Mount Antero 7/6/13

Even though I have to get up early for every attempt on a 14er that definitely doesn't make me a morning person. I don't enjoy it but it's better than being above treeline when thunder clouds roll in. Jesse on the other hand seems to be ready to go at a moments notice. I make getting up a process. We were able to hit the road after I finally got my ass in gear. We didn't go up the trail far before I saw a nice stand of aspen trees that I wanted to take a picture of.

While I was fumbling around with my backpack and taking this picture I noticed that I had left my sunglasses at the car. After coming to this realization I sheepishly told Jesse that I needed to run back and grab them. Thankfully he is really patient. I have had several injuries in the past where metal shavings have been stuck in my eye. This has left me a little more sensitive to light than most. 16 miles all day sans shades was a sad prospect. After the brief hiccup we officially set off up the trail and were treated to a nice Colorado sunrise. A nice sunrise will always be a good incentive to get up early.

As we continued up the road we passed a subaru that had bitten off more than it could chew. There was a flat tire and the owner had parked it. Nobody was around so hopefully they had pressed on with their adventure rather than waving the white flag. Murphy be damned! Farther up I began to notice telltale signs of leaf eating critter damage on aspen trees.

Some quick internetting tells me that this is damage done from the Common Aspen Leaf Miner. The damage done was interesting in that the bug made a little maze on the leaf. The aftermath was reminiscent of an old arcade game like Pac Man or Dig Dug. Fortunately there wasn't any widespread damage, only a couple of leaves on trees sprinkled around.

Pressing onward we paid attention to how the road was constructed. Just having a road at all through this terrain is a testament to how tough these old miners and mountain men were. These guys were the creme of the crop in the era of hardasses. Below are several views of what these guys built a road along. Many times you could see evidence of how they drilled into these rock faces and blasted the rock apart. The loose rock was then pushed aside and flattened out to make the rough road. This would be a difficult and tedious process even by modern day standards but these guys did this many decades ago! If there's gold in them hills then hell fahr! Do everything necessary to build a road and get it out!

We came to a fork with a creek crossing where one road went to Baldwin Lakes and the other continued up to Mount Antero. The view really opened up here as well.

The water in the creek crossing was extremely clear and calm as the water opened up to the wide area. It was still enough to make for a perfectly flat mirrored surface.

There were several more crossings along the way. Creeks and streams were sure to make cameo appearances.

Usually the road was somewhat leveled out rock chunks with harder obstacles mixed in. We continuously saw pieces of vehicles mixed in with the rocks and dirt. The debris ran the gamut from headlight assembly pieces and tire tread chunks to discarded padlocks. This was a Rocky Mountain toll road and the fare was payed in car parts.

 

Around tree line there was some roadside eye candy. These flowers had small little golden flecks sprinkled around that bees were loving.

A little higher and the valley opened up again to expose the surrounding views.

Earlier in the hike there was a truck with two girls that passed us. I was a little surprised to see them cruise by in a new lifted F-150. By all means though, get after it. We passed the parked truck higher up and noticed the girls hiking above us. The road did a nice job of switching back and forth across the mountain with a nice gradient. There was a gulley that ran down along the fall line that they opted to go up. It was a more direct approach but required considerably more energy to climb.

We caught up with them at the top of the gulley system. They made it fine but looked pretty spent. Sometimes I cringe at what people perceive to be a shortcut. Just above this area there was a trail that split off from the main road. Mount Antero is famous for having crystals and mineral deposits along the upper slopes so we chose the scenic route. After a short hike up from the road the trail leveled out onto a large open plateau. 

I have been interested in rock hounding since I was a kid so I slowed my pace down and kept the eyes to the ground. Almost immediately I found a little chunk of aquamarine.

The finding encouraged me to look harder and only slowed my pace down further. Both Jesse and Nualla weren't nearly as keen on digging around and they disappeared quickly.

My only other rewards were little quartz crystals and occasional glimpses of aquamarine.

There was evidence of people pawing around as I climbed higher. It was apparent that others were after what was underground with less regard to what it looked like when they were done. This was witnessed by holes pock marking the upper slopes of the mountain. As much as I like seeing crystals something didn't feel right about turning the mountainside into swiss cheese to find them. I had had enough and needed to catch up with Jesse and dog. I found them patiently waiting before the last final push towards the top of the mountain. I think he understands my need to occasionally nerd out. And dog, well she just wants to chase squirrels or stay with whoever is farthest up the trail. After setting off again I noticed that Nualla's paws hadn't been standing up well to the miles of rough terrain. She had apparently caught her dew claw on something in the midst of her squirrel sightseeing. At that point I thought it best to get her new kicks on while Jesse went ahead and summited.

