Cinnamon Mountain (12,293) & Anthracite Mesa (11,269) by Brian Schultz Tuesday August 20, 2019

Cinnamon Mountain:

Roundtrip mileage: 2.0 miles from Paradise Basin trailhead
Elevation gain: ~975'
Start to finish: 2 hour 30 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

The weather forecast was outstanding today so we weren't in any hurry to leave Gunnison. We drove to Crested Butte and through town to the Slate River Road (CR 734). The road is flat at the beginning in the valley but becomes quite steep as it heads up to Paradise Basin. It's an excellent road and we stopped at the small lake in Paradise Basin (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3) to take a bunch of photos before starting our climb from the nearby parking area. Paradise Basin is a spectacular setting and one of my favorite places in all of Colorado.

We began at 9:00 AM and followed a fine trail around Cinnamon's east side until it briefly faded out. Higher up we caught the defined trail again as it switchbacked up the steep scree slopes to the saddle on the north ridge. From the north ridge, it was an easy stroll to the summit and we arrived on top at 10:05.

Stunning views and the great weather had us enjoying the summit (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4) for 45 minutes. Nearby Treasury Mountain was especially nice to view since we were on that summit five years ago. We departed at 10:50 and were back at my truck at 11:30. A climb of nearby Mt Baldy was considered while we were on Cinnamon's summit but another trip to this scenic area would be a great excuse to come back for it. Meanwhile, Tim and I saw a lower peak from the summit that looked like a ranked peak and we determined it to be Anthracite Mesa. With plenty of time and great weather holding we decided to go for it.

Anthracite Mesa:

Roundtrip mileage: 1.30 miles from parking area on Washington Gulch road
Elevation gain: 400'
Start to finish: 45 minutes
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We drove from Paradise Basin back down CR 734 and turned left (east) on Road 811 (Washington Gulch road). This is a very good road and it's surrounded by lots of private property but there are public trails and parking areas on the north side of the pass (north of Elkton townsite). Our hope was to park at the pass, just east of Anthracite Mesa, and make a beeline up to the summit.

Unfortunately, the pass is heavily signed with "no parking private property". So we drove back to the nearest pullout and walked back to the pass, only to be told by a local couple that we couldn't hike from there because everything on either side of the pass was private property. They said they would report us if we ignored the signage. Tim was sure the land on the Anthracite side of the road was public so we walked back down the road, descended the steep slope off the road into the woods, and bushwhacked slightly until finding an excellent trail. The time was 12:10 noon and the trail went all the way to the summit. We topped out at 12:35, stayed just a few moments, and departed. We made it back to the truck at 12:55. Tim confirmed later after checking a forest service map that the route we took was on public land.

The road on the south side of the pass is completely surrounded by private property, but again there are public trails and parking. The Washington Gulch road connects to the Slate River road lower down and is a fine alternative for driving up to Paradise Basin. These were two nice easy and short hikes today.