Carbonate to Boulder

Class 2 ridge run with class 3 scrambling between Lo Carb and Grizzly

Start: Angel of Shavano TH
End: Alpine Reservoir
Summits: Carbonate, Cyclone, Cronin, Low Carb, Grizzly Mtn, Mamma, Boulder
Distance: 20.7 Miles
Elevation Gain: 8100ft
Time: 12.5 Hours
Partner: Robby Grace
GPX

Robby and I dropped a vehicle at Alpine the night before the hike. Our orginal plan was to drop the shuttle a few miles up road 277 closer to Baldwin Gulch... however part of the road had been taken out by a flash flood and was not passable. This added a couple of miles to our planned day.

After setting the shuttle we headed to the Angel of Shavano TH on the south side of our route. On the south side we planned to drive CR240 to the bottom of Carbonate's south ridge. However upon arrival we discovered that the road was closed at the Angel of Shavano campground (due to avy carnage) adding another 4 miles to our day.

The next morning we started hiking at 5:30am and walked the road to the base of Carbonate's south ridge. From there we followed broken trails and bush whacked to above treeline. Once above treeline we were on ridges for the rest of the day... it was spectacular!

The hiking was mostly class 2 with the exception of the scrambling from Low Carb to Grizzly which was on loose (but fun) class 3 terrain.

If you like big days up high and the feel of a through hike... this is a fun route. If you want a shorter day you can always cut Cronin and/or Boulder from the plan.

Carbonate 14ers.com Page
Cyclone 14ers.com Page
Cronin 14ers.com Page
Low Carb 14ers.com Page
Grizzly 14ers.com Page
Mamma 14ers.com Page
Boulder 14ers.com Page

Booby Prize GroupMt. Champion