Monday, July 27, 2015
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Above Treeline
Above Treeline
It is a beautiful day for hiking.....beautiful. It is just past noon, and I am in my tent already. It feels really odd. But after much internal debate, I am sticking to the plan. I left Lake City this morning, shuttled back to Spring Creek Pass, and am heading toward Molas Pass, the trailhead that will take me to Silverton. It is only about 54 miles of trail. This segment of the Colorado Trail takes us to it's highest point 13,271 ft. Almost all of it between here and Molas Pass (Silverton) is above 12,000 ft, and therefore above tree line. There are a couple of other small climbs before the high point at 15.6 miles from the trailhead, where I started today. During my time in Lake City, I looked at my options and decided that I had two choices. Do a really easy day of 8.7 miles, with a heavy, just resupplied pack. But easy also, because I am well rested. I took a zero day in addition to the first 1/2 day and night there. Or choice two; to push hard, and do the whole 17.2 mile segment in one day. Actually I would have had to go 1.3 miles into the next segment to get to a known campsite, so 18.5 miles total. I decided to do the easy day, and the climb tomorrow. The weather forecast for today and tomorrow was good, I was told.....not so good for the weekend. The younger hikers are all going to push hard the next two days, cover as much of the above tree line trail as they can. The views will be good and no storms. I want to do the same, but I know that my knees will be seriously unhappy, if I push that hard.
The younger hikers that began their hikes at Waterton Canyon after it reopened on June 26th, have started to catch and pass me. It first happened two days before Spring Creek Pass. Now it has happened today too....more than once. The competetive part of me resents being passed.
(Woke up from a nap a while ago...boiled water..... and ate Chicken A la King. I ate that meal first, on this time out into the wild , because it was the heaviest of my freeze dried meals. Now I do not have to carry it up to 13,271 ft. tomorrow morning. Pretty doggone good for hiker chow too. Slept like a rock for an hour and a half. I am getting soft. Aside from pack weight it was a very easy 9 miles today. Got passed up right here at my tent site by a father 50?, and son 16?, team, who said "Hi"..... and blew by me without breaking stride. It is unusual that fellow hikers do not at least stop and chat for awhile. Everybody chats. They obviously are going up top, yet, today. Hope the weather holds for them.
Yes, I am jealous. But also am being smart, I remind myself. )
Yes, I am jealous. But also am being smart, I remind myself. )
It is interesting how easy it is for us to transition back into our home selves while on a hiking adventure, if we are not careful. On a long hike you do have to cover some ground daily. But I remind myself that I do want to enjoy this experience, and to have fun daily.
On the Appalachian Trail the epic distance, and the difficulty of the trail dominated hiking decisions. We all hiked every day in spite of the weather....except on the rare occassions when to do so was not safe....the Smoky Mountains Blizzard, the ice storm, and maybe a lightning event. We usually started at 7 AM and hiked until at least 4PM...often till 6 PM.....and sometimes until 8PM or later.
Here in Colorado all hiking is dictated by lightning....period. Because the elevations are so much higher, and the fact that hikers spend so much time above treeline and exposed....the potential for lightning dictates everything. July and August are considered Monsoon Season by Coloradans. It storms most days in the afternoon. You do not want to be above treeline and exposed when it storms. Therefore for me the hiking day starts with a 4:30 AM alarm....and the hike itself starts at 5:30 AM. Some hikers start even earlier. I personally have tried and do not like hiking by headlamp. You walk into, and trip over stuff in the dark, and it is harder to figure out where you are at. Out here in these mountains, if you go the wrong way, you can be wrong for a long time. The hiking day often ends as early as 1 or 2 PM. Get going early, go up high, and then get down fast before the storms come. That is the routine. The result is less sleep, less time to hike, and more tent time out of the rain in the afternoons.
Here in Colorado all hiking is dictated by lightning....period. Because the elevations are so much higher, and the fact that hikers spend so much time above treeline and exposed....the potential for lightning dictates everything. July and August are considered Monsoon Season by Coloradans. It storms most days in the afternoon. You do not want to be above treeline and exposed when it storms. Therefore for me the hiking day starts with a 4:30 AM alarm....and the hike itself starts at 5:30 AM. Some hikers start even earlier. I personally have tried and do not like hiking by headlamp. You walk into, and trip over stuff in the dark, and it is harder to figure out where you are at. Out here in these mountains, if you go the wrong way, you can be wrong for a long time. The hiking day often ends as early as 1 or 2 PM. Get going early, go up high, and then get down fast before the storms come. That is the routine. The result is less sleep, less time to hike, and more tent time out of the rain in the afternoons.
