Today we get up and put on our hiking boots for the first day of hiking. We have scoured the maps trying to find a hike that is on the way from Eagle to Snowmass. One that does not go straight up in elevation as we are still flat Landers having only spent one night at 6000 feet in elevation. We figure we will stop at the Ranger station in Carbondale and pick up some info there. The best trail idea we can come up with is Thomas Lakes, which is the start of the trail up to Mt Sopris 13,000 footer. Mt Sopris is a real beauty as she stands way above anything else around her giving her the look of 14,000 footer. Or in Coloradoan language there is a 14’er and 13’er.
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| Testing my balance work and ability of boots to stay dry. |
We load up the truck and as we are experts now, we know just how everything has to fit in. The truck starts and change oil light binging out its warning. We head to the gas station drop in some gas and check the oil. Well not only does the truck need an oil change it is in need of oil. I go in and ask the gas station attendant if he has any oil. We buy a quart and drop it in.
Off we go to the ranger station. Oops going the wrong way on the Interstate. Did not even have the Garmin plugged in as we were still talking about the oil… We locate a turn around exit and get back to where we should have gone east instead of west. Now we need to locate the Ranger Station in Carbondale. We can’t come up with and address, but can see on the map that there is one. We find it, pull in and park only to find it is closed during the weekend. The station is closed on the weekend; now that seems a bit too strange for us. Don’t you think there would be a lot of visitors on the weekend? This must be due to budget cuts.
Driving back to the Highway we pass a fishing store, we decide to take a chance and drop in to see if they have any info on the trails in the area. The guy at the cash register said that Thomas Lakes was open, but posthole snow up to Mt. Sopris. For those of you who are wondering what posthole snow is, it is when you are walking on the snow and drop in up to your crotch to create what a post hole would need. Of course in the sudden dropping of your body the thought crosses your mind about what sort of rock or wet creek awaits your bottoming out…
From the map we have we have some of the names of the roads we should be turning on to get to the trailhead of the Thomas Lakes/Mt. Sopris , but they don’t jive with what we see. Road signs are missing. Had to stop three times and ask for clarification, even with directions and map. We finally find what a person points to and says they ‘think’ it is the correct road to the trail. We spent the next 20 minutes driving back to the trailhead while only guessing we were on the correct unmarked single lane pot hole filled dirt/gravel road back to the official trail head. (Thank goodness we have a 4 wheel drive truck as this road would eat up and spit out a Ford Focus.)
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| Mt. Sporis hiding in the low clouds |
We are following another truck up this four wheel drive road. At the end of the road we chat with the couple from the truck, who confirmed we had arrived at the correct trailhead. We started hiking at around 10 am.
Once on the trail, we fall into a familiar pace of trying to stay between 75 – 87% of our max heart rate. The familiar sounds of birds and smells of fir and spruce fill my senses and welcome me back to this inner peace. Oh yes, the sound of sucking wind also can be heard as exercising at elevation can really do a number on your heart rate an respiratory system!) We find our pace knowing that the turtle must rule the first days of hiking. Getting acclimated is the most important aspect!
This hike has something of everything, groves of aspen trees, great views of the valley, wild flowers, lakes, and view of Mount Sopris. Mount Sopris falls just short of a 14’er, but since it stands by itself rather than in a range it looks big!
We met 3 guys coming down the trail who started at 5:30 am and summated Mt. Sopris at 10 am. They reported that the summit is possible…windy, chilly, and makeable. Our minds and conversation center on a possible Sopris summit. Hmm this might have to be our Longs Peak. As of when we left for Colorado, Longs Peak was still rated winter technical climbing which you will need crampons and ice axes for. That does not sound like the hiking we do!
We sit at the second lake and drop out packs for a lunch break while looking out over the second of the Thomas Lakes. The first sounds of thunder rumble across the valley. Shortly after that rumble people start coming on down the trail past us. They are all scrambling below tree line to get out of the way of the lightening. We pack up and join in the exit from the area. The whole way down the trail the sky is a rumbling and looking very dark. We can see it is raining off to the west, but we manage to get back to the car with out getting wet.
We continue on to Snowmass and find our condo is the highest condo on the ski mountain. Well that should really help get us acclimated to the elevationSnowmass is ski town and all of the buildings are a part of the ski hill. You can ski right up to any of the condos or into the mall for a bite to eat or a quick shopping adventure before continuing with your skiing. I can not imagine driving these roads with snow on them. The roads are very steep and windy. With over 600 inches of snow every winter season where do they put it all?
July 10, 2011 Lost man lake loop + Grotto 10 miles total mileage 18
Hey anyone looking for a great job? Today we were headed out of town to drive to the trailhead and we were stopped by a police officer who was holding back traffic. He was drinking coffee and wearing a black polo. When we had our turn to proceed we passed the police officer working the other side of the trouble he two was wearing a nice black golf polo shirt drinking coffee. Hey comfy clothes and drinking coffee on the job. Ahh yes living out here is great!
