Saturday Sopris Summit

"The early bird gets the summit," is the mantra I repeated to myself as I rolled out of bed at 2:30 am. Hitting the trail at 3:00 am was rough, and even though there was a full moon, we still needed headlamps. The trail was rocky and hiking it in the dark was not ideal, but we hiked on.

Finding ourselves above tree-line as the sun began to rise made hiking in the dark for 3 hours totally worth it! It was a magnificent sunrise; one I won't ever forget.

Sopris defeated me last summer, and I was determined to summit that stubborn mountain this summer. From the trailhead to the summit the hike is around 13 miles roundtrip. When you combine that with the intense elevation gain it makes for a really long day. The summit of Mount Sopris stands at 12,966' high.

We reached the summit around 9:00 am, and were happily surprised by the lack of wind - and people! We spent an hour alone on the summit of Mount Sopris sharing snacks and celebratory beer!

We began our decent at 10:00 am and were thrilled when we made it to Thomas Lakes around noon. We took a long break at the lakes and as the storm clouds began rolling in we decided to keep heading down to the car.

The last 2 1/2 miles of the hike felt like an eternity, but we kept trucking none-the-less. It was the perfect Saturday to summit Sopris, and I couldn't be more excited to have made it to the top!

Celebrating Love at High Elevation

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary on June 29th in the high country outside Aspen, CO. We began our day hiking up to Cathedral Lake, which is a stunning alpine lake complete with towering peaks and dramatic views.

We took a break at the lake for a snack before deciding to head even higher towards Electric Pass, the highest named pass in Colorado at 13,635 feet. At around noon we stopped for lunch in an alpine meadow below Electric Pass; we decided to save that summit for another day and headed back down after lunch.

Our dogs were pleasantly surprised to find snow in late June, and we paused to let them romp around and cool off. When we made it to the van, we loaded up and headed further up Castle Creek to find a spot where we could drink a cold beer and soak our feet in the icy creek.

We treated ourselves to appetizers and chilled wine on the patio of the Pine Creek Cookhouse (where we were married in 2013) then drove for about a half hour up a dirt road and made camp for the night. It was a wonderful first anniversary, and I look forward to many, many more! 

CHEERS!

Savage Lakes

Having never explored the Holy Cross Wilderness, I set out to hike to a beautiful lake in late June with three friends. I studied the map for a great while before deciding on Savage Lakes as our destination. The hike to Savage Lakes is an out and back hike totaling 4 miles, which was easy to accomplish in an afternoon.

We loaded up our camelbacks and hit the road around 11:00 on Saturday morning. The drive to the trailhead turned out to be longer than I expected due to windy roads and low speed limits, but that just gave us more time to sing along to terrible songs from the high school CD collection I still have in my car.

The trailhead to Savage Lakes is well marked and easily navigable. We made it to the first lake in good time, and we decided to stop there for lunch and a rest. After lunch, we searched for the second lake, but couldn't find it. The trail was still covered in snow, and after losing it several times, we gave up and headed back.

There are seemingly endless options for hikes in the Holy Cross Wilderness, and I'm already looking forward to exploring more. Of course I intend to head back up the trail to Savage Lakes in the near future to find that hidden second lake. I've also heard rumor of a small third lake with a beautiful waterfall that I'd love to find once the snow melts off a little more.

Here's to waiting for snow to melt, so I can get further into the high country; my favorite place on earth!

Avalanche Creek to East Fork

Avalanche Creek Trail is located just outside Carbondale, CO and is the perfect early season backpack trip as the trailhead begins at only 7,310 feet, and there are plenty of camping options along the way.

The trail is super popular, but we lucked out on our hike in seeing only one jogger about 5 miles into the wilderness. The jogger let us know that he had run into snow several miles past Duley Park (our camping destination). We knew there was going to be snow, and actually were surprised to find there wasn't as much snow as we thought there would be.

We hiked another half mile to Duley Park before dropping our packs and having lunch. After lunch we decided to hike up to East Fork. We quickly found that the trail past Duley Park was rather poorly maintained as we hopped logs and fallen trees. We crossed a couple of snow patches, none of them were too large, and made it to East Fork rather quickly. After exploring a bit further, we decided to turn around.

We headed back to Duley Park, where we camped for the night and set up our tent just in time for an afternoon shower. Luckily the storm moved out just as quickly as it moved in, so we didn't have to hunker down in the tent long. 

It was the perfect first trip of the season, and it has us eagerly anticipating many more backpacking adventures in the high country this summer. 

Exploring Western Colorado

This weekend, I spontaneously decided to go camping with some friends who were running a race in Gunnison, CO. Driving to Gunnison proved to be an adventure in itself as we took a detour to drive through Paonia, CO and ended up driving the Scenic Byway on Highway 92 through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

We pulled into Stevens Creek Campground just as the sun was going down, and decided to camp just off Highway 50 on the shore of Blue Mesa Reservoir for the night. People are right when they say Gunnison is the coldest place in CO, and I was definitely kicking myself for not bringing a heavier sleeping bag.

