Wait, what?

So yeah, I've been way lazy about posting here, and well, last year I didn't get much hiking done. Not that I didn't want to, but I just didn't get to.

I did do one hike, however, and it was the first camping I've done with my dad.

We managed to get a fairly early start on the hiking, about 7:15 AM. Which meant we left for the trailhead around 5:00 AM. I know what you're thinking, and yes, contrary to personal belief, there IS a 5 AM! Who knew?

We got dropped off at about 7 that morning at the Long Gulch Trailhead in the Lost Creek Wilderness. Chilly? Yes, it was. It was September, after all!






A stream crossing and a couple hours later, it was still cold in the shade, though it did turn into a beautiful day. I said it was cold, right?



Yeah, that's frost on the ground, and it's 9 AM!



We stopped for lunch at Rock Creek, almost 7 miles in to the hike already. 7 miles only broken up by the sound of water, and of an elk running in the trees. Too bad we never saw it, only heard it.



After lunch was a big clump of uphill. Not even the courtesy to give us a level spot! Uphill far enough that you can't see it all in the picture, actually...



We'd gone almost 8 miles so far, and it was only getting to be about 2 PM, and since neither of us had done much of any hiking that year, it was getting to be the end of what we wanted to do for the day. We had planned on using two separate tents, because I'd just gotten a new one, and this was going to be the trial run for it.

Unfortunately for me, it turned out that it was the wrong tent straight from the store! I'd purchased the Fly Creek UL 2 tent, which it was labeled as..wasn't. It was the UL 1. As in 1 person. Not a good discovery when you're in hiking a good distance. I'd set the tent up before, but, just thought it looked a bit small and figured it was because it was A) an ultra light tent and B) it was an ultra light tent...whups.

I have to say though, REI did me right by that. I'd purchased the tent earlier that year with their member reward with 20% off (Have I mentioned I love REI?) When returning the tent, and explaining what happened, they gave me an additional 20% off.

While I set up camp, my dad went and got water, and we sat down for a while to grab something to snack on while evening came in.



The next day started off to a good spot of the trail, that was fairly level, for a while. Lots of nice spots along it to camp, or sit back and relax. Groves of aspen trees, with a few pine trees sticking out of them.



After a long trek upwards, we came to the point where we started heading down towards Kenosha pass. Lots of aspen, lots of pine, and lots of amazing shades of green spread across one hill side. It's surprising how different the stage of changing trees can go through in one grove.





After an easy 6 miles or so, mostly down hill, we finally arrived at the Kenosha Pass parking lot, where there were lots of signs, telling of the history of the area, restrooms, water, everything you could want after a long hike. We wandered out of the parking lot to where we'd parked early the morning before, beside the highway.

And here's the picture of the difference that happens in one grove of trees:



Amazing, isn't it?

CO Trail Segment 3 and 4

It's been almost a week now since I got back from the start of my planned two week trip. I started with something rather nasty that just finally started clearing up in the last two days. So with another 30 miles of the Colorado Trail done, I'll make a post.



We set out on Saturday morning for our 3 day weekend of hiking. It's the longest I've spent out before, and it was enjoyable for the most part (the being sick wasn't enjoyable, it made things a good bit harder.) The main part I didn't like on all of Segment 3 was the bikers. It seemed like every 10 minutes we were getting off the trail to let a group of 4 or 5 pass in one direction or the other.





Due to the weather, most of the days weren't worth taking pictures on. I still managed 245, but, some didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The weather is also part of why I came home early. It rained/drizzled/sleeted for the better part of two days, and rained off and on at night.

We managed to pull off about 9 miles the first day, which was definitely more than I wanted to do, but wasn't too bad. We set up camp near a large rock, and gathered some firewood. This fire was pretty easy to get going and maintain. The wood wasn't too wet, dried quickly and burned nicely.





