Friday, September 21, 2012

Mount Spalding and Mount Evans



Summit Lake and Mount Evans

Labor Day Weekend was upon us and we had visitors in town from Idaho.  Kristi’s brother Danny wanted to get out on a hike while they were in Denver, so I thought what better than a hike up a 14er?  Lucky for Danny the town he lives in is around 5,000ft so I didn’t think the elevation would affect him too much.  We packed our bags the night before and set the alarm for a 3:30am wake up. 

The drive up to the Summit Lake TH is an eventful drive on a light, now doing the drive in the dark was a another story.  After leaving the main freeway the road gets somewhat narrow and at times there is a good drop off that will take you quickly down the mountain.  I was surprised we were being tailgated by a small car that was in a hurry to drive to the summit, so I pulled off to let him by.  Needless to say we were both a little on edge till we got to the Summit Lake parking lot.

We got out of the parking lot and finally on our hike just after 5am.  There was one other person in the parking lot getting ready for a hike as well but we never had anyone on our tails for the whole day.  There even a sign on right out of the lot saying this is the Mount Evans-Spalding route, so we knew we were in the right place at least.  We had one headlamp and a flashlight, but didn’t need to use them too long.  The sun was quickly rising to the east, but there was substantial cloud cover in that direction so we didn’t see much of the sun since it was hidden.

The trail was really good and easy to follow.  I have found that is the norm in Colorado, and I like it.  This is a class 2 rating, which I agree with but it is a really easy class 2 hike.  We used our hands one time to scamper up a crack and found we took the extended route as we could see the main trail below the rock.  Once on the ridge it was a nice gentle stroll all the way up to Mount Spalding’s summit.  I was surprised how large the summit was, because from a way off it looks like a rocky knob.  Danny took some great pictures of Evans and Summit Lake and after a short break we were on our way over to Evans.

I would almost call it a maze coming off of Spalding.  It was kind of a free for all on getting down the rock and onto the “plains” in-between the two summits.  Once down to the saddle (of sorts) we regained the large cairned route.  As we took a glance back at Spalding I noticed a Mountain Goat standing in the cliffs.  The good thing is Danny got a chance to see some true wildlife on our hike.  We continued on the cairn route and at times you easily find yourself meandering off route quite a bit.  Lucky for me I had been up Evans from Guanella Pass earlier this summer so I knew where we needed to be.  We saw one guy heading down so he must have been doing the Evans-Sawtooth, but he looked kind of lost to us. 

Mount Evans
There is a point where you top out on a little hump then make your way around to the west of the Evans Ridge.  Once we were there we could see Mount Bierstadt had a few early morning hikers already on the summit.  I showed Danny what the Sawtooth was and as we were talking I spotted another Mountain Goat hanging out in the cracks of the cliffs.  Man, I wish I could move like those guys.  The elevation was starting to get to Danny so we had a nice break and had some food and water.  He was doing well so far, I knew he just needed a quick breather and he would be good to go.

We followed the great route around the ridge and before we knew it we could see cars driving up the Evans Road.  The wind was picking up but the weather was still great.  I handed over my gloves to Danny to fight off the wind chill as we scampered up the last bit to the summit.  It was an early summit, somewhere around 8am.  The summit had crazy windy, but we had it all to ourselves so I didn’t mind it.  The views all around were still pretty clear so I could act like I knew all the mountains for a little bit as I named them off.  We didn’t linger long since the wind was quite chilling.  I had a snickers I was ready to eat but we decided to get down on the other side of the mountain and find a wind break first.

Summit Lake and Mount Spalding
As we crossed the summit parking lot there was only two or three cars.  This was a rare thing, but short lived I’m sure.  The summit road was only open for one more day so I’m sure people would be up here in droves before the end of the day.  We dropped over the other side of the lot and I was thankful there was a good trail in place for the descent.  I wasn’t sure what to expect for a loop, but this seemed to work out pretty good.  This section the rock was loose, but a slow pace was the way to avoid any falls.

There were two or three groups of people heading up and we descended.  This would be a brutal in your face ascent, but I’m sure it goes quickly.  We were halfway down the mountain before we found a good windbreak for a snack.  That snickers was goooood!  We could see the road and knew it wasn’t far so we made our way down slowly but surely.  Once we hit the road is was less than half mile to the parking lot.  The views of Summit Lake with the towering mountains behind were amazing.

