California Gulch Loop
Date: 05/09/2023
Partner: Solo
Trailhead: County Road 2 Near Grouse Gulch
Summits: Houghton, Tuttle, Brown, Hurricane, Hanson, PT13,270(Unlisted-UnRanked), PT13078
Distance: 15.2m
Elevation Gain: 6700ft
Duration: 9hrs 30min
GPX
With the road plowed all the way to Grouse Gulch I decided to seize the opportunity to bag 5 ranked summits, one unranked, an unranked/unlisted and some primo corn skiing.
This route felt especially remote given the dead end status of the road, the size of the loop and the fact I was solo.
There are so many good corn lines in this zone if you find yourself in the area and want to explore.
Houghton 14ers.com Page
Tuttle 14ers.com Page
Brown 14ers.com Page
Hurricane 14ers.com Page
Hanson 14ers.com Page
PT13078 14ers.com Page
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15.2m - 6700ft - 9hrs 30min
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Niagara Peak backdrops Animas Forks ghost town
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Houghton Mountain backdrops Animas Forks ghost town
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Looks like a cozy place... those bay windows are to die for
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California Mountain from ascent of Houghton's southeast ridge
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California Mountain from ascent of Houghton's southeast ridge
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Coxcomb, Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre peeking up on the right
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A sea of San Juans
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Gilpin and Sneffels blending together on the left. Teakettle and Coffee Pot in the middle and the mighty Potosi on the right
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Me on the first of the day's seven summits... Houghton Mountain
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En-Route to Tuttle, the second peak of the day. Unfortunately this was not the summit.
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California en-route to Tuttle
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Oh there you are... Tuttle's summit
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Me on Tuttle
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Brown would be the third summit of the day... and it looks a long way away
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Descending Tuttle's south ridge... Hurricane looking big across the way
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Corn time before climbing Brown
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A sweet looking line off Brown is protected by cornices
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Looking south from below Brown. I think that might be Storm Peak and the top of Gnar couloir off in the distance
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Stoked to be on the summit of Brown. This would be the furthest from the truck I would be and about half way through the trip. Four more summits to go.
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Weminuche views to the south
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Sneffels and Yankee Boy friends from Brown
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Time for another corn harvest off Brown. Next stop Hurricane (front and center).
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Looking back to Brown from Hurricane's north ridge
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Storm Peak and Gnar Couloir from Hurricane
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Hurricane!
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Looking east to the next stop... Hanson Peak
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I dropped down to avoid some scrambling and harvest more corn before summiting Hanson. Hanson's summit in view
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Hanson after regaining the ridge
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Looking back to Hurricane from Hanson. Sneffels looming large in the distance
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Are you getting sick of my face? Me on Hanson
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Looking ahead to the next stop... Unranked-Unlisted PT13270
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I couldn't help but harvest more corn... so I dropped down then skinned up PT13270
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No summit selfie on PT13270... after all... it is unlisted. Last stop of the day PT13078
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Looking back to PT13270 from PT13078
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Me on PT13078... stoked to have nothing but corn skiing for the remainder of the day
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San Juan views all day long
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Afternoon corn back to the truck
