Little Baldy Mountain (12,142), Jefferson Hill (10,528, & Michigan Hill (10,118) by Brian Schultz Monday July 21, 2025

Little Baldy Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 7.15 miles
Elevation gain: 2,100'
Start to finish: 5 hours 30 minutes

From the town of Como, I turned west onto CR 33 from Highway 285 and then onto CR 50. I'd be using Derek Wolfe's trip report for this peak. He mentioned a parking lot with incorrect signage so I didn't drive as far to that one and found the other trailhead across from a house. The trail isn't obvious from the road but the trail is there and it's marked on the Trails Illustrated map as the Gold Dust trailhead. I parked at a pull-out on the same side of the road where the trail starts from.

I began at 8:30 AM and followed the trail until shortcutting to the Trout Creek trail. The Trout Creek trail is excellent and per Derek's report, I departed it around 11,000' and dropped down into the woods. Derek mentioned minor bushwhacking through the woods but 14 years later since he's done it, the deadfall has become a bit of a nightmare.

Once I cleared the trees, the route to the summit was straightforward and somewhat steep but so much easier than stepping over the deadfall in the woods. I reached the summit (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3) at 11:10 and stayed 20 minutes. The descent took as much time as the ascent and I arrived back to my truck at 2:00.

Jefferson Hill:
Roundtrip mileage: 2.3 miles
Elevation gain: 600'
Start to finish: 2 hours 25 minutes

I drove back to Highway 285 and turned north to the town of Jefferson. From the town I turned left (northwest) on CR 35, then right on CR 37. The roads are horribly washboarded and slow to drive. I entered the fee area where information signs said all campsites were full. I parked at the Beaver Ponds picnic area and began at 3:20 PM. It's a short walk back to the Colorado Trail which I followed until just north of the peak.

Getting to the summit ridge was easy enough but several summit blocks had me checking each one and required some scrambling to get up and down. I continued contouring around until finally reaching the highest summit (photo 1, photo 2) at 4:40. The descent went much quicker and I was back at my truck at 5:45.

Michigan Hill:
Roundtrip mileage: a few feet of walking
Elevation gain: 0'

I drove up the driveway to the owner's house, which is situated on Michigan Hill. I rang the doorbell and identified myself and why I was there. The owner wasn't very nice and denied her house was on Michigan Hill so I left. John Kirk did this peak many years ago before this home was built and said that walking the driveway to the front door would qualify as attaining the summit.