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| Nutras Creek   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 38.00530°N / 106.9216°W Route Type: Hiike/Bushwack Time Required: Most of a day Difficulty: Class 1
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| Page By: truchas Created/Edited: Jun 21, 2004 / Jun 23, 2004 Object ID: 161286 Hits: 900 Loading... Page Score: 86.03% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
Start from the Nutras Creek Trailhead on Forest Service Rd. 794. Starting altitude is about 11,000 ft. See the "Getting There" section on the Main page for instructions on getting to the Nutras Creek Trailhead.
Route Description
 
This route follows Nutras Creek to the base of Stewart Peak. Variants A and B will also take you up and over Stewart Peak, Variant C will take you either up Stewart or will byepass Stewart and climb directly to Baldy Alto.
Start at the Nutras Creek Trailhead and begin hiking on an easily identifiable trail. You will pass by numerous beaver ponds and if you get lucky, will see elk grazing in the pastures above the beaver ponds.
Variant A: At about mile 3, make a right turn at a tributary of Nutrus Creek branching off to the right (northwest). Bushwack up this creek and past some more beaver ponds and continue heading directly for the ridge above timberline. From this point, make a left turn and climb directly up to the summit of Stewart on grassy tundra. Directly in front of you and below will be the rocky summit of unnamed 13,600. Descend directly down and left to the saddle between Unnamed 13,600 and Baldy Alto. Hike up on tundra to the summit of Baldy Alto.
Variant B: Hike up Nutras Creek for about 4 miles. As the canyon narrows, you will have to cross the creek and negotiate some willows on the left side of the stream. The right side is a large boulder field in which you will not want to negotiate. The trail at this point will begin to get sketchy in places and may require some bushwacking along the creek. As the canyon begins to broaden again, angle up and right to a meadow just below treeline. At this point, bushwack directly up through some sparse trees near another small tributary coming down from the north and continue on up to the ridge. From this point, make a left turn and climb directly up to the summit of Stewart on grassy tundra. Directly in front of you and below will be the rocky summit of unnamed 13,600. Descend directly down and left to the saddle between Unnamed 13,600 and Baldy Alto. Hike up on tundra to the summit of Baldy Alto.
Variant C: Hike up Nutras Creek for 5 miles into the bowl below Stewart (right) and Baldy Alto (left). At about mile 3, the canyon narrows and you will have to negotiate some willows on the left side of the stream. The right side is a large boulder field in which you will not want to negotiate. The trail at this point will begin to get sketchy in places and may require some bushwacking along the creek. As the canyon broadens at about mile 4, you can hike up above the creek a bit into some small meadows. At this point, you will want to hike back to the creek and continue following it on a game trail staying to the north (right) of the creek. The easiest path is right by the creek, otherwise you will have to negotiate willows. This creek will begin angling up towards Stewart at the top of the bowl. At this point, you can angle right and climb straight up to the summit of Stewart, or bypass stewart and angle left up the gentle slopes of Baldy Alto.
For the return, you can either hike back down one of the 3 variants, or you can descend directly down to the Stewart Creek Trail. It's about 4 miles from the intersection of the Stewart Creek trail to the Stewart Creek Trailhead. Make a left turn on the road and hike 2 miles back to the Nutras Creek Trailhead.
Essential Gear
Some bushwacking is involved but not too bad. Long pants might come in handy but even then, shorts will probably work. Late May when the road opens you will probably need to bring snowshoes, ice axe, and crampons.
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San Juan Range
