Dorothy

After backpacking into Oh Be Joyful on Fri/Sat, we were going to have a mild hike on Sunday and go for the short route up 12er Mt. Axtell. But a tree in the road prevented us from driving to the trailhead. What to do now? We were tired from backpacking in the heat.
Let’s hike Rustlers Gulch. We haven’t been in there yet. It’s an easy trail.
Oh, hey, there is a 13er in there that looks easy.
Yep, I know. (I had just seen the name of the peak a week or two ago on Caltopo. It wasn’t one of the peaks I had previously known about.)
Should we?
Maybe.
Why not?
We can see how we feel?
Looks like an easy slope.

We parked on the road knowing we were not going to drive through the creek, as run off was high. We started about 9:40, near 9,700. We followed the road to the creek crossing, then took a trail up and over a bump to the left for an easy creek crossing.
But there was a small tree. One guy crossed it. It looked tempting, but oh so narrow.
We crossed the creek wet. Dried our feet and up the road we went. Not more than 100 yards in and a tree blocked the way for vehicles.
We were following three other people, no scarecrows or lions. The area was really green. But not many flowers out yet. The road/trail was very wet in each of the forested sections.

According to some route info we found, the southwest ridge up Dorothy goes, but it is rocky and not technical. Head toward that route before the gate. The northwest ridge is easy, just a really long and steep slope to get there. We decided to go easy. About 1.6 miles in, near 10,200 we crossed the creek again, and headed up the slope. The TinMan would have rusted with all the water crossings. It was pretty much a direct route, obvious to the naked eye.
The slope was green, but not grassy. Colorado False Hellebore covered the slope. You know, that big leafy plant you see all over the CB area. Some call it Skunk Weed or Corn Lilly. Anyway, I’m glad it was dry. These plants hold water after a rain and can turn your pants and ruby slippers into a soggy mess.

The slope was steep enough, I made my own switch backs to make it easier. But once I got to 10,700 I found a trail. Duh, it was on the GAIA, but I never looked. We just followed a vague route description and our own judgement. We followed the trail until it disappeared near 10,800 at a fast-flowing narrow creek. Instead of crossing, we just turned left, uphill, to what might be called the upper basin of this area.

Again, very green with all kinds of plants, grasses and soon to be flowers. Up we went. It was a slow go. But very easy and stable terrain. But not a yellow-bricked road. Would be muddy if wet. More self-directed switch backs.
We took a break near 11,800 for a snack about noon. The clouds were building over Dorothy’s summit. Dark clouds. We discussed options. Instead of following a route to the right to a small dip in the ridge at 12,000, we decided to head straight up, just to reach the ridge. We wanted to see the other side, just in case we had to bail due to weather and those tornadoes. This was kind of a scouting mission for the other 13ers in Rustlers Gulch.

But what clouds did build, moved off by the time we reached the ridge near 12,000. That was 1,800 feet of steep dirt and vegetation. No flying monkeys to help get us up.
Once on the ridge, it was an easy walk to the top, despite a few ridge bumps. The terrain was dirt and very small rocks. Only at the very top were there rocks you had to navigate to prevent twisting an ankle.

Dorothy, you are definitely not in Kansas. And, supposedly not a real 13er. But wow, AMAZING VIEWS of the Elk Range.

Looking over at Precarious made me nervous. The gully most people climb had obvious rock fall. Ugh. That is just an accident waiting to happen. But it is on our Crested Butte List. Snow climb? Ridge Run from Copper?
We still have 20-plus peaks to hike in the Crested Butte area. I guess we’ll have to come back, click those heels.

Going down was easier and faster than melting a witch with water. We dropped off the ridge at the dip. We would have been back at the car in less than two hours, but we followed the trail down from 10,800 and it put us behind a few extra creek crossings. Taking off your shoes and putting them back on, takes time. Or just looking for a way to cross dry can take extra minutes.
But it was all worth it to see this area, to recon for other peaks and to grab a non-13er with such awesome views of the area we love.

No witches were harmed on this hike.

This was peak #26 on our Crested Butte peak list we are working on.
If you want to see some TRs for a bunch of random CB area 12ers, check out our blog.