Waugh Mountain (11,725) by Brian Schultz Wednesday July 24, 2024

Roundtrip mileage: 2.25 miles
Elevation gain: 1,075'
Start to finish: 1 hour 40 minutes
Participants: Mark Silas, Brian Schultz

There was a lot of road work taking place on U.S. 50 between Salida and Cotopaxi this morning. Traffic was diverted three differerent times to one lane but even with the slowdowns I managed to meet Mark at our agreed upon time, only because I left early. And with a terrific weather forecast, there was no need to hurry anyway. From Cotopaxi we drove up CR 12, turned right on CR 16, and left on Waugh Mountain Road.

There are two starting points to approach Waugh Mountain. The first one is slightly southeast of the peak on Waugh Mountain Road at an intersection with a corral on the right side. The second one is reached by turning left on Waugh Mountain Road and driving a very short distance to just east of the peak where an old road/trail leads nearly to the summit. This is the route we took.

We began at 10:55 AM on this "trail" and followed it until it ended with a cairn marking the need to head up to the summit. This was a short, steep bushwhack through the trees but easy, and we reached the summit (photo 1, photo 2) at 11:55. Skies were hazy from the fires burning out west.

Minutes later we departed and shortcutted the slopes to reach the trail below and were back at my vehicle at 12:35. It was good to be hiking with Mark again.