It was a great overall morning.  We made it to the car by 9am.  Our goal was a quick trip so we could avoid the holiday traffic back into Denver.  Danny did great hiking his first 13er and his first 14er, and I got lucky because he wanted to go hiking.  This was a great loop and I recommend it for anyone that wants to get a quick hike in.

GPS Track

Date: 9/3/2012
Starting Elevation:  12,850ft 
Mount Evans Summit: 14,264ft
Mount Spalding Summit: 13,842ft
Total Gained Elevation: 2,000ft
Distance: 4.63 miles
Time: 3:12 moving, 51 minutes stopped
Partners: Danny

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Pikes Peak




Pikes Peak is the eastern most 14er rising high just outside of the town of Colorado Springs.  Pikes is known for many things; there is a road to the top that ferries many tourists eager to bag their first 14er, this is the mountain that the song America the Beautiful was once composed on and of course there are also the famous Pikes Peak Donuts.  I had previously ascended this giant in my Blazer while my father was visiting a few months ago so I already had a taste of the donuts, but I still needed to climb this mountain by my own two feet to count it.  My Dad however was eager to check the peak off his list counting the summit drive as bagging his second 14er.  I stayed away from the true summit, that is if one can actually locate it and saved my true summit experience for when I climbed by foot.  Emails had been flying around about where to climb, Pikes seemed the most reasonable option so Brian, Jenn and I decided to give it a go on Friday since I had a holiday day off from work.

Brian picked me up at 4am and we headed down the empty I-25, which is a view we were both unaccustomed to and enjoyed the freedom of traffic while we could. From my place the Springs is only about 40 minutes to the hwy 24 exit then you head up and around the mountain till you come across the town of Divide, Colorado.  The driving seemed fast, perhaps because I was the passenger and had time to drink my coffee and Red Bull, and often at the same time…well not really, but I was rather perky for 5am.  There were plenty of deer on the side of the road to spook us, but they seemed perfectly fine where they were and barley even looked at us as we drove by.  Wildlife is always active early in the morning, I’m just thankful they seem to keep off the road for the most part.

After driving through Divide you make a left turn to the Crags CG which is about 4 miles down the road, but the directions were less then helpful.  The vague directions said after a ranch turn on a dirt road…mmm, not too helpful in the dark but we tried the first dirt road after the ranch and hit a blocked road.  We got back on the main road and turned into the next dirt road that had a nice sign “Crags Camp Ground,” too bad nobody mentioned there was a clear sign for the road we wanted.  Luckily this would be the hardest part of our navigation quest for the day.  A quick 10 minutes has you up the dirt road to the clearly marked trailhead.

It was still pitch black out at about 5:30am, but Venus was shining brightly above.  Jenn had stayed at the TH the night before and was up getting ready as we arrived.   After a quick pit stop, we were all off on the trail with headlamps donned.  I was thankful the trail was very clear to see from the parking lot, I always hate heading to new places in the dark and not knowing where to start from.  Somehow I got stuck in the lead, not sure how that worked but I didn’t get us lost so all was good. 

The grade of the trail started out very gentle and we could see the camp area below us as we knocked off our first switchback.  Also I was surprised to see two people already down the mountain meeting us at the switchback.  They elected to do the moonlight hike since there was a full moon out this weekend.  We didn’t really notice it, since we were buried in the trees.  By the time we cleared tree line the sun was shining.  As we continued I found the first trail marker leading us to the right or south I do believe.  The trail was wide enough for a truck, so I imagine this section was an old Jeep trail.  After about an hour I could feel my hamsters tightening up.  For once I can say I worked my legs too hard in the gym and it affected me while climbing in the mountains.  I just slowed a bit, maybe the red bull was wearing off now, but either way I started taking a much more gradual pace up the mountain.

We must have been in the 11k region when the trail started doing some more switchbacks in the trees.  I think this must have been a flock of Ptarmigans homestead because we saw 5 or 6 giant ones running on up the trail.  And just to let you know, they are really good for scaring the crap out of you as well.  As the trees started clearing we were approaching our first human on the mountain.  I was surprised that we were catching anyone, but that was short lived as he said hello then was on his way.  We took a short breather and saw another climber storming up the mountain from below so we just let him speed on by.  He had a full pack on too, so thanks for making me feel like a weakling. 

