermit pass road down to the Rainbow trail and took that back to Gibson TH. As a general Sangres comment, It appears everything north of Mt Marcy was very dry (from what I could see) 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/21/2023, By: blazintoes
Info: All good and dry now. Hermit pass rattles your teeth even on two Wheels Jay. 

Route: Spread Eagle South Ridge from Hermit Pass
Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: emilyexplores
Info: Traversed from Peak of the Clouds to Hermit. Ascent up North ridge was extremely unstable talus - had a few fairly large boulders let loose even after testing holds. Easy to navigate though - just shoot for the narrow space between the remaining snow fields and youll avoid the more technical rock ribs. Descent towards Hermit pass was definitely a relief, everything was much more stable and lots of interspersed tundra. Remaining baby cornice was easy to avoid and ridge was primarily snow free, although its worth noting the Hermit Pass Road still has considerable snow fields blocking access to the pass itself from the last major switchback. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/9/2022, By: zootloopz
Info: Via hermit pass. I'd call it 3 out of 6 to 9,600' 4 out of 6 the rest of the way Not my favorite road Snow above 12,600'. No spikes needed. Still drivable all the way to the top of the pass. Great hike. Peak of the clouds and spread eagle are relatively snow free currently for a nice loop. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/27/2022, By: gcook33
Info: Road up, game trails and road down. 10.85mi, 3500' from roughly 10300'. Rain damped the road so it was nice to walk on (no slick dirt or loose rocks). Found this road not too be as terrible as reported. Definitely some shake, rattle and roll on the drive 

Route: Spread Eagle South Ridge from Hermit Pass
Posted On: 8/8/2022, By: CheapCigarMan
Info: No sniveling, Continue forward motion, no sniveling. Took two hours to drive from Westcliffe to the top of Hermit Pass. From the top of Hermit Pass hiked up to Rito Alto, then over to "Peak of the Clouds", then on to Spread Eagle Peak. Took the so called scenic loop back. I wouldn't describe this as a loop, instead it's an alternate descent. Perhaps, I wouldn't even describe it as an alternate way back. Seems someone decided to come off of the slopes of Spread Eagle Peak as a short cut. This is no short cut. The "loop" description is pretty lacking. A long slope walk, though one could have stayed on the ridge longer before descending down to Jearene Lake (which is currently dried up). Follow the bottom of the red rocks, the bottom of the cliff band. A slog through some willows. A gully ascent, though not bad, as the rock is pretty stable. Then pick your path up the slope to the road. Depending on where you come out at on the road it's another half mile or so road walk up to the top of the pass. Making it about a 1,400' ascent from where you bottom out before you begin your ascent again, near Megan Lake to the top of Hermit Pass. This so called short cut is not just a bad idea but a miserable slog back, IMO. Which was disappointing after such a beautiful morning hike on these pretty gentle and beautiful peaks. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2022, By: osprey
Info: I drove my 4RUNNER up the 4WD Hermit Pass road as far as I could tolerate and parked at the pull out at the entrance to the Rainbow Trail just as the fillings in my molars started to loosen. It is a 6 mile hike from the parking area up to the Pass summit but it goes pretty quick. It is a 2 mile RT from the Pass summit to tag both Rito Alto and Hermit Peak. The memorial on the Rito Alto sub summit for PFC Christopher Horns is missing the flag. There is a large PVC pipe at the memorial which I could not open. I think it may contain memorabilia of Horns. Does anyone have any information on why his memorial was placed here? Hermit Peak is a quick ascent after descending back to the Pass. On the descent from the Pass I met a soloist who was planning on also adding on Eureka. And way below the Pass 5 other guys were going up heading for Hermit. The soloist and the group of 5 parked way below the Rainbow Trail. Parking no higher than the Rainbow Trail pull out is morally, ethically, spiritually and physically superior to driving higher. It took me 9 hours for the 14 miles RT. It is probably best to do this on a non holiday week day to avoid the ATVs etc which must buzz up constantly on weekends. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/19/2022, By: thebeave7
Info: Climbed Rito Alto from Hermit pass. Other than a few snow patches to dodge the route is clear. Continued South along the ridge to Comanche peak, no issues with snow, but water was hard to come by at times. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2021, By: CoHi591
Info: Hermit road is dry almost to the top. There is some snow on top of the road and a decent bit of snow on the south ridge/summit area but it can almost all be avoided if you want to, trail runners were fine. No snow on the route beyond Rito Alto to Peak of the Clouds and Spread Eagle. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 4/10/2021, By: supranihilest
Info: From Hermit Peak's summit I dropped down to the flat expanses of Hermit Pass. I dropped my pack near a Forest Service marker and continued up Rito Alto with just my axe, which I didn't end up needing. There's some Class 2 talus and boulders and lots of snow on Rito Alto, especially the upper half or so, which is entirely on snow. To descend return to Hermit Pass and follow the road down, or, for a bonus 12er (12,671) head down to where the road begins switchbacking into the basin and follow the undulating, rocky bumps to 12,671's summit. There's some loose rock, lots of snow, and a fair amount of Class 2+ to Class 3 scrambling along the way, but it's generally solid and fun. I dropped down a southeast facing avalanche chute from 12,671's summit and the snow in it was garbage, up to thigh deep slop at times. Probably best to find another way down, plenty of dry ground up there right now. Send me a PM if you want photos of 12,671, I didn't post any here. Gear: If doing Rito Alto alone you only need flotation for the approach. I didn't use traction and didn't find my ice axe useful but depending on comfort on snow you might want either or both. My axe was useful for 12,671 in a couple of spots. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/28/2020, By: mikemalick
Info: Dry all the way to the summit from the pass. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/16/2020, By: Reg0928
Info: I parked at a campsite at around 10,900 ft. There is one large, steep drift high on the shelf section of Hermit Pass Rd to deal with. I didn't bring my spikes, and I made it across. That being said, it's worth carrying spikes to deal with that drift, as you'd slide for a little ways if you fell. One other large drift in the final switchback of the road can be avoided using the social trail above/near the road. No other snow to worry about.