Flash. I am writing this piece this afternoon, and into camp hike two people that I do not mind catching me. "Subaru" and "Jolly Rancher". Far out! Phil( "Bigby") and I met them on their first day in Waterton Canyon, and chatted with them again at Scraggly Trailhead while waiting for his dad to pick us up.
After chatting with "Soob" and "Jolly" those two times early in their hike, I had decided that "Jolly" was just too sweet, too fragile, too jolly, to last very long on this trail. I could not have been more wrong! It turns out that "Jolly" has trained on a Stair Master with a 30 pound pack on her back. They are both very fit. She and "Soob" are two of the strongest hikers on this trail, and two of the most fun. Had a great afternoon, today, visiting with them. It is a real treat to see them again. They are camping here tonight, and then bound for Durango, bypassing Silverton....so carrying heavy loads. That is how trail life is ........constantly bringing you unexpected joys.
After chatting with "Soob" and "Jolly" those two times early in their hike, I had decided that "Jolly" was just too sweet, too fragile, too jolly, to last very long on this trail. I could not have been more wrong! It turns out that "Jolly" has trained on a Stair Master with a 30 pound pack on her back. They are both very fit. She and "Soob" are two of the strongest hikers on this trail, and two of the most fun. Had a great afternoon, today, visiting with them. It is a real treat to see them again. They are camping here tonight, and then bound for Durango, bypassing Silverton....so carrying heavy loads. That is how trail life is ........constantly bringing you unexpected joys.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Hop In Back
7/21/2015
"Hop In Back"
I carefully stepped my way down the rock filled trail, way down from Snow Mesa......beating the lightning, that almost daily pounds into that 3 1/2 miles of open plain, at 12,000 ft. Stopped to make friends with one of the many Pika's. (Pika's and Marmots may be the only living creatures that seem to actually love Scree (rocks, rocks , and more rocks). Brushed my teeth so that my breath would not smell too bad ....like I knew the rest of me did, after eight days on the trail.
"Hop In Back"
I carefully stepped my way down the rock filled trail, way down from Snow Mesa......beating the lightning, that almost daily pounds into that 3 1/2 miles of open plain, at 12,000 ft. Stopped to make friends with one of the many Pika's. (Pika's and Marmots may be the only living creatures that seem to actually love Scree (rocks, rocks , and more rocks). Brushed my teeth so that my breath would not smell too bad ....like I knew the rest of me did, after eight days on the trail.
( Hey, I rinsed my shirt, my face, and my upper body in that freezing cold water of the stream, just beyond and southwest of the Eddiesville Trailhead, that falls it's way to Cochetopa Creek. Talk about freezing cold....the log bridge 7 miles back was washed out, and we thru-hikers all had to carefully cross the knee deep..... at the shallow spot, current of Cochetopa Creek. We lucked out. Fifty percent more volume to that current and it would have been impassable. As it was..... fording was doable....a tiny bit hairy....and a dangerous major bummer if you slip...and freezing cold...... but doable.
Where was I? Oh yeah, rinsing my upper body at about 9 AM in the morning..... only three days ago. No, I did not rinse my pants, nor my lower body. It was probably 45 degrees air temp and that water was absolutely freezing cold.)
So..... as I said...... I stopped before I got down to the highway, and brushed with my .85 ounce tube of Crest, in case I had to beg for a ride. And then crossed the highway, to the trailhead parking lot. I mentally noted that there was no pull off on the near side, the side I would have to hitch from in order to go toward my Post Office Resupply Drop in Lake City....... some 17 miles away. No "pull off" means that it will be a lot tougher to get anyone to stop for a filthy, smelly, pathetic , old hiker. And more dangerous. I will have to milk the "old guy" sympathy card for all it is worth, if I am forced to try to hitch my way out of here.
A guy, I met earlier on the trail, had told me that with my white beard, and my white Foreign Legion hiking hat.... that I looked like Ernest Hemingway. Really, he did. So I resolve to go for the Hemingway look........well...... the shorter Hemingway look, anyhow.
