Mt Hatten (11,316), Crater Peak (11,335), & Doughty Mountain (10,114) by Brian Schultz Monday July 22, 2024

Mt Hatten & Crater Peak:
Roundtrip mileage: 6.75 miles
Elevation gain: ~1,900'
Start to finish: 6 hours
Participants: Tim Briese, Brian Schultz

We drove Hwy 92 from Delta to 3100 Road just west of Hotchkiss and followed this road north. It delivered us to Z50 road which we turned onto and parked at a pull-out just under halfway to Goodenough Reservoir. Elevation reading where we parked was ~10,100'. Our objective today was to summit both Crater Peak and Mt Hatten but Crater Peak was the priority because it would complete our finish of Colorado National Forest Highpoints. As it turned out, the weather wouldn't be an issue so we climbed Mt Hatten first.

We began at 7:20 AM walking the road to Goodenough Reservoir. This took about 45 minutes and we got a good look at Mt Hatten before our arrival. We dropped slightly to the reservoir and headed over to a large marshy area with Mt Hatten much closer now. The grassy slopes below Mt Hatten were steep and blanketed with wildflowers until getting above treeline.

The talus strewn ridge to the summit was not difficult but it was slow going. We stepped on top at 9:20 and enjoyed the views before departing 15 minutes later. The ridge descent wasn't any faster than the ascent and once down we were able to follow a trail nearly all the way to Crater Peak. It faded in areas but was easily found again. The peak looked sketchy from a distance but as we got closer it was obvious how to approach it. We arrived on the summit (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3) at 11:00 and stayed 20 minutes.

We descended the ridge back to the Hatten/Crater saddle and dropped down the steep slopes to the marshy area. The road back to Tim's truck went without issue and he dropped me off at my vehicle at the 3100 Road/Z50 junction. It was a good feeling to reach our objective today. Tim headed for home while I continued along 3100 Road to Doughty Mountain.

Doughty Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 1.30 miles
Elevation gain: 320'
Start to finish: 30 minutes

It took a while to find a place to park my vehicle. Lots of rocks bordered the road on each side but I finally found a pullout northwest of the summit (elevation 9,800'). At 2:55 PM I began with a bearing that started in a grassy area that quickly turned marshy. I had to quickly divert into the woods. Then it was an awful bushwhack to the top, which I reached and immediately descended. I found a route on the north side that was much better with little deadfall and was back at my truck at 3:25.

I made the long drive from Paonia over Kebler Pass to Crested Butte and from there over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista. Next up would be Mt Sheridan and its LiDAR highpoint.