Drive up Yankee Boy Basin in a Sprinter Van & Climb 14er Mt Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Mt Sneffels is an iconic 14er in the San Juan Range near the town of Ouray, Colorado. It is displayed as the background image of CO driver’s license. Despite the threat of nearby Gold Mountain Fire, we made our annual trip to the San Juans over July 4th weekend. The impact of the fire was primarily towards the north/east of Ouray due to prevailing S/W wind. We drove up to the beautiful Yankee Boy Basin in our AWD Sprinter Van and were able to reach the lower trailhead (Outhouse Lot) with relative ease. When we arrived the afternoon of July 2nd, there was only one other jeep in the lot and the weather couldn’t be any nicer. The next morning we got up around 6 and left the TH around 7. We walked on the 4x4 road for about 2 miles to reach upper trailhead, then took the standard S Slope route up to the V-Notch, the class 3 crux. The S Slope is a notoriously loose scree field, which seems like the actual crux. We found the V-Notch to be relatively easy with plenty of holds. We reached the summit in a little over 3hrs after leaving lower TH. It’s my second time up there (first time was via SW Ridge) and my wife’s first. Total stats: 6 miles with 2800’ elevation gain #14ers #sanjuanmountains 0:00 Yankee Boy Basin Approach 02:33 Climbing Mt Sneffels