A guy, I met earlier on the trail, had told me that with my white beard, and my white Foreign Legion hiking hat.... that I looked like Ernest Hemingway. Really, he did. So I resolve to go for the Hemingway look........well...... the shorter Hemingway look, anyhow.
Yesterday afternoon, I had misjudged the distance that I had hiked a bit. The result was that the last flat ground for potential campsites was a mile behind me. Immediately ahead was 9.5 miles of high, exposed hiking. Rain was coming. I could see it. I was tired and the one thing I would not do, was backtrack. Thru-hikers do not hike back.... if there is any way to avoid it.
So I was creating a make shift tent site on the side of the hill at tree line. Trying to make a spot before the rain came, as I knew it surely was coming, to that last place below tree line, a place that was safer from the lightning.
Today, I do not realize that the broken branch that poked me in the forehead during that mad scramble to gouge a tent site out of the hillside, had actually gouged me a bit, in 8 different places across my forehead, and that instead of Hemingway, I currently look like an old bum who lost a street fight last night over the remaining slug of whiskey in the jug. I had seen the blood in two places on my hat...but thought both were the remains of critters or flies that had been squashed as punishment for getting inside the tent.
So I was creating a make shift tent site on the side of the hill at tree line. Trying to make a spot before the rain came, as I knew it surely was coming, to that last place below tree line, a place that was safer from the lightning.
Today, I do not realize that the broken branch that poked me in the forehead during that mad scramble to gouge a tent site out of the hillside, had actually gouged me a bit, in 8 different places across my forehead, and that instead of Hemingway, I currently look like an old bum who lost a street fight last night over the remaining slug of whiskey in the jug. I had seen the blood in two places on my hat...but thought both were the remains of critters or flies that had been squashed as punishment for getting inside the tent.
I scoped out the cars in the lot. No people in any of them....so I dropped my pack....took a slug of water, and sat on a comfortable rock. I unzipped my pants pocket, pulled out the gallon zip lock bag that contained my phone....(Did I tell you that it has rained seven of the eight days that I have been out this time?) and switched on my cell phone. Hey. I missed a photo op on a big bull elk that climbed to the ridgeline above me, because of that Zip Lock during my first climb away from that, side of the hill, tentsite. Anyhow I turned off Airplane mode, crossed my dirty fingers and waited. No Service. I could not call and pay for a shuttle. I am stranded. It was time to be Hemingway....and time to do some serious begging.
When you have no choice...no choice...it is easy to act. I amaze myself at the desperate things I will do on these hiking adventures, that I would never do at home.
A younger couple in a white SUV pull off the highway and motor past me and my rock chair. I casually wait until they disembark and then I pounce, immediately.
"Hi!! How are yah? Great day for hiking. Been up since 4 AM myself. Yup. Been up there at almost 13,000 ft. So are you going to Lake City, or what? Say, my name is "Hawkeye". (But I sure do look like Hemingway...don't you think?).
While I am busy feeling them out...... and building raport...(Who says that sales training was wasted on me?)....another vehicle, a big white pickup pulls in...... does a circle and is heading past us new friends....... back toward the highway. I stop talking in mid sentence....(Yes I can! I don't begrudge your doubts on this, but I tell you, that I did stop talking in mid sentence)....stick out my left thumb....and look like Hemingway!
Yes!!! The guy stops, and rolls down his window. I am careful to stay 6 feet away, and do hope that I am not upwind of him. As sincerely.....as old guy pathetically, as I can....all the while looking like Hemingway....I state that I am trying to get to Lake City. He gives me the quick look over, and says "Hop in back".
Whoa....I was not expecting that...really was not. My first thought is "Damn....I am upwind of him". I force my tired brain to operate. "Think...think.....I have it!".
"Won't we both get arrested if I do that?" But he is quicker than me.
"Hop in and we'll find out." He says, and rolls up his window.
"Hi!! How are yah? Great day for hiking. Been up since 4 AM myself. Yup. Been up there at almost 13,000 ft. So are you going to Lake City, or what? Say, my name is "Hawkeye". (But I sure do look like Hemingway...don't you think?).
While I am busy feeling them out...... and building raport...(Who says that sales training was wasted on me?)....another vehicle, a big white pickup pulls in...... does a circle and is heading past us new friends....... back toward the highway. I stop talking in mid sentence....(Yes I can! I don't begrudge your doubts on this, but I tell you, that I did stop talking in mid sentence)....stick out my left thumb....and look like Hemingway!
