Hiking

Mount Emmons is one of those peaks that is synonymous with Crested Butte. Locals refer to her as the Red

Crested Butte has claimed that it is the “wildflower capital of the world”. While wildflowers around town abound, I truly feel that the real reason why Crested Butte has made this claim is because of the endless miles of wildflowers that appear in the surrounding alpine in July – flowers like I saw during my Hasley Pass loop hike.

The Mill-Castle area is quite unique and features, as the name implies, a series of rock castles and other formations- the only similar area I can think of is the Cimmaron area of the Northern San Juans seen between Montrose and Ridgway. It’s also a great place for a hike, especially in fall!

Gothic Mountain is probably THE classic peak in Crested Butte. For locals and visitors alike, it stands impressive – a mountain seemingly made of Gothic Mountain spires, with twin peaks, north and south. While I’ve trekked up to the summit of Gothic Mountain numerous times to ski lines on the south, east, and west, I had yet to hike to Gothic’s north peak. Since the traditional summer route follows along Gothic’s northwest ridge passing right over the north peak, I decided it was time to check out that side of the mountain.