The paw break was spent somewhere in there

The downhill view while waiting on Jesse to get back

Jesse was quick about it and he showed up not long after Nualla's shoes were on. We were both paying attention to the clouds that were appearing and I didn't waste time getting to the summit. At the top I took advantage of others being there to have my picture taken with their sign.

I quickly snapped some pictures and scurried back down.

It didn't take long to make my way back down. After meeting back up with Jesse and dog we set off down the road rather than the scenic route we took up. 

Some more roadside flowers were hanging out near the top.

I kept Nualla's boots on as long as she would tolerate them. After a combination of having to frequently adjust them, her increasing reluctance to have them on, and the easing up of the rough terrain I took them off. For the rest of the descent on the road OHVs (Off highway vehicles) kept flying up and down past us. My patience quickly faded after an already tiring ascent and having to constantly step aside for them to race by. My smiles and waves gave way to what I imagine was just indifferent eye contact. Take your Huskers apparel and gaggle of goobers elsewhere, I'm tired of constantly huffing your dust. Grrrrrr... Jesse had scooted ahead in the midst of all this. I figured he didn't want to wait around while I kept fooling with Nualla and I couldn't blame him. Back below tree line I gave up on catching up with him and took a break instead. Nualla promptly saw a squirrel and immediately disappeared. It was common for her to be squirrel gazing but she usually stayed within earshot. After I was ready to leave I started calling her to no avail. I paced around the area calling her name all the while getting louder and louder. After 45 minutes I succumbed to frustration and headed back down the road. Hopefully she had ran ahead and found Jesse. I stopped to talk with several vehicles as they came and went. Nobody had seen her and I kept my increasing concern in check. Finally a truck came up the road and they mentioned seeing her playing in the creek around the open area where the road split. Sure enough, there she was hanging out and playing with Jesse. Luckily Jesse knew what the circumstances probably were and had stayed there waiting for me to catch up. I wanted to strangle her for making me worry but the malevolence faded as soon as she was in sight. The rest of the hike back down was tiring but uneventful after finding dog. We got back to the cars thoroughly spent after hiking 16 miles and 9600 vertical feet. There was a pretty creek right where we parked that was nice to rinse my hands in.

We took a break at the cars for a while but ultimately there is no rest for the weary. Jesse is a good motivator so he convinced me to rally and head over to Mount Elbert. After quickly stocking up at the grocery store again we headed back up towards Leadville and the Mount Elbert trailhead. There were plenty of campsites around but they were all taken. Plenty of folks were still around enjoying the area on this 4th of July weekend. After briefly exploring we spied an unofficial campsite and pounced on it. It was 10 bucks to camp but my budget was more in the "free" range. Besides, we were merely parking for a nighttime ascent instead of camping. At least that was our planned answer if anybody dared ask. After we had posted up we noticed a deer hanging out. He was interested in what we were doing but kept his distance. 

Mosquitoes were around but I noticed how I was getting proficient at squishing them one handed. They liked Nualla and I had to keep brushing them off of her. She proved to be good skeeter bait though, poor dog. We planned for an early assault on Elbert in the morning. Exhaustion was upon us and we didn't stay up much later after the sun set.

Mount Princeton 7/5/13

Nualla had had enough hiking so I let her stay at the campsite for the day. Jesse and I headed out up the road we drove in on. This road, Chaffee County 322, continued up the mountain past our campsite at 10,900 feet and wound around the front face of Tigger Mountain. It eventually stops just over 12,000 feet. The mountain jumps up abruptly from the valley floor so we were quickly greeted with good views. As we continued to rise the trees got sparser and the valley below started to open up. I had a baby bristlecone grab my attention and I felt compelled to check it out. These things will always impress me.

We eventually parted ways from the road and sought out the trail to the peak.

Before it got out of view, I made sure to take another look at the valley below. 

The trail crossed tundra but quickly faded to talus interspersed with scree. The trail continued up and around and plenty of jumping around on the talus. This was to be a common theme for the rest of the mountain.

