Treasury Mountain Out-and-Back

Getting to the trailhead is a bit of a gnarly drive. 4x4 is recommended but careful driving and AWD should be okay too if you choose to come from Washington Gulch. For Slate River, you definitely want a 4wd rig. Start at the Yule Pass trailhead at 11,330 feet. Around 0.8 miles into the Yule Pass Trail, start making your way up. You'll see a path on the right that goes up the rocky slope. Stay on the faint trail for as long as you can see it. It's always there, just sometimes hard to see. If you do lose the path, you can see Treasury Mountain up to your left, so you've got your objective, just go for it however you think is best. Once you've been hiking up the ridge for a while, the trail gets really steep with a huge rocky face in front of you. There are some trails through the rock, if you find one, they do make the climb a bit easier. After you gain the big hill, you follow the ridge to a pretty large, flat, rocky area that you'll need to cross before getting to the last bit of the climb to the summit. There is quite a bit of exposure on the summit ridge and some big rocks climb over so just watch your step, or there are paths around the true ridge if you want to keep the spice level down. Much of the rock here is a turquoise blue and also purple, like the neighboring Purple mountain and it's really beautiful to see! After hiking on the ridge for a little ways, you'll reach the summit cairn at 13,450 feet. After you've taken in the sights, head back down the way you came.