Which area to visit, late June

[mtalll]

I'll be in CO in the end of June. I'm looking to explore a new part of the state, I've been to Buena Vista, Twin Lakes, Frisco area, Aspen, Estes park, and love all of it. But I was curious to see something new, and was thinking of Lake City, since its often mentioned as a great area on the forum. But I'm wondering if June 21st is not the best time to go there this year, as the nearby 14ers might still have too much snow, and mostly I'm wondering if the trailheads will be too hard to access at that time due to high creeks, etc. I'll have an SUV and I've driven the Gray's peak trailhead road, but not sure I can handle something much harder than that. Thoughts on Lake City? Or what other new place would you recommend where I could access a couple 14ers? Thanks.

[Scott P]

There is never too much snow (unless it has to do with avy danger), but yes there will almost surely be snow then in that area. It's hard to say how much since the dust layer complicates things. I have been there early season, even in some heavy snow years and don't remember the creeks to be too much a problem for a 4x4.

The southern Sawatch 14ers might be best, but I don't consider them to be as scenic as a lot of other mountains. The Sanges seeem to be fairly dry for the time of year and peaks like Humboldt might be a good bet (though there will still be some snow around).

If you really don't want to deal with snow, maybe try something like the Lost Creek Wilderness. It's a really scenic area, but has no 14ers. Colorado is a lot more than just 14ers anyway.

[mtalll]

Thanks Scott, I'll check that out. I don't mind some snow, just don't want to post hole for miles and was wondering about trailhead access.

[aleugers]

I think Lake City would be a good place to visit around June 21st. You should be able to drive to the Redcloud/Sunshine and Handies (Grizzly Gulch) trailhead at that time of year. The route from Lake City up to those trailheads is part of the Alpine Loop and popular with out of town 4x4 crowds and should be open. The drive up to the TH is along a shelf road and usually not a problem for an SUV but won’t know until it opens for the season soon. There are some narrow sections and usually some potholes but nothing a stock SUV can’t get past. Going beyond the trailheads or to Handies American Basin TH requires a bit more 4x4 capability a little more difficult than Grays TH.

The Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre trailheads are several miles off the main Engineer Pass portion of Alpine Loop and those roads would be very difficult and likely to still have snow blocking the road or would require a more modified 4x4, you could hike that but just plan for the full 15 mile hike from the main road when looking at the route descriptions.

You will encounter some snow that time of year but don’t think it will be miles and miles, usually a few hundred feet crossing a couple times and sometimes avoidable. I usually climb something on Fathers Day and the snow isn’t much of an issue. We won’t really know until it gets closer though. You can filter trip reports by date using the advanced search filter to get an idea and see pictures of what the routes look like in prior years.

[NovaDevi25]

I think Lake City would be a good place to visit around June 21st. You should be able to drive to the Redcloud/Sunshine and Handies (Grizzly Gulch) trailhead at that time of year. The route from Lake City up to those trailheads is part of the Alpine Loop and popular with out of town 4x4 crowds and should be open. The drive up to the TH is along a shelf road and usually not a problem for an SUV but won’t know until it opens for the season soon. There are some narrow sections and usually some potholes but nothing a stock SUV can’t get past. Going beyond the trailheads or to Handies American Basin TH requires a bit more 4x4 capability a little more difficult than Grays TH.

The Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre trailheads are several miles off the main Engineer Pass portion of Alpine Loop and those roads would be very difficult and likely to still have snow blocking the road or would require a more modified 4x4, you could hike that but just plan for the full 15 mile hike from the main road when looking at the route descriptions.

You will encounter some snow that time of year but don’t think it will be miles and miles, usually a few hundred feet crossing a couple times and sometimes avoidable. I usually climb something on Fathers Day and the snow isn’t much of an issue. We won’t really know until it gets closer though. You can filter trip reports by date using the advanced search filter to get an idea and see pictures of what the routes look like in prior years.

Tried Wetterhorn in 2021 with partner, we were unable to get to the lower trailhead in a stock Equinox so camped in a clearing with a bunch of other folks. I'm usually not a fan of road hikes to get up to trailheads (such as if Grays/Torreys is crowded) but it was a gorgeous hike by itself up that road. Lake City is a pretty cool little place, definitely recommend.

[jrbren_vt]

This may be more misleading than helpful, but for a data point, I went to Lake City for a long weekend for the first weekend in June 2022 (51 weeks ago). I hiked Red Cloud, Sunshine and Handies from Grizzly Gulch. The final day I hiked Crystal peak above Lake City (12er) via the 4WD drive road to Uncompahgre, the bail out point to go to Crystal peak is about half way between the 2WD and 4WD THs (see All Trails for the route). I crossed one snow field the entire trip (near the top of Handies). Conditions were close to ideal, the wild flowers were well underway to blooming and the streams were running high. There were snow fields on RedCloud/Sunshine but they were easily navigated around. This year I hear is much different, way more snow. But if you are in late June you'll have an extra 2-3 weeks of melting, in theory. If you wish to avoid snow I would seek out south facing routes which ever region you go to.

[nyker]

You could also try the Sangres, to the willow lake area to do Kit Carson and Challenger ... A little different senior than you've already done.