Colvin, Blake, Nippletop & Dial from AMR (March 15, 2025)
We summited my 35th-38th High Peaks and Todd’s 20th-23rd Winter High Peaks. It’s probably one of the last good “winter” hiking days before the snow is prohibitively soft. Trails were relatively easy to follow and compact, but any deviation and you were sinking in. Snow coverage ranged from several feet (Nippletop) to bare rock (backside of Colvin). Nothing too sketchy yet. Hiking in just a sun hoody was a nice change after all our single-digit and negative temps treks this winter!
5:00am - Started from AMR parking lot
Road wasn’t quite as firm as we had hoped, but still had full coverage
Wore microspikes
6:00am - Reached the Gill Brook Cutoff Trail junction
Switched to snowshoes and kept them on until returned to Lake Road
7:15am - Reached the Elk Pass junction
8:30am - Reached the summit of Mount Colvin
The summit arrived sooner than we expected
Views were spectacular!
9:15am - Reached the col between Colvin and Blake
Backside of Colvin had some bare rock sections, probably due to the direct sunlight it gets
10:00am - Reached the summit of Blake Peak
Fully enclosed, so no views
The only disappointing summit (for views) of the day
11:15am - Returned to the summit of Mount Colvin
Unsuccessfully attempted to help another hiker find her lost navy blue Samsung phone that she dropped somewhere on the backside of Colvin
12:00pm - Returned to Elk Pass junction
12:30pm - Reached Elk Pass
Beautiful little spot that I’m eager to camp at someday
1:45pm - Reached the summit of Nippletop
Took a long lunch rest and took in the incredible 360-degree views
3:15pm - Reached the summit of Dial Mountain
Wind had picked up by this point, so standing on the summit rock was challenging as we were getting buffeted around
4:15pm - Reached the summit of Bear Den Mountain
Snow conditions deteriorated the lower we got, eventually melting down to icy monorail and swaths of bare ground as we approached Lake Road
5:45pm - Reached the Lake Road
Switched back to microspikes
Sections of the road had melted down to dirt
6:30pm - Returned to AMR parking Lot
Tired and sore, yet elated and victorious!
Elapsed time: 13.5 hours
Check out our route below and follow this link to see our photos from along the way.