A group of us will be spending a few days around Leadville in early June. I've never been in that area that early in the year. We will be interested in non-technical day hiking and general sight-seeing like ghost towns and mines. What is this year looking like for snow conditions? Will 13ers and 14ers be hikeable in regular hiking boots? Other suggested day hikes? Will trailheads be accessible? 4WD roads? Cottonwood Pass area? Will afternoon thunderstorms be starting that early in the year?

I understand that weather can change fast, like a big dump of snow the day before we arrive, but I'm looking for general advice based on this year's conditions.

Right now, it's dumping snow, but it has been a dry year. Ridge route will have a better chance of being dry. The East Ridge of Elbert dries out sooner than some other routes, but still plan on crossing some snowfields.

Well, early June is typically prime snowmelt/runoff season, so I'd expect 4WD roads to be pretty muddy - and some of the higher ones (>11,000') to still be impassable because of snow. Of course it depends on the particular road and the type of terrain it crosses.

As far as recommended hikes, as Scott mention, Elbert is a good one. Also Massive. La Plata via the standard route should also be reasonable, as should some of the Collegiate Peaks (Yale, Princeton, Antero, Shav/Tab) by their respective standard routes. Again to reiterate what Scott said, some snow should be expected on all of these, but probably nothing where you couldn't get by with regular hiking boots.

From the Late May thread, I'm guessing 13ers and 14ers are going to be out of the plans for our group. I think we'll try to find an interesting area area to hike under 12k. My wife and I hiked to Ptarmigan Lake near Cottonwood Pass a few years ago. Maybe there are similar hikes that we will be able to find.

Thoughts?

We did Belford this weekend, there is still a ton of snow up high. Snow line is around 11k, but some of the more popular trails might be packed down. You can hike up to Missouri Gulch and get some nice views.

Harvard Lakes could be nice, too.

We ran into snow around 11k, also. We just did most of our hiking below that. Viewing Elbert from US 24, it was completely snow covered on June 6. By June 10, the east ridge looked pretty clear up to probably 13,600 ft.