After 11 days in Denver visiting friends and fulfilling handyman duties for my mother I'm back to doing one of the things I do best, Hiking. When I lived in Colorado it was not uncommon to make a last minute decision to hike a pass or climb a peak the very next day. Now that I'm basing myself out of Houston and only allowing myself a week a two on this trip I'm overwhelmed by the options.
On Tuesday I climbed a couple high Thirteeners. Here in Colorado it's all about climbing the Fourteeners. Fourteeners are peaks above 14,000 feet. There are 54 in total. I finished climbing all of them years ago so the next goal is to climb the high Thirteeners. High Thirteeners are pretty much peaks above 13,700 feet. The nice thing about thirteeners is that far few people climb them and they generally offer more interesting and challenging routes.
Tuesday's ascent of Clinton and Traver peaks offered a nice variety of hiking and snow climbing combined with a mile long ridge walk followed a fun glissade down an expansive snow field. The weather was spectacular and I had the peaks to myself. The day was enhanced by an old familiar confidence that comes from experience which greatly added to overall enjoyment.
I followed it up the next with a nice day hike on the Continental Divide trail from Winfield to a Pass above Lake Ann in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. Again, Spectacular weather void of the afternoon thunderstorms common in the Colorado Rockies..... The pass above Lake Ann is currently obstructed by a cornice that has formed a steep headwall of hardpacked snow approximately 20 to 30 high. The opposite side of the pass was completely void of snow. I spied a relatively thin line of steep grassy scree to avoid the snow and made it to the top of the pass with no problems. On top I was surprised to see a group older teenaged boy scouts with two adult leaders who had ascened the opposite side. They were confused by how to get down to Lake Ann. The trail was covered by the snow cornice/headwall and they did not have ice axes. They were unfamiliar with such obstacles that can appear on the lesser know high passes well into summer. The way I had ascended was not that obvious looking down from the top and for those unaccustomed to cross country travel in the high country the pass may have appeared impassable. At that point I kind of felt like my old Wilderness Ranger self as I offered my advice and pointed them in the right direction. I think they were kind of surprised that they could descend such a steep slope safely with heavy packs but the footing was good and everyone made it down just fine. It felt good to share some of my knowledge gained through years of experience and it made me feel like I should really be doing more of that...
Today I'm just kind of taking it easy and trying to decide what I want to do next as I sip a latte at a coffee shop in Buena Vista, Colorado. I've got a stack of maps and my idea at this point is to visit and hike places I have not been to before. Although I intend to mainly day hike I might head into the back country for a couple of nights... All plans are flexible. I'm just kind of deciding as I go but the Crestone Range is looking appealing....
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