A while after we'd eaten dinner (which consisted of hot dogs, apple cider, and s'mores, carried up by Mike) by the fire it started to sprinkle again. We got our gear thrown in the tents and zipped them up, and got under the tarp just in time for the three or four minute downpour. Fortunately, the kept going through the rain, and we got to go back out and sit by it again, although the ground was a slight bit wet.

I turned in early that evening, around 8:00 or so. It was starting to get dark, but not quite there yet. This trip I'd decided to try my air pad instead of the one I had been carrying. I woke up a few times during the night, but not nearly as many times as usual on the other sleeping pad, so I'd say this one is a keeper for the rest of my trips.

We got out of camp about 9:30 the next morning, after a breakfast of eggs, cheese and pepperoni. Mike still claims he can't cook, but the eggs were good. We got off to a good start and got most of the way to segment 4 before noon. We ran into some people filling their water bottles at a stream and decided to fill up some for ourselves, and had some pleasant conversation with them.

We started Segment 4 about 11:300 that morning, and it seemed to be all up hill. Probably because it was all up hill the first day. The last 750 feet in gain was the worst for me. We finally worked it out that I could do 1/10th and take a 1.5 minute break. It's really hard to do any kind of work when your lungs are working at half capacity, at best. Add on top of that that it was sleeting and drizzling up through the trees, and there were a few flashes of lightening that got to about a 7 count before the thunder, it was quite miserable.






After we crested the ridge (at about 10,640 ft,) it was much easier. Except for walking through all the rain that had come down, and was still coming down a bit. Most of the time we were walking in a stream that followed the path through the forest. We came out of the forest and off the trail and joined back up to the old logging road we'd followed before. We didn't have to worry so much about the stream anymore, and the rain and lightening had stopped.

It was getting late, pushing on about 7:15 when we finally got camp started, after pulling out a 12 mile day. We put up the tarp and tents, and Mike took my folding bucket (new for this trip, worked great) down to the stream to collect water for dinner and breakfast, while I put the stakes in for the tents. We spent some time gathering firewood, which turned out to all be wet from the rain earlier, and I got a small fire going. It only lasted a couple hours, and didn't do enough to dry our clothes, but it was still a fire.

During the night, we heard the coyotes calling up and down the valley we were staying beside. We'd hear them at one end, then it'd echo the entire distance. We even heard them get a kill that night, though we never saw it the next day.



We broke camp and got out to a little earlier start, around 9:45 the next morning. That day I decided to try the Camelbak Elixir Tablets, and I've got to say they helped me a good bit. I'm disappointed I couldn't get my hands on the Camelbak Filter Adapter I was looking for for this trip. No one seems to stock it anymore, even though they claim they do (Permanent back order status.)



The last day of this trip flew past, it was almost no vertical elevation change (600 ft over 7 miles is almost nothing.) We ran into 4 other hikers that day. All of them had spent the night out in two different groups, both apparently lost, and hiking somewhere different than they thought they were, due to a broken compass. Two of them had seen our truck the day before, and one went with Mike to get it and bring it back for the rest of us.

We got to the end early, at about 2:00, only to find out the directions for leaving the truck were to the wrong spot. Luckily it only cost us about an hour of time to get to the truck.

All in all, it was a great trip. Tiring, but great. I hope to get my two weeks in sometime later this year, sooner rather than later.

Co Trail Segment 2

So Segment 2 has come and gone. Sort of. It's been two days now since we got back from finishing it, and I'm finally posting about it.







It was definitely a fun one, and much easier than the first. 11.5 miles start to finish, and 1981 ft in gain (compared to the 2338 ft of the first segment...trust me, 400 ft is noticeable) The hardest part was having zero water along the entire segment. You start at the South Platte River, and continue up through the burn zone of the Hammond fire from 1996.



We started hiking at about 10AM, a bit later than we'd hoped, but it was plenty of time. We made it in about 6.8 miles to our camp site, and we were there very early. It was a great site, however, with lots of wood in close range for a fire, and plenty of flat area for our tents and cook area.



