Mt. Blue Sky

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 9/27/2026, By: BrennerGauvin
Info: The ridge is running great. If I am not mistaken the bathroom at the summit of Bluesky is either shut down or about to be shut down for the winter so don’t count on that. 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 8/11/2026, By: hikehikehike
Info: Good summer conditions. Lots of cairns to help with route-finding along the way. Mountain goat family at the top! 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 7/26/2026, By: BigJeff
Info: Started late (8:30 am) under overcast skies. Perfect conditions for 90% of the hike. Pounded by hail, lightning, and heavy rain waterfalling the final descent to the flat trail around Summit Lake (100% exposed w/ zero options) for the final half mile. Pulled my backpack over my head when it started hurting and beelined for my truck at the Summit Lake parking lot. As bad as it was for us somebody must have gotten it much worse. At least 20 emergency vehicles flying up 5 and 103 as we headed back towards 70. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 7/24/2026, By: AurumSun13
Info: The route up Bierstadt and going across the Sawtooth were perfect summer conditions, although the recent rain made some of the talus a bit slippery. Caution to those doing the traverse. Coming down the gully from Blue Sky was more steep than I anticipated for a "Class 2" section. I took more time coming down especially since the scree was still wet. Likewise the route back to the main Bierstadt West Slopes trail was MUDDY (I stepped into a mud puddle that went up to mid-shin). I would wait for this route to dry up unless you're ok getting pretty wet coming back to your car. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 7/13/2026, By: lilcutiebutt
Info: Perfect conditions along the entire route. This was my first Class 3 climb ever! A really great introduction to scrambling, especially with how well-marked everything is. 

Route: 2nd Apron to West Ridge
Posted On: 7/11/2026, By: Ericsheffey
Info: Approach to 2nd Apron is snow free, only a very small patch of snow by the base of P1, easily avoidable. The whole 2nd Apron is dry and in great shape. West Ridge, as expected, is dry, and has a fair amount of wildflowers blooming in the area. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 7/6/2026, By: Lost Steez
Info: Epic hike. Summer conditions. Was expecting more class 3 moves, but it wasn't bad. Route finding is straightforward; cairns are placed all along the traverse. 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 7/4/2026, By: snazzypeets
Info: Summer conditions. No snow. Lots of critter activity! If you’re starting in the dark keep your eyes peeled for the right trail. Once you get up and over Spaulding, keep an eye out for the Little Rock towers. 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 7/1/2026, By: masonpips
Info: Parked at 6 and it was smoky but cleared as we went up. We had a large group of 9 but probably only saw 3-4 other small groups. Pretty quiet for a holiday week! Really windy and cold at the start but great conditions at the summit. We took the "unmaintained" trail straight down from the parking lot to do a loop and shorten the way back. Awesome day! 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 6/30/2026, By: dolphan39
Info: Conditions were great today but was a bit smoky in the morning. Cleared up later in the morning. The wind was brutal from 7 AM until 2 PM (we took a long time at the summit). Hat and gloves for early morning needed. 

Route: Road ride from Echo Lake
Posted On: 6/29/2026, By: blazintoes
Info: I rode up late yesterday afternoon hoping to make the summit for sunset, spend the night, and continue my moonset picture project and Bada Bing try outs.

With the road closed all of last year for construction, I was eager to see what had been accomplished. The nicest surprise was the section around Summit Lake (roughly mile 9–10), which has been completely repaved. It’s only about a mile long, but it’s smooth and beautifully done. It also appears that water mitigation and drainage improvements were made in that area.

The remainder of the 14-mile road is largely as I remembered it. The numerous transverse cracks across the pavement still make for a pretty chattery descent. Another cyclist yelled to me on his way down that he had turned around because of the wind. He wasn’t kidding. The wind tried to punt me off the road before I even reached Summit Lake. Fortunately, it eased just enough later in the evening for me to safely continue.

I made the summit in time for sunset and bivied near the top. Sleep was minimal between the constant wind hammering the summit and the smell of wildfire smoke drifting through all night. Probably not my smartest plan.

The morning made it worthwhile, though. I got the red moonset photo I’d come for before starting the descent.

On the ride down, it felt like some additional smoothing or patching had been done between about mile 8 and mile 5, making that stretch noticeably less rough than I remembered. The worst pavement remains between roughly mile 5 and mile 3 near the Mount Goliath area, where the repeated cracks make for the bumpiest riding. The final couple of miles toward the entrance are smooth sailing again.

Road conditions aside, the wildflowers are outstanding right now and made for a beautiful ride. Despite the wind, smoke, and rough pavement, it was another memorable trip up one of Colorado’s classic climbs. 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 6/23/2026, By: angry
Info: summer conditions 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 6/15/2026, By: Alpine_Exchange_36
Info: Trail is in good condition, no snow or anything like that. Just make sure to stay right just after the lake unless you want to do some scrambling. 

Route: West Ridge from Summit Lake
Posted On: 6/8/2026, By: jmramsey01
Info: Had a great day. Began hiking around 6:45 AM from Summit Lake and summited by 8:30. Trail is in great shape. Borderline summer conditions, I can count on 1 hand the number of times I was hiking in snow and was only for about 30 seconds each. Didn't use poles or microspikes and was fine. Snowy spots definitely got slippery after 9:00 though. 

Route: Bierstadt, Sawtooth, Blue Sky
Posted On: 6/8/2026, By: ayance88
Info: Completed the Sawtooth on Saturday. There was a little bit of snow when first dropping off of Bierstadt that made me question putting on traction and one other spot when crossing over to the other side of the ridge traversing the wall to get out. We were able to leave them off and you can stay out of the snow if you are intentional. The willows were a boggy mess on the way out. +/- 8 hrs for our group and overall, a really fun traverse