Conundrum Hot Springs

Conundrum Hot Springs: a magical place overrun by partying backpackers. 

What an incredibly stunning, picturesque, unique treasure that is currently trashed. We must have passed one hundred people - give or take - hiking out as we were hiking in. And I feel I should mention this was on a Thursday. We timed it right though, and had the hot spring to ourselves for almost an hour in the middle of the day during the transition of hikers departing and arriving. 

As night fell, every campsite in the vicinity filled up, as did the hot springs. Hopefully we can all learn to take care of the magical natural places that we love to visit and spend time in. 

Four Pass Loop

Ahh, the iconic Four Pass Loop! We set out to complete this 26 mile loop in 3 days, beginning at the Maroon Bells and hiking counter-clockwise over all four picturesque passes. While backpacking breathes an air of solitude, the Four Pass Loop surely did not. It is one of the most popular magical places I've backpacked in.

The trip seemed a lost cause when I woke up ill the night before our departure. It delayed our start significantly; however, by 11:00am we were hiking up toward Buckskin Pass in a misty drizzle before finding a campsite nestled in some trees just below the pass. We didn't make it far that first day, but listening to the rain hit the tent fly as afternoon turned into night was both healing and rejuvenating.

Each day thereafter consisted of snow crossings, pass climbing and a lot of rain. The low clouds blocked the views of distant peaks, but they cloaked the passes and meadows in still, quiet, eerie mystery.

On our last day, we awoke to blue skies. We welcomed the change in weather and as the sun recharged us, we made our way over West Maroon Pass - the final pass of the trip.

Betty Bear Hut

Betty Bear Hut is part of the 10th Mountain Division hut system. As one of the newer huts in the system, the design and layout is different than many others that I have been to. In this hut, the sleeping quarters are on the lower level, which makes for a cooler night's sleep.

The ski in was gradual for the first several miles, but just when I thought this might be an easy hut to access, we turned off the main road and started going up switchbacks. The switchbacks were steep and grueling; it seemed like we had been going up for over two hours when the hut finally came into view. Seeing the hut for the first time after a long day of hauling a pack on skis is always an exciting moment. We cheered and picked up our speed, since our destination was finally in sight.

We made it to the hut in the early afternoon and settled in for a celebration as friends arrived and the hut began to fill. We enjoyed a night lounging around the wood stove and singing along with a guitar. The next day, we decided to tour up to the Continental Divide to Hagerman Pass, where we discovered beautiful, expansive views of the surrounding mountains.

On our way back to the hut, some of our group decided to skin up a nearby mountain for a backcountry lap, while the rest of us meandered back through rolling hills and open meadows. Back at the hut, we enjoyed resting on the deck while the sun was out then ate a delicious, hot dinner, played cards and went to bed.

Cheers to adventure!

Andrew's Lake

Finding powder in an old stomping ground always puts a smile on my face. To me, Andrew's Lake between Durango and Silverton is one of my favorite places, and certainly one of those important places.  Just like the poem that was written from a father to a son in 1986:

The Important Places

Child of mine

come as you grow

in youth you will learn the secret places

the cave behind the waterfall

the arms of the oak that hold you high

the stars so near on a desert ledge

the important places

and as with age you choose your own way

among the many faces of a busy world

may you always remember the path that leads back

back to the important places.

— Dad for Forest, 1986

I first heard this poem and learned about the film The Important Places during the 2015 Five Points Film Festival in Carbondale, and it reminded me of all of my "important places" in the San Juan mountains. When my husband told me he had gotten time off work for the holidays, I was excited to get back to my old stomping ground. We pulled into the parking lot for Andrew's Lake just as the storm was lifting, and we were ecstatic to see the pocket of freshly dropped powder. 

Justin's mom met us in the parking lot with her wooden skis, and we toured into the powder. It was invigorating and much needed. The clouds lifted, and we were greeted with blue skies and familiar views. It was the perfect start to a wonderful holiday week spent with family and friends in Durango, Colorado. 

Fancy Pass Loop

"I'm so fancy!"

