So, Jenn was supposed to tag along on this one. She had mentioned that Ken might want to do some fishing, and that had me digging through fishing forums cross referencing things with the 14ers. My hope was to have a camp site situated between a lake and the trailhead. This happened to turn out perfectly, except he was working and Jenn was bailing on us for flagstone or something. Oh well, the studying and preparations I made had my mind locked on the Missouri Gulch area for yet another weekend in the Rocky Mountains.
I was actually ready on time this round! What saved me was the unpack-clean-repack routine from the weekend before. We headed out on HWY 287 south because I heard a nasty traffic report on the radio while I was listening to El Rushbo that Friday. Sure enough, joining I-25 at Longmont netted us a clear patch of highway and we cruised into the high country. A pit stop at Copper Mountain set us back almost 30 minutes, but we had daylight and good moods pushing us onward (coffee at 5:00pm is weird). The drive was practically HALF of what I was expecting. Not even close to 70 minutes after the interstate we were scoping out camp sites along the dirt road that services five 14ers. There were tons of folk in the area, but we still managed to find a nice spot just off the road. (Note to self: triangulate the approximate distance between others' camps and ours before whizzing in the trees).
After we were parked and unloading, we discovered the entire site was covered in broken glass. *Rated -R* PEOPLE, PACK OUT YOUR F*****G GLASS AND DON'T LEAVE IT FOR 0THERS TO DEAL WITH!!! IF I EVER WITNESS THE CARNAGE THAT HAPPENED TO THIS SITE FIRST HAND, I MIGHT RESORT TO OUTRIGHT BRANDISHING AND THREATENING!!! Bullshit. We each spent almost an hour picking up little shards of glass. But I digress, that was the worst part of the trip. Remembering the Peru Creek camp the week prior, I setup all camping and hiking things hastily the night before...
We didn't stay up too late, but the weekend forecast was enough to let us start late again at almost 7:00am Saturday. The trailhead parking lot was packed. We were lucky to park within a few car lengths of the restrooms...
The tree part of this trail went by fast to me. Looking back at the track made it clear that the sleds and I had worked hard to get that far that fast...
The sun just wouldn't rise fast enough. The issue I had was sweating up the trail and freezing when stopped. Some sun would have made the stopping a bit more tolerable. My fingers got all tingly and stiff every time I stopped for a breath...
Ugh, there's a summit up that-a-way...
The hike was 100%on trail and there's not much to say about it. Other than it was among the steeper routes we've done and the slight hint of fall in the air made layering a constant battle...
Missouri...
Roadblock Piggy...
Matt throws in some class 3 for a much needed pit stop...
There's us, from my mom's camera point of view...
Summit! (Mt. Belford)
Down climbing the summit block and looking for a place to lunch...
My mom was not going to be stopped. Our lunchtime discussion proved that she was headed to Oxford no matter what (I suspect she knew that I would be right there in the end).
I left almost fifteen minutes after her. Once the Malamoos, Lindsay and Matt were headed down the right way, I hooked east and ran towards Oxford with Ridik...
38 minutes from Belford!!! My lungs were on freakin' fire...
Our first double 14er. I'm actually pleased that Grays/Torreys wasn't our first...
Buffalo Peaks, southernmost of the Mosquito Range...
Pikes...
Harvard...
South...
The route back was intimidating to say the least...
Stupid Husky being the only dog to keep up with me...
Wine slowly dwindling....
My mom wanted to get back as early as possible that Sunday. She cracked me when I actually heard sounds coming from her tent at 5:40am. Long story short; we were home by noon.
I still haven't done the math on the Malamutes' hike, but here's what Ridik my mom and I did: 14.46 miles, 4,890 feet vertical gain and basically 11 hours round trip...
The End. Now I only have one more weekend to post. Sorry if this one was short and not as descriptive as others. No promises on the next one, we're camping this week and that takes a lot of prep work on my end.
CAMPING this WEEKEND!!!!! i cant take the suspense wondering where you will be taking us.