I awoke lakeside to a beautiful view and warm sunshine, and I enjoyed a morning of sipping hot coffee and reading Tom Robbins, "Another Roadside Attraction" while my friends drove into Gunnison for their race.

That afternoon we decided to move camp to the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which we had heard was spectacular and worth the trip; however, we somehow missed the turn and found ourselves in Paonia, CO. After deciding not to backtrack to find the right turnoff for the North Rim, we headed into the hills for some wine tasting. 

We stumbled upon Stone Cottage Cellars Winery, and boy did that place charm our socks off! The tasting room is a beautiful stone cottage (go figure) that the owner built, and the wine is absolutely delicious. We spent a bit of time exploring the winery and taking more photos than the paparazzi before buying a bottle of chardonnay and hitting the road - yet again! 

The owner of the winery told us about Paonia State Park Campground, and we headed that way for the evening. After finding the perfect camping spot right on the creek we settled in for the night and shared a bottle of delicious Colorado wine. 

Cheers to finding adventure daily!

Hanging Lake

Hanging Lake is one of Glenwood Canyon's most popular hikes and destinations. People from across the country - and across the world, surprisingly - make sure to hike Hanging Lake when they're in the area. And let me be the first to tell you: they're in the area, a lot!!

If you've ever hiked Hanging Lake in the summer or fall, you know just how crowded it can get. The parking lot tends to fill up before noon and, often times, you end up hiking the trail to Hanging Lake with 100 of your closest friends. If you want to forgo the crowds and find a bit more solitude on your nature walk I suggest being on the trail early, around 6:00 or 7:00am. Chances are still slim that you'll be completely alone, but you'll likely miss out on the general over-crowding that occurs by noon everyday.

I've now hiked the Hanging Lake Trail three times: once at the end of November 2012 (it snowed), once in January 2013 (we snowshoed up) and most recently in September 2013. My sister was in town visiting, and visitors always want to hike Hanging Lake.

We arrived at the parking lot at 9:00am and easily found a parking spot, which was a relief. We walked down the bike path to the trailhead and began our hike upwards. Believe me when I say it's a rather difficult uphill climb. Don't be fooled by the low mileage - the trail itself is only slightly over a mile each way; however, be prepared for that mile to sufficiently kick your butt!

The official Glenwood Springs website explains of Hanging Lake, "Geologically speaking, there are few places in the world that can compare to this marvel of Mother Nature. Hanging Lake is a rare example of a lake formed by travertine deposition where the natural geologic and hydro-logic processes continue to operate as they have done throughout the history of the lake. The site is also noteworthy for its thriving hanging garden plant community. Because of these qualities Hanging Lake was designated a National natural Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2011."

Don't forget to take the short detour up to Spouting Rock just above and to the left of Hanging Lake. The beautiful waterfall shooting out from the canyon wall is simply put: not to be missed. You won't regret the short trek up to Spouting Rock, trust me on this one.

The Hanging Lake trail-head is located approximately 10 miles east of Glenwood Springs along Interstate-70 in Glenwood Canyon.

Lost Man Loop

The Lost Man Loop is a popular trail up Independence Pass. Don't let the name fool you, however, the trail is not a true loop; my husband and I dropped a car off at the Lost Man trailhead before continuing on in one car to Linkins Lake trailhead where we began our hike. I've heard of other people who hitchhike between the two trailheads instead of driving two vehicles.

In any event, Lost Man Loop in July is spectacular! We took a brief detour in the beginning of our hike to check out Linkins Lake. I'd highly recommend this short detour, because the small lake is absolutely beautiful!

Once back on the main trail we followed the Roaring Fork up to it's headwaters, Independence Lake. We paused there for a snack and then began our hike up the pass and over to Lost Man Lake. Lost Man Lake offers dramatic views and is breathtaking when seen from the top of the pass. Don't forget to look back for an equally incredible view of Independence Lake as well.

We took another break at Lost Man Lake sunning on a rock while eating our lunch. Beyond Lost Man Lake the loop trail continues into a meadow; it then curves with the valley and heads down into marshy wetland. We made camp about 4.5 miles from the trailhead and settled in enjoying fields of wildflowers and the setting sun.

Deer were grazing nearby our camp site all night long making it hard for our dog Rio to get any rest. As the sun came up, we sipped on coffee and packed up our things. The remainder of the hike out to the Lost Man trailhead seemed long and mostly downhill; we began to pass more and more people as we made our way closer to the trailhead and ultimately right past Lost Man Reservoir.

It's always wonderful to get out and enjoy the high country during the summer months, and Independence Pass offers easy access, for sure!