A great day out! Warm up on the Monte Criste road for a mile or so then a gentle jaunt through the forest before crossing a fast flowing creek and the fun begins. The trail goes steeply up through some old forest for about a mile before emerging into the sun and some tremendous views. The trail is less steep for a little under a mile and offers lots of interest with views, stream crossings, deep gullys etc. Enjoy this portion and gather your strength for the push to the top. The trail is rough, rocky, extremely steep requires some light scrambling but if you've made it this far you'll have no problem. The way is never in doubt. The basin was cool, but we had the sun to warm us. The lower lake is partially melted. We scrambled up to foggy lake which was half on snow, half on rock. Foggy lake was mostly ice! Foggy pass looked like a good snow scramble but we didn't attempt it. Coming down was tough! Wow, all that scrambling up was doubly tough on the way down. But well worth it. This trail was quiet. On a beautiful Sunday where the Dickerman parking lot looked packed and there were lots of cars at the Monte Cristo trail head, we encoutered four other groups in 6+ hours of hiking. Highly recommended.

A great group of hikers enjoyed this steep trail. Views today were extremely limited due to clouds and rain. The trail is clear of snow almost all the way up. Large patches of snow begin just below the basin but are easily crossed. The basin itself is still largely snow-covered, and the lower lake is frozen. We didn't go beyond, which would have been to Foggy Lake. Upon entering the basin we found that temperatures were much colder than they had been just below. Fleece jackets, hats, gloves, etc., were all necessary. Sleet was falling as we arrived at our highest point. Overall, our cheerful group took the weather in stride. Weather like we had today inspires us to return.

Our destination was Peaklet 5415. Neither ice axe nor crampons were required to the peaklet - though poles were handy. I would recommend both ice axe and crampons for climbing Gothic or Del Campo. Snow was on the route from about 4100 feet on. Companion: Amy.

The Weden Crk. trail up to Gothic Basin is in pretty good shape as of March 13th. All dirt, virtually no mud up switchbacks. The first gully is snow free - creek is a trickle. Past King Kong Falls is patchy snow (soft) with solid boot step beaten trail. Views of SilverTip come into view. Our variation was a bit SE of the true summer trail that enters the basin. Straight up on compact snow (poles handy)to ridge between Foggy Lk. and Del Campo with a posthole here and there. Our group of four found a scenic wind-shadowed nook of heather to lounge and lunch and bask in the upper 60's. We became content with the views of Del Campo and Gothic Pk looming above and opted to not bag either peak this fine day. Continuing across to the west terminus ridge looking down to still ice covered Weden and Foggy Lks. Loosing altitude via posterior'esk'-gilssade mode w/ ice axe at ready. Although still plenty of snow in basin for such a low precip year, it's going to melt out quicker than the norm. A great spring day with enjoyable hiking companions, what more can one ask!

Glad I ate my Wheaties this morning. Second trip here, so I knew about the steep, steep switchbacks through the forest, and the steep, steep, and rocky climb from King Kong's Showerbath to the Basin. Trail has just a bit of mud in the regular spopts. Two fairly significant blowdowns to crawl under. The excitement today was hearing a very large animal coming down the trail toward me just after the Showerbath. When it got about fifteen feet from me I started banging my poles together loudly and rapidly. Whatever it was stopped, and then crashed through the bushes, just out of my sight around the corner. When my heart rate returned to normal, I started hiking again; looking all around, hoping to see what I had heard; but to no avail. Spent at least an hour exploring around the: tarns, creeks, ponds, waterfalls, and mossy rocks around Gothic Basin. Very little in the way of fall colors remaining here. Peeked over the edge of a cliff at a dark green little lake five hundred feet below, which I later learned to be Weden Lake. Ate my pepperoni and cream cheese sandwhich and headed back down. There were several cars at Barlow Pass upon my return, but I saw no one all day.