"Mascot Peak" (13,435) by Brian Schultz Thursday July 16, 2015

Roundtrip mileage: 6.5 miles from Avalanche Gulch trailhead (~9,380')

Elevation gain: 4,100'+

Start to finish: 6 hours 40 minutes

The weather forecast today was terrific- only a 30% chance of showers/storms after 3:00 PM, so I slept in and had breakfast with Tim before driving to the Avalanche Gulch trailhead. This trailhead is easily reached from Buena Vista on the paved Cottonwood Pass road.

I started up the trail from the large parking lot at 8:05 AM. A fellow and his dog left a few minutes ahead of me and I caught up to them shortly. He wasn't climbing any peaks but just hiking to take pictures.

The trail is excellent and I followed it to ~10,550' before departing it. I referred to Ryan Kowalski's trip report for this climb and knew I was in for a steep bushwhack to the summit. I dropped down slightly before the steep grunt began up Mascot's east ridge. The bushwhack was grueling and involved a fair amount of stepping over deadfall before finally getting above timberline. I took a break at 10:40 when I reached 12,400' and started up again about fifteen minutes later. There are lots of ups and downs along the ridge and one hour later I reached the summit, at 11:50. I only stayed for a few moments because it was cold and windy on top, and dropped back down to 13,100' for another break.

Unlike Ryan, who took a different ridge back to the Avalanche Gulch trail, I reversed my route and began my descent at 12:20. It was an easier descent through the deadfall than going up but I still didn't connect with the trail until 2:05. Then it was smooth sailing to the trailhead. Several hikers were going up as I neared the parking lot and a few minutes later I was at my car at 2:45.

Many climbers combine Mascot with fourteener Mt Yale but if this is the only peak you're going after, this is probably the shortest way to climb it.

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