I really enjoy being a talus ninja and running amok. Time passes faster and you cover more ground when you're in the zone. Before I knew it I was at the top of the ridgeline and I could see the rest of the Sawatch range to the south. Mount Antero was first in sight and it was incredible.

The rest of the way up was spent on or just below ridgeline. Near the top Jesse pointed out a memorial plaque for a climber that was struck by lightning. It was drilled into the face of a large boulder that was the closest thing to shelter anywhere nearby. It wasn't hard to imagine what the scenario was after seeing the location. Very unfortunate that she passed and it serves as a reminder for the rest of us climbers to be careful. I can be cavalier about being on these mountains and this helped to keep things in perspective.

After making it to the top the wind quickly persuaded me to throw on my jacket. There were nice views to admire but after 20 minutes it was time to head back down.

It was a great deal faster on the way down when you can monkey across the boulders at speed. Quickly covering ground is always funner than being slow anyhow. Once back on the road I paused to check out the valley view one more time as well as bristlecone skeletons.

We made it back to camp and got everything ready to leave. It was much less nerve-racking heading downhill but I still had to pay attention. Controlling the speed was hard enough as the road was very steep. The water breaks that helped me out on the way up only wanted to bottom out the bumper on the way down. Twice, rocks got kicked up and hit the bottom of the car loud enough to startle me. That was the extent of car abuse though and I inspected everything when we made it down to the bottom. The biggest cause for concern was the bottom joint of the controller arm on the drivers side. Grease drips were slowly forming and falling to the ground. The bumper and mud guards had some new scuffs too but that's to be expected. The mountain tends to leave its mark and I'll gladly take these over something worse. Jesse got back in his car and we made our way over to Mount Antero. The road that approaches Antero eventually leads up to an old mining ghost town called Saint Elmo. Oddly enough there are some houses up there where I think people live year round. Does that make it an almost ghost town? We didn't have to make it up that far but I had been to this area a number of times before. Baldwin Gulch was the road we were looking for. After making our way up Princeton the idea was to scope out this road for an ascent. The first 100 yards made it very clear that that might prove too difficult for the wagon. Luckily there was a nice parking area right at the beginning of Baldwin Gulch. We got the cars situated and broke out the lawn chairs. I was feeling 3 consecutive days of hiking. As I was sitting there I heard a rustling in some leaves nearby. After paying attention I noticed the noise coming from a snowshoe rabbit sitting quietly at the perimeter of the parking area.

It didn't seem too concerned by our presence and we were able to take some pictures. While we sat there a fair amount of traffic climbed up the road. Trucks, SUVs, dirtbikes, and ATVs were the only vehicles to head up until a subaru came along and broke the monotony. I watched as they started up the road and then paused as if they had second thoughts. They had a rack on top with two mountain bikes. I could just see the bikes crashing off after some of that terrain. After their brief pause the wagon pressed onward. The bikes would rock back and forth in the rack with every decent sized bump. I didn't see a way the rack would stay put but wished them luck. 30 minutes went by and the subaru came trundling back down the road. I was glad to see that everything was still together on top of the car. I have to admit that I was jealous of everybody who was able to make it up the road. Not being able to drive higher entailed a 16 mile round trip tomorrow.

Happy Birthday 'Murica! Yale 7/4/13

Just before turning in last night Nualla seemed to think that she had heard or seen something. I'll tell you this, when a dog that doesn't arbitrarily bark or spook easily suddenly gets frightened you pay attention. Granted, I was in a parking lot right near a road but I am still out in the woods with no phone signal. I was still fixing food so I had to split my attention between that and the thick bushes along the perimeter of the lot. I never heard or saw anything but I wasn't about to go poking around to find out, I've seen enough movies. If nothing else Mother Nature got a little chuckle at our expense as she was tucking us in.

I awoke the next morning and moseyed down to the trailhead to meet Jesse. While getting ready I saw a familiar face from Instagram roll up. I had only met her through sharing pictures so it was fun to meet in real life and hike together. If you're on Instagram give her album a look-see @krun_g. We hit the trail and I was feeling the hike from the previous day. Jesse is twice my age but he can hike almost twice as fast. Yale was a nice change of scenery compared to the other 14ers I had just done. It had more character in the fact that the trail meandered through the forest more before getting above treeline. The Sawatch range mountains are like this more. It's nice to have the forest to look at but it also lends itself to a longer hike. As we approached treeline we saw several guys fumbling around with some beer cans on a log next to a creek. I thought it an odd enough scene to strike up a conversation. They informed me that they were doing a photo shoot for their brewery. Free samples? No such luck. We continued up the trail and were greeted with expansive views of the Sawatch range.