That day was just as hazy as it looks - it seemed as if we were in a cloud the entire evening. It started to drizzle a bit, and we quickly set our tents up and then the tarp. After that we started gathering firewood and preparing for dinner.









I woke up during the night to the sound of light rain falling on my tent, it's definitely a different sound from anything in the city. I for one, am glad of that.

We started the day with a big breakfast of eggs (Mike carried them all the way up there and didn't crack a single one) bacon, and cheese. Even though he claims otherwise, Mike's quite the cook.



After breakfast, we broke camp and cleaned up our fire pit, we headed out on the trail again. It was almost 10AM when we headed off from camp to finish the last 5 miles of the trail.

The area is almost desolate - very little in the way of trees that survived the fire, but the scorched and burnt trunks and branches of the trees remain.






At the same time, there's life blooming back. Small things, Yuca, cactus, grasses, small wildflowers and bushes are spreading.










And that's the end of the trail! It was tiring, yet fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get down what works and doesn't for my two week trip..coming up in two weeks.

CO Trail Seg 2..the night before.

So the night before the hike is here, and speeding by. Tomorrow's forecast is..well, cool. 44 for a high, 33 for a low, in the general area we're heading. It'll be chilly, but not too bad. 60% chance of precipitation. Which means I had to chase all over to get a rain cover for my pack. I got some last minute food and am ready to head out at about 7:00 tomorrow morning.

With two hours of driving for leaving one vehicle at the end, and going back to the start, then getting the one vehicle back..and going back to get the other. If we could swing someone dropping us off at the start, it'd save about 45 minutes of drive time, but, that's how it goes.

Hopefully it's not too much rain. Wait, I'm supposed to laugh in the face of rain. HAHA!


Thought for the day:

Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.

CO Trail Segment 2

Time is fast approaching for my two week hike on the CO Trail, starting with Segment 3.

So, with that in mind, I'm going out this weekend with Mike and Nathan again to do Segment 2. That's the plan, anyways. We'll see how it turns out, as the forecast says rain and snow. I laugh in the face of rain and snow! HAHA! Well, ok, maybe I don't. I like to think I do, though.

I'll be heading out with all the gear I plan on taking on the two week hike. I set up my tent in the living room Sunday night, and it was easy as could be to do by myself. I'll be using my Big Agnes Sunnyside 2 tent. Depending on how it turns out closer to the time, I may use one of my 20 degree bags instead of the 0 degree.

Anyways, just plans in the works. Which means new pics most likely.

Panorama-rama Part 2

Here's the only other two I could find right off the quick look. There might be more, don't know right off, other than the ones I took on the top of Humboldt, which is a 360 degree. It needs a bunch of work, however.

The first isn't a typical "Panorama" shot, but it is multiple pictures combined to one larger picture. The only part that I miss in this picture is that I lost some of the side of the mountain. I'll probably eventually post the stages of combining the pictures, and maybe use this one as the example.

Hallett Peak, RMNP:



I wish this one had a blue sky all across it, but it doesn't, partly because of the sun's position, and partly because of the cheap point 'n' shoot I used to take it. Someday I'll get a DSLR and some filters to fix that problem. Someday.

I don't know what exactly is in this one, other than "View from the CO Trail":

CO Trail Seg 1 pics

Time for more pics. This time, brought to you by the Brotherhood of Steel. 500 points again. Same conditions as last time. I'm pretty sure I haven't posted any of these pictures before.

This time the pics are from the CO Trail, Segment 1.

Where it turns from Denver Water Board access road to an actual trail:


This was the view from our campsite. Not a bad thing to wake up to:




First ones on this part of the trail!




