Steps in the Right Direction: 2014 Colorado Shrine Mt. Trail Getting To The Mountains

"The ability to laugh at oneself can be the beginning of a life time of comedy."
Brian Coulter

Before beginning to read you should under stand that the author of the blog-Penny and her co-hiking editor-Kathi, are both professionals. Not professional writers, hikers or travelers, no we are a professional physical education teacher and professional lean project manager. We share our story for your information and enjoyment, but also to share in our adventures and sometimes misadventures. It is our deep pleasure to go out and do boots on the ground research of what to do and not to do. We hope you enjoy your virtual hike. Feel free to send comments, we enjoy reading what you all have to say.

Yes!!! It's time to embrace the mountains again! But first we have to get there. Alarm went off this morning at 3:20. We had showers, made breakfast to go, double checked all of those things we forgot to double check in the past. For those of you who have been reading these in the past you might recall I had to ask our dear friend Anna if she would go and see if the toilet was running... Last year I left a nectarine sitting in the fruit bowl for two weeks. Hmmm, nectar raisins anyone? I should have had someone check in on the neighbor kids who are watering my flowers for me in my absence. I'm guessing last year's water bill showed the July water used to be 123 cubic feet of water. My highest ever up to that point was 13 cubic feet. They must have just let the hoses from the front and back side of the house run. I was wondering how many pools 123 cubic feet of water could fill. So, you might find yourself asking if I employed these over water achievers again this year? Answer is yes, sometimes you do things not because it is good for you, but just because it is good for others. The neighbor kids are good kids, and it is important to employ good kids, even if they forget to shut the hose off... For two weeks.

Ok, back to the trip, we left Milwaukee and arrived perfectly in Denver, Colorado. Took the shuttle to National car rental to see what we could magically turn our mid-size rental into. Kathi has all of these travelers inside knowledge so we paid for a mid-size but since she is an Emerald member we were able to pick any car parked in the Emerald lot. Well she is also an Executive member, so really any car but the Suburban was available. Like two kids in a candy shop, we poked around the whole lot looking for the "just right" 4x4 truck or SUV . All of the SUVs were gone, but we picked up a nice Nissan Frontier 4x4 truck . This baby should get us to all of those "unimproved" roads that lead to the trail heads! But before going too far we gave this truck the twice over checking for starting the motor, chunks of metal in the tires, and window chips. We managed to pick one out in about thirty minutes. This is a new record for car rentals for us!

Up and onto interstate 70 where we just cruised through Denver because it was a holiday. We made great time until we got stuck in some blasting construction road work. Really, I mean blasting the mountain side away to carve out additional lanes through the mountain tunnels over by Idaho Springs. They had one lane shut down and were blasting right next to the tunnel. The road goes right through the mountain and is the only way through there so it was an hour delay for us. I have attached a picture of the mountain they are trying to blast away to create three lanes going west. Once on the other side we saw the large pieces of equipment used to bore through the mountain and and then cement in the nice half round piece you see.

I 70 They were blasting away the mountain on the right side. Tunnel on the left was recently finished now they are working on the right one.

After we were through the tunnel we made good time up to Vail Pass where we got off the interstate and went rock and and rolling up an improved road to the Shrine Mountain trailhead. The road up to our first hike is called Shrine Mountain Road which is not listed as an unimproved road, but clearly since it is not marked as such they must intend to improve it... It was let's say, a real rock and roller! No need for a speed limit sign as one could only go about 5 mph. So we jiggled out to the end of the road, parked, and dug all of our nicely packed hiking materials out the suitcases and suited up for our first hike.

The hike to Shrine Mountain starts in a meadow which is rather wet and muddy at this time due to the melting snow and how it runs down into the meadow.

Start if meadow is muddy, very muddy.

Lillies, Snowdrift and water falls

Once above the meadow there were a few snow drifts we stepped through but otherwise we just needed to step up. When we left Milwaukee we were well acclimated to 780 feet above sea level. We are now pumping away at 11,000 feet above sea level. These first few hikes are always a bit of a wake up alarm for your oxygen system! As seasoned hikers we plot out a slow and steady beat allowing our systems to get used to this whole idea of less oxygen. As we move along the views are refreshing as we are gaining elevation above Vail Pass and can see down through the pass towards the city of Vail.

We make it to the top of the saddle in an hour and then spend time just looking across at Mount of the Holy Cross (14'er ) which has large rock crevasses holding snow which illuminate the shape of a cross. We were able to walk along the tundra on Shrine Mountain and get good views of the Gore Mountain range, Sawatch, and Copper Mountain ski area. All views were very satisfying to look at.

As we made our way back down to the car and back to our journey to Snowmass we pass a whole group of hikers wearing very similar hiking clothes and hats. They must have been a hiking club that had certain requirements..... age: over 70; hats: floppy hiking hat; pants: convertibles; shirt: white button up. There were about ten of these ladies hiking along. I forget that a Friday in Colorado is a very popular day to have hiking groups. It was nice to see such a large collection of hikers who are older than me. It gives me something to aim for!

We stopped for groceries in Carbondale, but next time we will shop in El Jebel. Two reasons: first Carbondale seems a bit rough around the edges, and second El Jebel is closer to Snowmass; you don't have to worry about the frozen stuff! As it was we had some pretty soupy Ice cream by the time we got to our lodging.

This year we are staying at the Laurelwood condos just down the hill from where we stayed in the past. There is way more activity going on here. We hear every splish splash from the surrounding pools. Currently there is a rock concert being put on, out on the ski hill behind us, we can hear that too. In Snowmass this week there is a convention of yoga bending, granola eating, vegans in town. They are participating in a get together called Wunderlust. You can pick them out in a crowd as they are all carrying their yoga mats. I suppose they need to carry the mats around so they can quick throw their mat down and get into some twisted pose. Ok, I was kiddy there. Really lots of people carrying around rolled up mats and a big bag slung over their shoulder with some sort of goofy flowery pants on.

With all of these people in town parking is at a premium. All of the parking on this side of town is in one of the thirteen lots staggered into the side of the mountain. These lots are run by the city of Snowmass. There is no private parking for all of the condo dwellers. So yoga matters and condo dwellers are racing around trying to get the last available spot. After unloading the truck, it takes two of us to secure a spot. I'm driving the truck in and out of the lots up and down the mountain and Kathi is staking yoga matters and following them to their car. One person finally leaves and Kathi stands in the parking spot to save it until I can maneuver the truck there. Yes, teamwork parking. Good thing we had cell phone service! Finding parking is serious business!

Today is the Fourth of July and there are suppose to be some sort of wonderful fireworks up on the mountain over at Aspen. Hmmmm, fireworks at Aspen sounds like a nice event to go to. Yes, that all sounds like fun until you remember that upon returning you will be in a battle for finding a parking spot again....no way. We will forgo that adventure. Besides we have had a long day and will have an early morning.

4.73 miles
2 hours 52 mins hiking