Yes!!! The guy stops, and rolls down his window. I am careful to stay 6 feet away, and do hope that I am not upwind of him. As sincerely.....as old guy pathetically, as I can....all the while looking like Hemingway....I state that I am trying to get to Lake City. He gives me the quick look over, and says "Hop in back".
Whoa....I was not expecting that...really was not. My first thought is "Damn....I am upwind of him". I force my tired brain to operate. "Think...think.....I have it!".
"Won't we both get arrested if I do that?" But he is quicker than me.
"Hop in and we'll find out." He says, and rolls up his window.
Yes....yes....I know..... I know.
At my age....and having considerable, and quite varied life experience, I must add.... a rational person would expect me to be wise enough to heed the voice of my inner self, that voice of common sense. And right now that inner voice is sarcastically asking....asking in a way that said "Are you kidding? Do You really need me to verbalize this for you? Okay, If I must I will. It is what I do. Listen up. "Hawkeye", Inner Voice to "Hawkeye"....Are you sure that you want to do this?"
I heard the inner voice....honest I did....and I do appreciate it. But I also know that I can not stay here at Spring Creek Pass. I am on a hiking adventure.
So I unsling my pack, hoist it over the tailgate .....and I do hop in.
"Haven't done this for a long, long, time". I tell myself. "What a fun way to travel 17 miles down the mountain to Lake City".
My inner voice is silent....busy looking for something...anything....on which to hold on.
My inner voice is silent....busy looking for something...anything....on which to hold on.
It turns out that highway #149 twists and turns down those mountains...... for 17 miles into Lake City. It one of those roads where you can look way, way, down into the valley...... way, way below............No! Stop that! Don't do it! Don't look down! Just look staight out the back. Read the uphill 20 Mph signs. And find something better to hold onto than this side-rail, or this adventure is over. There... right there is an eyebolt tie down. I can get one finger through it. The force of the curves may rip my finger off...but it is my best hope for survival. Hwy 149 is one of those narrow mountain roads somehow wide enough for two vehicles, traveling in oposite directions to squeeze past eachother, but where you feel that the vehicle is being pulled irresistibly off that road and over the precipice. We are now whizzing down the highway taking all of the 20 MPH curves....at 40 MPH. Every one is marked 20MPH for the uphill traffic..... with big, black inked, curves displayed on every sign. I decide that I am ok with the truck hurtling over the edge....... as long as it takes the maniac driver , and the three woman who are with him too. I will not be happy if only I get tossed out of this truck. I want to believe that this driver's intent is just to have a little fun....to give Hemingway a Colorado thrill. And that the man is not an escaped lunatic driving someone else's truck "off into the Wild Blue Yonder". If that is true....... then this old timer really has no idea how hard that I am fighting, with all of my might, to stay inside the bed of this truck. No idea!
Two thirds of the way down the mountain, the truck roars into a pull off and slams on the brakes.
Two thirds of the way down the mountain, the truck roars into a pull off and slams on the brakes.
"Oh great." I think. "Now they are going to boot me out in the middle of nowhere. At least I survived". I console myself.
The lightning...oh, I did not tell you about that one, yet....nor the rock slide, when half the mountain came down....Whew!! But I am telling you about the most death defying thrill of this hike......so far!
The lightning...oh, I did not tell you about that one, yet....nor the rock slide, when half the mountain came down....Whew!! But I am telling you about the most death defying thrill of this hike......so far!
Turns out the guy 75, looks 65, stopped so they could all see the scenic view, and read the placard about a famous major landslide that had occurred there. I tell them about my moose video. And we all become friends. Then with great tact, but loud enough so that all three women can hear me....hoping that one of them was his wife, or even better his sister, I mention to him that I am going to have to empty my drawers, as soon as I get myself a motel room. He asks where I wish to be dropped off, and I say the the Post Office, please. Then I hopped in back....slid my least precious finger through the big eyehole and hung on. I think my scheme worked, because we only took the curves at 35 miles an hour the rest of the trip down the mountain. At the PO, I showed them all my bull moose pictures, and video of my bull moose grunting. And we parted as friends.
PS. Now I have to go into town, and all the way to the other end of it, to buy more tent stakes. It is a long walk. You know hikers hate walking when off the trail. Maybe I will hitchhike. I have washed most of the blood out of my hat, and cleaned up my gouged forehead a bit. So, do you think I look like Hemingway? "Hawkeye".
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