I woke up one summer morning in July and realized I had yet to put my backpack on this season. Knowing that had to change, I immediately began planning for an adventure.

After some time spent reading guidebooks and looking at maps, I settled on Fancy Pass Loop, also known as Missouri Lakes Loop. The trip is eight miles long with two passes, Fancy Pass and Missouri Pass. Once I decided this was the spot, I scoured the web looking for trip reports and such.

I quickly discovered that this is one of the more popular loops in the Holy Cross Wilderness. Website after website warned against overuse and crowded trails. I had already planned everything out; however, so I decided to give it a try anyways.

My husband had the grand idea to hike up Fancy Pass and down Missouri Pass, which turned out to be an excellent decision as most people seemed to day hike to Missouri Lakes. We hardly saw a soul until we reached Fancy Lake, and even then we only crossed paths with two other groups.

Fancy Lake is stunning, but Fancy Pass is daunting with a 35 pound pack and a surprising amount of snow. We took our time crossing snow fields and navigating a path to the top of the pass. The views were beautiful, and we scoped out an area to camp in near Treasure Vault Lake. Several other groups were camping in-between the passes, but the area was large enough that every group was able to find a secluded spot.

We toasted to adventure and enjoyed a dinner of couscous with bacon and veggies while soaking in the views. We had a family dance party in an alpine meadow at sunset, then we went to bed. The following day, we quickly climbed to the top of Missouri Pass and made our way down to the many lakes below.

It turns out the trail wasn't overly crowded, and the mosquitos were more obnoxious than any person we encountered. Happy trails!

Grizzly Lake

Our friends scored a campsite in a popular area up Lincoln Creek on Independence Pass outside of Aspen, CO, so we decided to go for an adventure. Lincoln Creek is accessed by a four-wheel-drive road that hosts several campsites that is almost always crowded due to it's proximity to Aspen and the numerous alpine hikes available.

We were planning on hiking Grizzly Lake one day and Petroleum Lake the next day. We made it to Grizzly Lake, a beautiful scenic high-alpine lake. The entire hike was beautiful starting with aspens and fields of wildflowers and ending with snowfields and craggy rock peaks. The following day, unfortunately, the rain kept us from exploring Petroleum Lake. Another day, another adventure.

Mount Belford

To celebrate our second wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to climb a mountain. Late June is still pretty early for mountain climbing, especially with all the late season moisture we got this winter, but we decided we would go for it anyways.

We chose Mount Belford (14,067'), accessible down Clear Creek Road outside of Buena Vista, Colorado. We arrived late Friday night and camped right off the road about a mile past the trailhead. With seven miles and 4,000 feet of elevation gain ahead of us, we went to bed early that evening.

In the morning, we got an early start, hiking the first mile and a half of switchbacks in the dark. The water crossing was very high, so we took a half-mile detour to see if there was a better spot to cross - there's not! So we took off our shoes and crossed the icy knee-deep water. After the water crossing we quickly made it to tree-line and began our ascent of Mount Belford.

We saw several other groups on the trail, but the mountain wasn't too busy. We made it to the top in time for lunch, but the clouds started building around us. We decided not to bag two peaks in one day, and we left Mount Oxford for another day.

I was grateful for the icy water crossing on the way down because my feet were sore from the first fourteener of the season. After a wonderful hike, we made it back to van-trouble; it wouldn't start. It turns out we had jostled the battery lose on the washboard road. Luckily, Justin had it up and running with enough time for us to make our dinner reservation at Mount Princeton Hot Springs. Of course, we soaked in the over-priced hot springs, too.

It was a wonderful anniversary, and I am looking forward to many more adventures to come.

Mount Garfield

Mount Garfield is an iconic desert highpoint seen from i70 on the drive to or from Grand Junction. Not knowing much about the hike, it had been on my list of adventures for a while. My husband agreed to hike it one Sunday on our way back to Carbondale.

