Carbonate Hill (10,928) & Missouri Hill (10,945) by Brian Schultz Wednesday August 21, 2019

Carbonate Hill:

Roundtrip mileage: 2.8 miles
Elevation gain: 670'
Start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

Carbonate Hill is located near the small town of Tincup. To get there we drove north from Gunnison to Almont and turned east on Road 742 to the Taylor Reservoir. From the Reservoir, we turned on FR 765 (Cumberland Pass Road) and drove thru Tincup to the Slaughterhouse Gulch road. We drove past the Slaughterhouse Gulch road initially to see if there was a closer approach but came upon posted private property with a dwelling so we turned around. That made us wonder if we'd encounter private property issues from the Slaughterhouse Gulch road as well. We turned onto the short spur road connecting to Slaughterhouse Gulch road and parked at the small road junction on the other side of West Willow Creek.

It turns out the peak is on signed mining property but there was no signage indicating private property or no trespassing. So at 8:35 AM we began hiking the road leading back toward the private property and when we reached the marked private property line, we turned sharply to the right and bushwhacked up to what we knew was either a road or trail based on John Kirk's track. It turned out to be a road. This handy road isn't on any maps but it worked out well and took us nearly to the top. A short easy bushwhack put us on the summit at 9:15.

There isn't much for views on the forested summit but we thought we spotted Fitzpatrick Peak up by Cumberland Pass. We stayed 10 minutes and got back to our trucks at 10:00. Tim headed home while I stayed and contemplated doing another peak. I ended up driving the newly paved Taylor River road to Cottonwood Pass, got stuck in a long delay because the road crew was still working on the road, and stopped in Buena Vista for gas. Then it was on to Leadville and Tennessee Pass for a climb of Missouri Hill.

Missouri Hill:

Roundtrip mileage: 3.0 miles
Elevation gain: ~600'
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes

I took the same approach to Missouri Hill as I did when I climbed Cooper Hill two years ago. From Tennessee Pass I drove toward the ski area and turned immediately to the right (past the Nordic Center/Cafe) onto the dirt road that loops around the west side of the maintenance buildings. This road is the Cooper Loop road (road 102) and I drove it to a road junction marked with the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse sign and parked. From this junction, Cooper Hill is up the slopes to the left and Missouri Hill is to the right.

I began at 1:55 PM and walked down the road leading to the Cookhouse. There wasn't anyone around as I walked past it and through an open field to the woods. I came upon a handy road in the woods and followed it until it quit, then began an easy bushwhack to the summit (photo 1, photo 2). I didn't stay long on top and made it back to my truck at 3:10. If looking for a short outing, this is a good one and can easily be combined with Cooper Hill.