Route: from Minnie gulch Posted On: 8/31/2023, By: SnowAlien Info: Thanks to Patrick Murphy for the Minnie gulch approach beta. The road is definitely rough, but doable in a Subaru with good tires. I parked next to the Esmeralda mine. Left the trail pretty soon and aimed for the ridge/saddle just north of 13,069. 5 min scramble from saddle put me on the summit. Register in good shape - thanks Kiefer and Regina. Hopped on CDT and tagged Cuba BM before returning to the car. New Lidar peak didn't look like a peak to me - just some grassy shoulder below Half and I had a 5+ mile backpack to Crater lake later in the evening, so was a bit short on time. |
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Route: 069->LiDAR:003->164->CubaBM Posted On: 7/10/2023, By: 9patrickmurphy Info: These peaks combine quite well from Minnie Gulch. I drove up to the Esmeralda Mine in my Subaru Forester (no issues at all) and saw an absolute hoard of marmots running around, threatening me with those cold, dead eyes. So I turned around and parked at about 11,300 at a pullout. 13,064 goes at class 2+ or 3- depending on how you gain the ridge. Rather straightforward. Took the CDT to the newly ranked LiDAR:13,003, which is a gentle walkup with amazing wildflowers on the summit. Dropped to the CDT on the other side to go towards 13,164. Thanks to HikerGuy for the CR on these from CataractGulch which showed that the steep gullies on the peaks West side are actually quite friendly. Class 2. CDT again back to Cuba Benchmark, which is right there and doesn't add much gain. Then I dropped back into Minnie Gulch on some grassy slopes to the trail. Quick day, took me about 6 hours going at my usual leisurely pace. Love those trail miles. I should note there are some snow crossings, but nothing consequential, trailrunners sufficed. |
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Route: From Minnie Gulch Posted On: 8/24/2020, By: supranihilest Info: I drove up to 11,500 in Minnie Gulch and parked at a small parking lot near, but not at, the end of the road. The road is rough but my Sprinter did fine. From the parking area I hiked south on a good trail for almost exactly a mile, then left the trail heading west up grassy slopes. I avoided the eroded drainage gully and went for the saddle just north of Point 13,069, which still has a small and easily avoided snow patch on it. From there I contoured around the far side of the now-ridge into Maggie Gulch and headed for 13,069's summit block. There's some Class 2+ scrambling up OK rock to the summit. I then reversed my route and went up Cuba Benchmark, which is unranked, so if 13,069 is your only objective for the day simply return to your starting point. |