We found the trailhead easily. Justin didn't heed the warning posted before the highway underpass; however, and we ended up driving through a pool of water that was nearly high enough to reach the van doors. He punched it through the standing water while I yelled at him (oops!); it's safe to say I was a bit shaken up upon starting the hike.

Mount Garfield is a four-mile round trip hike with 2000 feet of elevation gain. We began hiking up the STEEP spine section - pausing nearly every fifty feet to catch our breath. I felt the onset of vertigo just as we were reaching the end of the spine, thankfully. After the spine the hike is moderate with several more ups and even a couple of flat sections.

We made it to the top and enjoyed the view just as the rain clouds began rolling in. We snapped a couple of photos and headed down quickly. We made it safely across the underpass ravine again, and then we were homeward bound.

Just Fritzin' Around

Every winter, we plan an epic trip to one of the 10th Mountain Division Huts. This winter, we went to Fritz Hut.

Fritz Hut is located just outside of Aspen, Colorado - a short jaunt from home. We started our skin up at 9:00 am. The first portion of the trail is gradual and lovely. The second portion is long and steep. I was grateful to have skins on my cross country skis; without skins I would've been hiking up.

After 5 tricky miles we arrived at the hut. We quickly made a fire and began preparing appetizers. We were lucky to find an old guitar at the hut, and we enjoyed singing (poorly) and playing the guitar into the night.

The next day we woke up early and headed out to go exploring. We ventured up Bald Mountain, which was an easy skin-up and a fun ski down - especially on cross country skis. The remainder of our afternoon was spent sledding, throwing snowballs and drinking hot chocolate on the porch.

The ski down consisted of cramping legs, a powerful snowplow stance and an inevitable broken pole. I tried to ski the remainder of the downhill with only one pole, but struggled to keep my balance. I ended up walking the remaining mile and a half to the car.

Crystal Mill

We journeyed up to the old Crystal Mill outside of Marble, Colorado on a beautiful fall afternoon. The colors were glorious, and the hike was majestic - aside from the jeeper dust.

Aspen to Crested Butte for Vinotok

For my birthday, some friends and I decided to hike 12 stunning miles from Aspen to Crested Butte on West Maroon Pass. We began our journey at 5:00 am, hoping to avoid the crowds of tourists that tend to gather at the Maroon Bells - and we did just that.

It wasn't until we began ascending West Maroon Pass that we saw other people on the trail. The top of the pass revealed remarkable views of the surrounding valleys that reached toward Aspen and Crested Butte. It was a beautiful fall day, and we lingered quite a while on top of West Maroon Pass.

The descent was quick and in a short amount of time we found ourselves back in the trees. We popped out of the trees into the parking lot about six hours after we began hiking that morning. We enjoyed a cold beer and some lunch before piling into the vansion and heading into town for the Vinotok Festival.

Vinotok proved to be even weirder than expected. I treasure small towns, free spirits and wacky festivals.

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!

Handies Peak

No matter how long I'm away, the San Juan mountains always feel like home to me. Their beauty is like nothing I've found elsewhere. While visiting family in Durango, CO this past weekend, we decided a bit of adventure was in order and we went hiking to the top of Handies Peak.

We all woke up at 4:00 am, and my step-dad drove us all to Silverton, up Cinnamon Pass and into American Basin. The drive was rough - four wheel drive was certainly required - and it took us nearly 3 hours!

Everyone was happy to get out of the car at American Basin when we arrived at 8:15 am. We began hiking right away. I imagine hiking this trail in July is spectacular, as it would be lined with wildflowers. Unfortunately we didn't see many wildflowers, but it is the end of August, so we were expecting that sad reality.

The trail is very scenic from beginning to end, and Sloan's Lake is stunning - especially as seen from above. We summited the peak at 10:30 am, and quickly drank our celebratory beers. At 14,048 feet, Handies Peak became my sister's first fourteener summit.

As we began our descent the storm clouds rolled in. My brother, sister and I shared stories and laughter while searching for geodes and spotting fat, happy marmots all the way to the truck. It was a day I'll never forget, and I'm so glad to have shared the experience with family.