Front range trail conditions

[JeffR]

Watrous Gulch->Parnassus->Bard->Bard Creek loop is 99% dry.

[xcrunner365]

From my vantage point it looked like there might be one snowfield to cross on the upper ridge near the top of Eva, but dry for the most part. I was out on 6/23 so its probably in better condition now.

[PaliKona]

How about the Arapahoe Pass trail - how wet and how much snow? Would like to get to the pass.

[PaliKona]

I've done James Peak a number of times from St Mary's - so I'm interested in hiking it from the west side. How tough is the road to drive from Winter Park up to the trestle on the west side, where the trail to the divide starts? And once on the divide, is there a trail most of the way to the summit?

Thanks for the help.

[yorksman]

I've done James Peak a number of times from St Mary's - so I'm interested in hiking it from the west side. How tough is the road to drive from Winter Park up to the trestle on the west side, where the trail to the divide starts? And once on the divide, is there a trail most of the way to the summit?

Thanks for the help.

I just drove to the trestle last Friday in my Subaru Outback it took about 40 minutes from HWY 40. Lots of pot holes but no major obstacles.

[PaliKona]

Thanks. Where did you hike from there?

[PaliKona]

I was looking to hike the south ridge of Mt. Morrison. A couple of questions, as I've never done it. Is the trail obvious the whole way up? Also, I always associate Mt. Morrison with lots of rattlesnakes. Are they hibernating by now and not something I need to keep an eye out for?

[madbuck]

I was looking to hike the south ridge of Mt. Morrison. A couple of questions, as I've never done it. Is the trail obvious the whole way up? Also, I always associate Mt. Morrison with lots of rattlesnakes. Are they hibernating by now and not something I need to keep an eye out for?

The trickiest part is parking/finding the start, but then it's pretty obvious.
A few minor scrambling options near the top, but also still pretty obvious.

Ice (now) is more of a concern (just a bit), especially in the beginning -- not sure if enough people were there to need spikes, as it's a pretty steep butt-slide if slippery.
Rattlesnakes won't be a concern at all, as they're brumating(!)
(I'm not a herp-freak, I hate rattlesnakes, but it's a funny word and metabolic process)

Have fun!

[jaymz]

Is the trail obvious the whole way up?

On the way up, yes. But I've climbed it a few times and I always seem to get a little turned around and side-tracked on the way down, once you get in the trees just below the summit. Maybe that's just because I'm an idiot, but there is a faint divergent trail (at least without snow) somewhere around there that confuses me on the way down. No big reason to panic, as it'd take an even bigger idiot than I to actually get lost on that route.
It's a fun little climb. The beginning up to the first flat section is a good uphill grind - I hike up to that quite often just as a workout. I haven't been on it since these last storms, but usually after a snow it can get really muddy and slick on some of the steeper portions right at the start.