I never miss up an opportunity to take some pictures of flowers I haven't seen before. Today was no exception and I was enjoying hiking in the midst of wildflower season.

We continued to wind our way up switchbacks as we approached the final summit ridgeline. Long before getting to the ridgeline though there was a marmot sentry. I'm no marmot whisperer but I have tuned into their behavior over time. The older ones will sit on a promontory and let out a call that sounds more like a loud beep than anything else. They will call out as they see something approaching and that call is often echoed by others farther away. The frequency of the beeping will increase as the disturbance draws nearer. They will keep increasing the frequency until they retreat down their hole with a last bout of quick beeps in succession. In this instance the one marmot saw fit to stay on his perch and continue to call out with the same frequency incessantly. I'm not one to wish harm against any animals but I was awfully tempted to get a rock and chuck it in his general direction. Then the animal equivalent of a car alarm might have gone down his hole and done everybody a favor.

Not the culprit, this cheeky fatty was begging for food on Longs Peak

As we gained the ridge and had the remainder of the hike ahead of us the marmot alarm faded away. The class 1 section of the hike gave rise to the class 2 talus jumping. I'm rather fond of ninja'ing around on talus because of the parkour feel of it. Nualla doesn't think as highly of it as I do but she is still a good rock dog.

We made it to the top and enjoyed the summit with the rest of the 4th of July crowd. The views of the surrounding mountains were nice, especially after hours of hiking to see them. One couple in particular had baked cookies and brownies from scratch to share with everybody on the peak. They were delicious and I definitely had two. Apparently she always brought some tasty treats up the mountain to share with other peak baggers. Score!

Not to go unnoticed, some more flowers were sure to catch my attention on the way back down the mountain.

We made our way back down to the trailhead and tried to figure out where to go next. Jesse had enough time off of work to hammer out 4 days worth of peaks, we just didn't know exactly which ones to pick yet. We headed down into Buena Vista and pow wowed over some coffee. Since it was the July 4th holiday the town had been overrun and transformed into an anxiety inducing shit show. It didn't take us long to decide on Mount Princeton. We restocked at the grocery store and then headed for the hills again. After consolidating into my car at the bottom of the road we made our way up. I was on the fence about taking my car up this road as the advice I had heard was to have a four wheel drive with decent clearance. In the world of Colorado roads this can vary greatly from water breaks to jagged, oil pan piercing rocks. In this instance it ended up being subaruble. I only had to stop twice with the first luckily being at the bottom of the road. I was able to conveniently pull out of the way of a four car convoy coming down the trail. With a five speed transmission it is critical for the livelihood of my clutch that I'm not forced to start on a steep incline. After vrooming up the hill in first gear I came head to head with a Land Rover on a straightaway. It was immediately obvious that the driver was a bit out of her comfort zone with a whole gaggle of kids in tow and her reluctance to give me enough room to get by. I was lucky again when I was able to stop on a water break and coax her closer over to the shoulder. I was poised for the climb so I floored it and drove up the bank as high as I dared. When I passed the vehicle my mirror was mere inches from hers and she was close enough to compliment my driving style through the window. I couldn't stall my momentum though and was only able to hear it in stride. The rest of the drive up the mountain was a routine affair of keeping the tires on the highest stuff in the road. I was glad to not encounter another vehicle on the road and we were able to pull in to a nice camp spot that overlooked the whole valley. Once established we took to roaming around the area and exploring. We ended up being right in the middle of a stand of bristlecone pines. This particular species of tree is so unique and each one has its own character. Even after suffering damage from lightning strikes, fires, and other excessive damage they keep on surviving. Even after finally succumbing to the elements their wood is so tough and rot resistant that skeletons of their former selves remain for many years.

I was able to get a picture of the false summit of Princeton, Tigger Peak, with a bristlecone in the foreground. If you look carefully you can see the road that leads up and around Tigger. Right where the road is dropping down to the right and hits the trees of the peak in front of it is where the trail breaks off and wraps around the backside to the true summit.