| Report Type | Full |
| Peak(s) |
Point 13,003' |
| Date Posted | 08/27/2023 |
| Date Climbed | 08/21/2023 |
| Author | ReginaThomas |
| Additional Members | Kiefer |
| The Other New San Juan 13er |
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UN 13,003’
Colorado Rank 635
~7.90 miles, 2200’ Gain
To finish out my birthday weekend of peaks we had originally planned on hitting Grizzly Peak from
Purgatory, it’s a bicentennial and we don’t even have to leave Purgatory to drive to the trailhead. Grizzly
has been on both mine and Kiefer’s short list, as every time we drive north to Silverton, it is looming
over Highway 550 just south of Engineer Mountain. However we ended up keeping Kaiah (our doggo) home with us,
and we had already left her behind for Storm Peak Friday and Kendall Peak Saturday since she is not the
best scrambler. We decided to find a nice and easy peak to round out the weekend so the dog could join
us; 13,003’ (the other new San Juan 13er, LiDAR) was the perfect option.
Since getting away from the 14er rat race (I’ll finish them at some point… maybe) and seeking out lower,
sometimes random 13ers, we have seen some spectacular corners of Colorado, and hiked routes that
haven’t seen thousands of boots. After hiking the Colorado Trail in segments with my mom, I got a new
appreciation for solitude, and the wild places of our gorgeous state. The wildness of the San Juans and
the Weminuche now are what calls to me. We have shared a 13er summit maybe 5 times in 3 years with
someone not in our party. This peak was different, as we spent most of the time on segment 23 of the
Colorado trail, talking to hikers and Kaiah was loving the attention from canine deprived through-hikers.
Part of the appeal of choosing such an easy (and boring) peak was the fact that we are going to be
meeting Matt Payne on the CT for a resupply this weekend up on Carson Pass, and we are planning to hike a
few peaks with him while we are up there (also on segment 23), so we have a chance of having most of
the peaks in this area done.
We chose to approach the summit from Minnie Gulch outside of Silverton, the road travels about 2.5
miles to the Esmeralda mine around 11,600 feet. Prior to the sharp left turn there is a creek running
towards the road, and parking for 1-2 cars. The road is probably Subaruable but I would not recommend
it without upgraded tires, the road had a lot of rocky sections with sharp rocks across the road, and I
was glad to be driving the Taco. The Minnie Gulch trail starts here, and gently climbs to the long ridge
between Pt 13,072 and Cuba BM where you will meet the Colorado Trail.
We turned left and after a quick climb began descending for almost 500’. In addition to CT hikers trying to beat the incoming
tropical rains, we saw cute chirping pikas, and BABY MARMOTS. Before they get old enough to destroy
your unattended gear, they sure are cute.
We chatted with the CT hikers in passing and cruised up the amazing trail until we were on the shoulder of point 13,003’ where the trail again descends into another drainage before climbing towards Centennial Half Peak.
From the shoulder it is about 270’ to the summit, and you simply leave the trail and walk up the white
dirt ridge as it transitions to tundra near the top of the ridge. This 270’ was made much harder by the
strong wind gusts that kept trying to push us off our feet, and were scaring Kaiah. We made it to the
summit, and thankfully the wind was calmer there than just a few feet down the ridge.
We gave Kaiah some treats, had some snacks and headed back down (briefly) into the wind and back to the trail. We
made quick time cruising down the trail and dropped down into Minnie Gulch back to the car.
Silverton had one last birthday surprise in store for me, as we were driving down county road 2 back towards
town, we saw a bunch of cars pulled over by a huge marshy area; there was a cow moose right off the
road just munching the willows and a bull further back in the willows. We stopped and watched them
from a good distance before heading home to relax.
It was a very successful birthday weekend of local 13er hiking!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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