A strong genetic embedding of procrastination cannot be overcome. For five days leading up to our departure I was expecting a somewhat soggy weekend. But it took me until Friday three hours before departure to fashion Sioux's raincoat. That set me back nearly an hour. Well, that and my OCD out the door checklist. The wife was working in Longmont and expecting my arrival at 2:30pm. That's when I actually put the van in drive. Oops, at least I remembered the liquor stop. There's not much else to add to this part of the journey. This made the third time that we've traveled this same route in 2009.
Finally, after skillfully threading the van through I-70 at 80+-ish MPH, we were turning on to good old Buckskin St in Alma. It's funny how these trips have turned from a nice weekend outing in the mountains into a goal that needs to be met. Don't get me wrong, the time spent up in the hills is priceless. But the added factor of our 14er checklist has added another dimension to the experience. As we gain more experience with every weekend, we also gain efficiency in our camping technique. That all came together this past weekend when the weather, once again, tried to literally dampen our spirits. Thanks to our long time best friend we had a new tent with the capabilities of housing us AND the dogs through a rain filled weekend. It was on.
Lindsay and I had arrived at 6:30pm after sweating the fact that we were late to be looking for a two night campsite. The site we did find was just below treeline about 11,000', and we had our site setup by 7:00. This was
good as it began to PISS rain at about 7:15. The new tent worked magnificently...
Save for a few occasional bouts where you could rush for a whiz, the rain continued on all night until the hiking party left at 5:15am. It wasn't that the rain ended, it was the elevation gain that turned the previously annoying rain into a bothersome sleet. Luckily this didn't last very long as our hike began with thick cloud cover but no precipitation...
It wasn't very long before we reached the demarcation line for sticking snow...
Looking up. Pictures are a bit limited as the amount of concentration needed to navigate the four dogs up slushy icy rocks became the primary concern.
After the saddle between the three mountains to the right and Democrat to the left, the sun came out and made me regret layering my clothes incorrectly. It got hot in snow clothes but doggies were still lovin' it...
Steep is becoming a relative term...
When forced to weigh my footing against the dogs forward momentum, I let them loose. Good thing they listen (90%) usually. Then again I can always count on Bubba looking back on his companions...
Cresting the false summit. Our companions out paced us to shame this round. I blame nothing but my own complacency...
Gathering clouds left little opportunity for good pictures...
Laboring our way up the trail on top of looking back on Cameron and Lincoln, made for an easy decision for one summit this day...
...and despite the sideways icicle onslaught, we indeed hit the summit...
4 hours 2 minutes, 2674 vertical feet and 5.9 miles round trip. Taking Democrat off the list...
We didn't spend too long at the top as weather forced a hasty retreat...
Back down at the saddle between the mountains, several groups were rationalizing their respective opinions on routes...
This was the deciding view. Our group opted to call it good and fight our way back down after one summit. Ahhh, too bad, one summit...
After losing tons of vertical we were greeted by clearing skies and a drying trail...
Looking over to what could have been...
We would have gotten dealt with...
Yet looking directly 180 degrees from that last pic...
It was too late and we were too far down to head back with clearing skies. It still amazes me that we tried camping at the trailhead that late June weekend...
Back at camp, we were treated to two fighter jets streaking through the valley. I only caught one glimpse on the camera in the 20 seconds I had...
We arrived at camp by 10:30am. WAY TOO EARLY! The rest of the day on the summits are clearly represented here...
Drink on...
What an intriguing valley. I regret to inform that we'll be back...
We were out in record time today. Our new tent combined with our increasing efficiency made for quick packing and home arrival times. The season draws closer to and end every day. Just a handful of hikes are available and a winter to get ready, it's time to start thinking summer 2010.
Fin.
