Looks like San Luis Peak doesn't get a lot of trip reports, so what the heck, here we go.

The Road

The first 10-ish miles are on some of the best dirt roads I've ever seen---let's just say there's a 45mph(!) speed limit sign when passing Dome Lakes for a reason. Once you reach the "bear right onto the 14DD road" piece, the road does get a little bit rougher. I'd wouldn't recommend taking a Ferrari down it, but anything with a non-negative amount of clearance will have no issue with this road. Both water crossings were quite easy due to the concrete ribs visible in the photos (below).

Overall, it was really quite lovely (especially compared to the pile of rubble leading to South Colony Lakes which someone had the audacity to call a "road"). The only surprising part not mentioned in the route description is the insane number of cattle guards---I counted fourteen of them!

The Trail

This trail was incredibly easy to follow. The first four-ish miles are hiking the valley floor up to the base of the peak. While there's a handful of downed trees, most are simple "step over and continue". There were two sections with a pile of downed trees: one about 3 miles in, with the second about a half mile after that. Photo below is of the second one, which was the more difficult one to traverse (we more or less went straight through it).




You might also wonder, like I did, why there's so many downed trees being reported. The answer: beetle kill. This area was clearly hit extremely hard by pine beetles, with much of the forest being dead-trees-standing. And some of those trees have started to fall. Below is one of the many forests of dead trees you'll see along the hike.

Overall, we logged about 14 miles and 3900 feet of elevation gain---the last two miles contain the majority of the elevation gain. So once you start the switchbacks up to the saddle, expect to work all the way to the peak. Gorgeous views at the top though!