Random view off the trail. That's the same mountain that's in my CO Trail Segment 2 pictures:

More planning on the CO Trail Trip

I'm going to try and pin down some dates for the CO Trail hikes I want to do. This is all with the guess of making 10 miles per day. (Start approx 8:30am, camp at approx 6:30pm)



I need to find my CO Trail Databook before I make the judgment call on where to stop the first night. Though, it will be most of the way through the segment.



Week 1:

Saturday, May 23, 2009: Drop off for Segment 3. (Maybe drop off on Friday to camp out and get an early start the next day without having to get up before 5am.)


Day 1:
Camp at approximately mile 10, leaving 2.7 miles before the end of this segment.


Day 2:
Finish Segment 3, begin Segment 4.
Camp at approximately mile 9, leaving 7.6 miles on Segment 4.


Day 3:
Finish Segment 4, begin Segment 5.
Camp at approximately mile 3, leaving 11 miles in Segment 5.


Day 4:
Continue on Segment 5, for 10 miles
Camp at approximately mile 13, leaving 1.4 miles in Segment 5.


Day 5:
Finish Segement 5, being Segment 6.
Camp at approximately mile 9, leaving 23 miles in Segment 6.


Day 6:
Continue on Segment 6.
Camp at approximately mile 19, leaving 12 miles in Segment 6.


Day 7:
Continue on Segment 6.
Camp at approximately mile 29, leaving 4 miles in Segment 6.

Week 2:

Day 8:
Finish Segment 6, begin Segment 7.
Camp at approximately mile 6, leaving 7 miles in Segment 7


Day 9:
Finish Segment 7, begin Segment 8.
Camp at approximately mile 3, leaving 22 miles in Segment 8.


Day 10:
Continue on Segment 8.
Camp at approximately mile 13, leaving 9 miles in Segment 8.


Day 11:
Finish Segment 8, begin Segment 9.
Camp at approximately mile 1, leaving 13 miles in Segment 9.


Day 12:
Continue Segment 9.
Camp at mile 11, leaving 3 miles in Segment 9.


Day 13:
Finish Segment 9, Begin Segment 10.
Camp at approximately mile 7, leaving 6 miles in Segment 10.


Day 14:
Finish Segment 10.
Camp in my own bed, and recover for the next week of work, wishing and dreaming of being back on the trail.

Pickup on Friday, June 5. This is an unplanned thing for me, I was planning on being picked up a day later, on Saturday, maybe even Sunday. This may let me relax my "10 miles per day" strategy. Which may allow some people to join me at different times.


There's the rough outline of the Segments/days. I feel that Segment 10 is entirely optional, if I don't have enough time left to complete it at the end of Segment 9, that's entirely fine.



I was off in the milage on the previous post.

Segment 3 12.7
Segment 4 16.6
Segment 5 14.4
Segment 6 32.9
Segment 7 12.8
Segment 8 25.4
Segment 9 13.6
Segment 10 13.0

Total: 141.4

Instead of..

Instead of making a post about the storm (I took a few pictures of the day after, that's it,) or old pictures, I'm doing one about the May hike I'm planning on the CO Trail (PDF Map of the trail.) It should be fun to see if I can pull this off.

The Current Plan

Right now, assuming everything goes off without a hitch, and I don't do any other segments before May, this is what the distances and everything else will be for each segment:

Segment 2 11.5
Segment 3 12.7
Segment 4 16.6
Segment 5 14.4
Segment 6 32.9
Segment 7 12.8
Segment 8 13.6
Segment 9 13.0
Total: 127.5

I'd do Segment 10, since I'm under my 10mi/day plan, except that it's 21.5 miles, and that'd take me over my 2 weeks. I think 10 miles a day should be doable.

If we do end up doing segment 2 before May, it will be likely that I'd add Segment 10 in, because without Segment 2, it will put me at 137.5 total.

Today's Pics

Here's some pictures from the CO Trail Segment 2. Our chosen hike today was a completely different one, but the access roads were closed.

The area with no trees burned pretty bad about 10 or 15 years ago.