Mount Flora and Colorado Mines Peak

View looking towards Winter Park

Overview

Mount Flora and Colorado Mines Peak are great for all-season hiking, trail running, winter snowshoeing, and skiing. I have been to these mountains several times before; these trip reports may provide additional information not included in this report—Colorado Mines Peak, Mount Flora, Mount Flora; and nearby peaks—Witter, Eva, Parry, and Bancroft Loop. This is a place I enjoy hiking as you are in an alpine environment practically from the trailhead and the view of the surrounding peaks are endless. Eventually I would like to complete a traverse from Colorado Mines Peak to James Peak, so hopefully a trip report for that will surface this year. I hope you enjoy this trip report and find it helpful in planning your next adventure in the hills.

Directions/Trailhead Information

The Mount Flora and Colorado Mines Peak begins at the Berthoud Pass Trailhead, located at—latitude 39.797783°, longitude -105.776713°. There is a large parking lot on the east side US-40 W. This parking area will accommodate approximately 100 vehicles. There is a restroom and a warming hut at this trailhead. From the Denver area make your way along I-70 W to exit 232 onto US-40 W. Head north following US-40 W for about 19 miles to the Berthoud Pass Trailhead.

The Climb

This climb took place on Columbus Day, so with Chris and I having the day off we decided to get out on a nearby hike. Today’s objective was to ascend Mount Flora, Colorado Mines Peak and Breckenridge Peak. I have previously climbed Flora and Colorado Mines Peak, but have yet been able to add on Breckenridge. Unfortunately, that still holds true. We had miserable weather and were not able to make the extension over to Breckenridge Peak, but were able to ascend Flora and Colorado Mines Peak. The weather was so cold my phone shut down, so the GPX file is not complete or any of the data provided within my general statistics section below. I have added an asterisk (*) to indicate the data that are not complete for the trip.

Nick and Chris on the summit of Mount Flora

It was a cold, blustery day. We got geared up as quickly as we could and were soon heading up the trail. From the trailhead the Continental Divide Trail starts up an access road that continues to the summit of Colorado Mines Peak where there are some large buildings of which I do not know the purpose. At one point the west face of the mountain was an active ski hill, so this is quite popular for skiers and winter outdoor enthusiasts. As you are hiking up the road you will see a trail sign at the start of the fourth switchback, indicating the mileage to Mount Flora. I don’t recall the mileage on the sign to Mount Flora, but I believe it’s 2 miles from that location. Now that you are on an actual trail, it feels a bit more like the outdoor experience you were hoping for. The trail wraps around the northwest face of Colorado Mines Peak ascending to the saddle that separated Mount Flora and Colorado Mines Peaks.

View near the saddle

Once we hit the saddle the wind really kicked into high gear and it felt like we were in a wind tunnel. The rocks were mostly covered in snow, but the trail was still visible. We attempted to cover all areas of exposed skin, but you can never really cover everything. The conditions make it a challenge, which even though they seem to suck at times, I still enjoy it. We had to use the GPS to make sure we made it to the summit of Mount Flora. You could barely make out the towering rock cairns in the white-out, but we were able to determine the high point with our trusty electronic devices. I joke about this because my phone shut down due to the frigid temps. So always know where your going and have a backup such as a hard copy of a map when your heading out in conditions such as we did. We spent about 30 seconds on the summit and decided it was an extremely bad idea to try and climb out to Breckenridge Peak, so we started backtracking our route.

Once we made it back to the saddle separating the peaks, we decided to head up Colorado Mines Peak rather than following our tracks back to the trailhead. The weather was starting to calm down a bit, but it was still frigid. A couple hundred vertical feet will get you to the top of Colorado Mines Peak. We found a building to shelter behind long enough to get some calories and water in. From there we followed the road back down to the trailhead.

Parting Notes

This is a great place to hike, though I’m not sure I have ever been up there in good conditions. In the summer I really would like to connect all the peaks on this ridge in about a 12-mile day, ending with the summit of James Peak. Hopefully that happens, but if not I’m sure I’ll be back to hike these two peaks again with my family. The trail is nice and gradual and it would be a good place to let my toddler run around when the weather is much friendlier. Until next time, cheers!

GPS Track

Date: October 8, 2018

Trailhead Elevation: 11,327 feet

Mount Flora: 13,127 feet

Colorado Mines Peak: 12,392 feet

Total Elevation Gain: 1,681* feet

Class: 2

Distance: 3.1* miles

Moving Time: 1* hr 48 min

Stopped Time: 0* hr 5 min

Climbing Partner: Chris

GAIA GPS Link: Mount Flora (2018-10-08)