Early Morning Deer
By now Brian was in a full gallop up the mountain.  Jenn and I were “enjoying” the hike at a much slower pace.  The sun was starting to make its way over the ridge and we knew that the Devil's Playground was not far off.  As I sat there for a second to catch my breath I spotted a few bucks up on the ridgeline.  Now we can say we saw more than “highway deer” today.  We put on our sunglasses and finally made it over the crest to a flat traverse before getting to the playground.  The only disturbing sight is now we could see the Pikes Peak Highway which is one reason I was reluctant to climb from this direction.  But when it came down to 14 miles over 26 of course I’m going to be a wuss and take the easy way.  Brian was waiting for us about a quarter mile shy of the playground.  We all decided this was a good spot to fuel up, and may I say that my Snickers was amazing.

Just before getting to the playground is the area where we got our first view of Pikes for the day.  I love the route description in how it says not to get your hopes up because you still have over 2.5 miles to the summit from here.  It looked so far away, but every little step got us that much closer.  Today we were looking at a distance of about 14miles, and prior to today my long hike for the season was around 10 miles, so I knew I would be pushing my limits a bit.  Thankfully the route was so gradual that I hardly noticed it and my knees didn’t ever bother me too much.

It was funny, as we were crossing the Devils Playground Jenn and I were asking each other why it was called that.  Once you cross the road there is a sign that states the reason: From the way lightning jumps from rock to rock during a thunderstorm.  Just after crossing the road the trail kind of parallels the highway for a while, I would say at least half a mile or so.  Other than the initial fumes of a motorcycle that was gassing it up the mountain the rest of the trail being so close to the road didn’t bother me.  I pretty much phased out the road now that we had a great view of the upper mountain in front of us.  And every now and then a bit of sunlight would reflect off the café on the summit and I would just think DONUTS!

Devil's Playground
Once the trail breaks off past Little Pikes and starts to spread from the road I really enjoyed the climb.  Never once did we get the slightest off route, all the cairns are well built and easy to identify.  We just followed Brian blazing the trail.  There is some meandering through some rock fields just prior to the big climb up the last part of the mountain.  I think this was the best part.  The rock was solid and large and very enjoyable to scamper across.  I never thought I would say I was having fun climbing rock at over 6 miles into the day, but there I was with a big grin on my face.  Either I’m getting used to this stuff, or I just knew there was a café waiting with hot food and drink not far away.  The ascent of the rock seemed really fast and before we knew it the tourist trap was upon us.

I’ve had a fear of how disappointing it would be to climb a mountain then see all the tourists on the summit running around.  When we hiked Mount Evans it was similar since it also has a road to the summit, but it is far less crowded compared to Pikes.  So, if you are looking for a true wilderness experience this is not the place.  We came over the last bit of rock field and there was the parking lot.  There were probably at least 50 cars and what seemed to be hundreds of people milling about the top of Pikes today.  The summit is so flat it is hard to tell where the “true” summit lies.  I walked up to a couple “high points” and found no indication of them being the summit, so after a few photos next to some of the tourist signs we headed over to the café for our lunch break.

It seemed like lunch hour, most likely because the cog railway train was at the summit and the crowds mushed in to get their free Pikes Peak Donut.  Just as we entered the summit house there is this awful donut sign that you can put your face in for a photo, and yes we did it.  This is not something I’m proud of, but it happened.  I hit up the café for some lemonade and a pretzel for lunch and I didn’t forget my donuts either.  I don’t want you to get too excited about the donuts; they are good but not great.  It’s more or less the idea that you can get a fresh made donut at 14k feet.  I found myself walking through the gift shop to find the restroom and actually purchasing two stuffed animals for a visit from my soon to be niece and nephew from Idaho.  My climbing partners were laughing at me because I was buying a bison and a mountain lion stuffed animal, but where else can you make such purchases while hiking?