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| Nice Truck! |
Today is all about adventure. Are you ready? We headed through Aspen and on up 82 east toward Independence pass. This pass is closed during the winter but has been opened as the pass is now clear of snow. The trailhead that we are stopping at is close to the pass. We thought we might drive up and take a look around if we had time after we were done hiking. On Monday I had called the Ranger station and they said the snow melt line was up to 10500 feet. Even with the knowledge of the snow line and starting elevation we were planning on trying this hike and going as far as we could before the snow turned us back. We parked our car at the upper trailhead and the elevation was 11500. We can see snow, but just decide to give it a go and hike as far as we can. Since this is a loop trial some people go with a group and park two cars. One car parked at each trail head. Or they hike it one way and hitch hike their way back the four miles back up the road to the trailhead in which they left their car. I have only hitch hiked once in my life and it was just last year in Crested Butte.
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| Wet trails & boots. |
The trail is running with water. Water, water, water. No worries right. Yes, if you remember back to last year when Kathi and I took the Oh Be Joyful trail. That whole hike was taken while walking in the pouring rain. The whole hike, all I could think about was whether or not water proofing the hiking boots only once was a good decision. Well, no worries about that this year, I water proofed those babies twice! Even after the lady at REI told us that if your boots are GORTEX, you do not need to water proof them, I still put two coats on. She certainly has not been walking in the pouring rain and wondering…emmmm are my feet getting wet?
As we were hiking up through the melting water run off the valley was quiet open and you could get great views if the valley and mountain range that were in. The views were fantastic. We had a very nice turtle pace going as this is the second day of hiking and we are approaching 12000 feet. We had a group of six in front of us that we were about a mile behind as we wiggled our way up through the valley and up toward Independence Lake. We could see the summit of the saddle rising up before as and we could also see spots of the trail, but mostly we could see snow.
Kathi is beginning to tell me that she thinks her left foot is getting wet. Kathi is not sure if it is wet or feels wet… Since we are traipsing through lots of snow patches across the trail, running water down the trail that is most times 2 to 3 inches deep, the mud and muck is usually up over the top of the laces of the boot. I remind Kathi that I had watered proofed all boots TWICE even if they were made from GORTEX. It must be the cold of the snow that she feels.
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| Indepence lake were we find two guys fishing for frozen fish sticks:) |
We get up to Independence Lake to find it is still frozen with a small melted out spot. There is a man and young boy with fly fishing poles. I asked how the fishing was… I think they must be fishing for frozen fish sticks. He laughs and said they would try and fish the streams as they hiked back down. While we were talking he pointed out two cougar tracks across the snow. Cougar! I did not know there were cougar here. Well, put that on the list of things to watch out for.
We continue to head up towards the saddle and are very thankful the group of six are blazing such a nice trail to follow through the snow. At this point the snow covering is 85% of the trail and you are looking for where the trial might just peek out so you can get a bearing. The snow walking does not seem too terrible. We have our new REI snow stabilizers in the pack, but decide it is to early to dig those out. The only steps that seem difficult are when you can hear running water under where you are standing on the snow……….. Those steps I try to think light feathery thoughts.
We arrive at the saddle after 1 hour and 48 minutes of hiking to find the group of 6 sitting and have carrot cake. We chat for a bit and find they have two cars parked. We tell them we were hoping to hike as far as we could and then head back the way we had come as we only had one car. They offered us a ride back up to our car. Perfect. We sealed the deal and kept hiking with them. I was hoping to get in on the carrot cake, but they gobbled up the crumbs pretty fast…
John and Sue, Sean and Young Lea, Glen and Barbara. They were all members of Colorado Hiking Club, but had broken off and started their own club. Amongst the group they had 3 gps’s and good trail finding skills. It is also a good time to point out that two of their gps’s had the trail pre-recorded into it’s memory! And it is good thing as the snow and fast in coming storm was making it very difficult to find the trail. We were moving pretty quickly as the sky was looking pretty nasty. And true to form it thundered once and was pouring freezing cold rain just like that! We all scrambled into our rain gear and covered out packs. I know that Kathi and I would have rather put on the rain gear before it started pouring, but I think the group was in denial and wondering if the storm was going to just pass over. Silly choice, use your time to get on rain gear while still dry or use it to get closer to tree line before the storm. What do they call these things …Catch 22’s .
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| Lost Man's Lake is still Frozen |
Just to be sure, Kathi and I would have been out there a long time reading the topo map and gps to find our way through those snow fields. Or we would have turned around and headed back the way we came.
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| As the storm approaches there are flowers to be seen as we look for the trail. |
After about a half hour of cold pouring rain it stopped and cleared up. We stopped for lunch and time to undress out of the rain gear. I was hoping for someone in the group of six to pull out another dessert choice and we could all commune on it… No such luck.
This is when Kathi told me she was 100% sure her boots were not water proof. In fact cold and very wet were closer to the truth. With all of the water, snow, and rain the water was seeping into her boots from down on the part where the insole rubber bottom attaches to the leather part of the shoe. I simply can not be held responsible for waterproofing that…. Time to retire those babies!
We chattered our way down the mountain with the group of six and make it back into the lower trail head after 6 and half hours of hiking. All of it in water conditions that put the Oh Be Joyful hike to shame! Views were spectacular!
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| Sky clears after the storm |
Kathi hopped a ride in the car with the group and headed up to retrieve out car. She got back down to me just as it was going to start raining again! Standing by the truck, Kathi takes off her boots to switch into her sandals. She is able to wring water out of her socks… I simply can not be held responsible for water that comes through the soles…. We will have to plan a retirement party for those boots.
PS: My new Lowa trekkers with GORTEX lining, which I water proofed twice, were dry :)
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