14ers.com • Peak Condition Update

Peak:	"Lackawanna" (13er)
Route:	Southwest Gully
Range:	Sawatch
Posted By:	WildWanderer
Date of Info:	04/26/2019
Date Posted:	04/26/2019

Details
82 is open from Twin Lakes 2.5 miles past the La Plata Trailhead, but there's so much avalanche debris there's no place to park. Seriously: everything that could avalanche has avalanched. It didn't look like anyone has hiked this route since it avalanched. I just followed the avalanche flow up to the summit. From the time I left the road until I summited and made it back down I wore crampons. Microspikes would not have been sufficient. I could hear water flowing under the snow in the gully even at 5am. I used my ice axe for the last half mile or so. The gully has already avalanched, but don't let that fool you: there's still a ton of snow you can't see loaded at the top, ready to fall. Start this hike early to avoid the danger. I started at 4:30am from the La Plata Trailhead, summited at 7am, and was back at my truck at 8:45am. I felt comfortable with this but wouldn't have wanted to start any later. Photos (click for slideshow):

Details

82 is open from Twin Lakes 2.5 miles past the La Plata Trailhead, but there's so much avalanche debris there's no place to park. Seriously: everything that could avalanche has avalanched.
It didn't look like anyone has hiked this route since it avalanched. I just followed the avalanche flow up to the summit.
From the time I left the road until I summited and made it back down I wore crampons. Microspikes would not have been sufficient. I could hear water flowing under the snow in the gully even at 5am. I used my ice axe for the last half mile or so. The gully has already avalanched, but don't let that fool you: there's still a ton of snow you can't see loaded at the top, ready to fall. Start this hike early to avoid the danger.
I started at 4:30am from the La Plata Trailhead, summited at 7am, and was back at my truck at 8:45am. I felt comfortable with this but wouldn't have wanted to start any later.

Photos (click for slideshow):

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