Hike Marcellina Mountain Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest, CO

Sep 15, 2021 — Marcellina Mountain is a really cool-looking peak when viewed from below. The south face of the peak is riddled with crazy-looking white pinnacles and slabby slopes, and it's quite a prominent mountain. There are Class 3/4 options if you go straight up the south face, but we weren't thrilled about the prospect of getting onto scary terrain. Instead, we took what seems to be a standard gully route to gain access to the peak's east ridge. Despite being only an 11er, Whiley and I were looking forward to hiking Marcellina, though we didn't know what we were in for when starting out. Initially we took a direct northeastern-heading route through horrible brush. We nicknamed Marcellina Mountain "Mean Marcy" after extricating ourselves from the bramble, our frustrated giggles the only thing keeping our sanity in check. I removed our bushwhack route from the map because it was truly that bad to the point I wouldn't even recommend it as an option. Instead, the remaining route on the map and photos below worked really well and I highly recommend using it and not trying to head to the gully directly from the trailhead. Whiley agrees. In fact, the direct bushwhack route was so bad that I won't mention it anymore past this point and the following trip report describes the route as if we did the outlined track as an out-and-back.

We started out from the Ruby Anthracite Trailhead, accessible by any vehicle. The trail started east, leading us begrudgingly in the opposite direction of Marcellina Mountain's summit and slowing losing elevation as it descended toward the canyon housing Ruby Anthracite Creek. The trail then curves north, passes a few cute little ponds, and has some great views toward the prominent Crested Butte area peaks surrounding us. Our goal was to reach a wide gully on the east side of Marcellina Mountain, the likely easiest option to gain the ridge crest. From here the gully seemed to be characterized by a long stretch of white boulders, followed by a section of grassy/brush toward the top. It was quite obvious when viewed from afar.

Overall the Ruby Anthracite Trail was in great shape, though brush does encroch a little on the path. We left the trail and entered the woods once the trail got as close as it would to Marcellina Mountain and before it headed north and away from the peak. Here we headed east up a forested slope, the brush minimal and the terrain grade pverall a pleasant steepness. An expanse of fall-colored ferns and occasional logs to hop over were the only minor obstacles as we approached the gully. We got to a small talus field, which marked the base of the wide gully. We ascended the boulders for a short time before we entered a section of easy bushwhacking, and then emerged into the main gully which gave us a nice view toward the entire ascent to the ridge above, and where we would have an almost unobstructed ascent on white talus. A few hundred feet of easy Class 2 (with short spurts of light brush) brought us to near the top of the gully, where the talus was overrun by lots of plants. To avoid more bushwhacking, rather than sticking in the main drainage as it bent to the northwest, we headed directly north to gain the forested ridgeline above.

Once in the forest, an animal trail led us pleasantly along the ridge crest. At a certain point we found ourselves doing excessive log-hopping, so the better option is to stick to the south side of the slope where there is a lot more open space (look at a map on satellite mode to see what I mean), avoiding much of the unpleasantness. Once out of the woods, steep talus brought us above treeline, finally. We weren't thrilled with the hike so far, but at least the views were about to come! We got high enough that we could see the summit along the ridge, and easy Class 2 brought us more-or-less along the ridge crest to the summit. The views toward the monstrous surrounding peaks were cool, especially because Marcellina Mountain stands on its own and gave us expansive 360 degree views. Looking south down into the crazy formations on the peak's south face were a highlight as well. I certainly wouldn't call this a Colorado favorite, and really we probably could have spent our day doing more fun peaks or adding to our 13er checklists.