It had seemed like we were already on the summit for about an hour now, so we had to think about getting back down since we couldn’t hop into a car for the windy road down the mountain.  Jenn wanted to get a picture in front of the Pikes Peak sign so we made our way back to the parking lot.  The tourist crowds were ridiculous.  There was a pack of Texas A&M fans that declared the sign for themselves.  They must have taken 50 pictures of all 20 plus of them and they kept hogging the area and not letting anyone else in for a picture.  They are lucky I didn’t voice my opinion, because I have a hard time dealing with rude people.  Finally I told Jenn just run up there as they leave.  Eventually we finally got our shot at using the tourist sign for our photo.  Jenn had even brought up a Rob Jansen memorial sign that we took our picture with.  Rob was a young climber from Colorado that recently lost his life climbing in the mountains.  RIP Rob and happy trails wherever they have led you.

After all of this you guys thought you may have heard the best part didn’t you?  Not even close my friends.  We were just hanging around talking about Rob for a minute and I was enjoying a Dales Pale Ale in his honor when an older man came up to us and started talking.  He asked if we hiked from the bottom, then went on to tell us how he had done it when he was younger by foot and by horse.  Then he just starts to look and me, and I am thinking he is looking at my beer.  He says and I quote: “You’re not too thin, but you made it.”  Immediately Brian and Jenn die laughing almost to a state where we need to roll in some oxygen tanks.  I chuckled a little, because I’m used to people like this.  Old ignorant asses that sit there and judge you all the time.  I almost said have a good walk back to your car, I know it’s hard.  But as usual I didn’t say anything because I’m not a rude ass to people.  Anyway, it gave us all something to joke about for the 6 mile hike back down the mountain.

The hike down was great.  I was still sipping on my lemonade as we made our way down the rocky switchbacks.  My body didn’t hurt, possibly because of the mass amount of rest time we spent on the summit or my workouts are finally paying off.  As we were getting off the rock and starting to do the meander through the rock and tundra field I could see Little Pikes ahead.  I asked the others if they were in the mood for a 2fer and we all agreed the extra 200+ feet would not be an issue.  Brian took off in his romp up the mountain as Jenn and I took our time and enjoyed conversation with each other.  This was a nice little climb to the summit of Little Pikes, and the best part was we were the only people up there so it felt like we climbed a real mountain even though it’s a “little” one..hahaha.

Today the views were amazing.  It was so nice being able to take additional time on the summit of Pikes then being able to add Little Pikes and never worry about a storm making its way toward us.  I never felt we were rushing down the mountain, but I did think we were making good time.  I was so shocked that my knees weren’t bothering me; I didn’t know what to think about that.  Here we were in our 10+ mile and I felt like I had cruise control on.  Before I knew it we had made it back to the Devils Playground.  We took a short break to fuel up for the last 4 miles down the mountain and might I say Grandmas Cookies were um, um good.  I felt a boost of sugar hit me and that lasted the duration of the hike.

The trail down wasn’t too bad at all.  A little slippery with the pebbled rock here and there but the trekking poles definently helped out.  My ankles never tightened up so I was able to move freely on the descent which is also something I’m not accustomed to.  There was one guy on his way up, so hopefully he had a ride waiting for him on top.  Other than that we only saw one other group of three people on the way down that seemed to lose the trail somewhere, which I have a hard time seeing that happen.  The large Crags kept getting closer so we knew we were making ground.  Jenn kept asking where the sign was, and it would have been nice to know for sure, but you never do.  I remember at one point I told Brian I don’t remember ever smiling so much on a descent.  I was having a great overall experience, and this trail is highly recommended in my eyes.

I’m not positive but I think we made it back to the parking lot around 3pm.  That is actually a quick trip; covering 14 miles and an hour and a half on the summit in roughly 9hours.  I kept thinking of all those poor people on the Barr Trail (the long route on the other side of the mountain) and how when we were back at our car they all had 6 more miles to go.  We definently chose the right trail in my mind.  A beautiful hike with a good amount of time in the forest then a nice alpine tundra hike towards the top.  The highway didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, maybe the mental notion that there was help so close helped my subconscious push my limits harder than I have in the past.  Either way I would do this hike again and again and I hope that those of you that read these get a chance to get out in the mountains and hike and climb mountains and enjoy the better parts of life.

GPS Track
Date: 8/21/2012
Starting Elevation:  10,000ft 
Pikes Peak Summit: 14,110ft
Total Gained Elevation: 4,500ft
Distance: 14miles
Time: 9hours
Partners: Brian and Jenn