These mountains had been in the back of my mind for nearly six weeks. I learned that topo maps look different than actual terrain. All of the coordinating came together rather easily, and we were to have eight dogs and five people. Despite getting up at 3:12am, we weren't out the door until 4:27. Not quite enough time for the 6:00 trailhead I told everyone, but we managed to make it around 6:15-ish kinda. Shortly after that we were ready to roll. I'll call it 6:30am when we headed out...
For the first mile or so the trail follows the access road to the top of Colorado Mines Peak...
Just a couple of switchbacks later treeline begins to show, the view opens up and the trail heads off on the northwest side of Colorado Mines...
Looking up to 12,493' and the array of junk at the top...
The walk over to Mt. Flora (and our first peak of the day) was straightforward and simple. The climb was steady but not even moderate in difficulty...
Doggies were pluggin along just fine...
Hardly an hour into our hike we were clearly above the ski resorts to the north...
This was about as difficult as it got up to Flora...
I'll tell you what. HWY 40 from I-70 to Winter Park is one of the best stretches of road there ever was for driving hard. Especially after the rebuilding a few years ago. They're almost done putting down new pavement on the north side of the pass...
Edging up on 13,000' and looking down on surrounding mountains...
Except these two...
Summit of Mt. Flroa, 13,133'...
Ethel Lake below to the east...
Looking across the ridge at our path north for Mt. Eva (not shown)...
The distance between the peaks was clearly visible after the trip up to Flora. Eva looked like it might take some work...
Evans and Bierstadt almost due south. I'm sure those mountains were packed. The weather was spectacular with no signs of any storms whatsoever...
Sioux, Jack and Sierra...
Bubba hangin out with anyone who wants to hang out...
Guess who! Longs Peak is starting to annoy me with it's ever present profile from wherever I hike...
Scoping out more peaks for next year. Square Top Mountain and it's nearly half mile summit ridge are on the agenda. As are the surrounding hills...
¿Who's a pretty girl?...
At 13,000' the trail before us was an unrelenting drop to 12,500-ish before rising just as much to the top of Mt. Eva...
It was just 10:00am and we had plenty of time and supplies for the assault on Eva. So onward we forged...
Sure didn't look as bad as it felt on the way down...
At the saddle between the mountains I grew weary of the dogs tangling and packs falling off. So it was time to go off lead since it's allowed int this area. These less popular peaks make for a great opportunity for the dogs to roam around freely...
Approaching the hump at 12,700-ish with Eva getting closer and closer. Doggies were being SO good and loving every minute of it...
Idiots...
With their little PInewood Reservoir stunt still fresh in mind, these two remained tethered lest the whole bunch go tumbling off a cliff one by one...
This was Super Cooper's first big hike, and by the end he would be feeling it...
Someone else is a pretty girl...
More sled dog wandering...
Good boy knows his recall in the wild...
Small fire or explosion over at Henderson mine. Pettingell towering over the gulch...
Almost to the summit of Eva. This structure got dealt with through the years...
Mount of the Holy Cross just barely peeking up over the divide...
The Gore Range just about due west...
Summit from Eva, 13,130'...
Three more peaks to the north above 13,000'. Too far and too much vertical loss for this group of dedicated travelers...
Winter Park and Fraser up north...
Poor Coco was done, but we still had the entire trip back in front of us. So we spent a bit longer at the summit and rested up for the slog back...
Sierra always knew when the camera was on her...
Ugh, heading back and realizing the true meaning of vertical gain...
See, here is where we screwed up royally. The trail heads STRAIGHT up to the right of this photo, but we decided to try and hug the lower elevation around Mt. Flora...
There were good views at least...
About 70% of the way around Flora, the terrain gave way to a steep loose and sandy bowl. We were forced to regain the 600' we were trying so desperately to hold onto. Cooper's feet finally gave out. Lucky for him he's a small guy...
Finally back on a constant descent, my mom and I decided, for some stupid reason, to go ahead and top out Colorado Mines Peak.
The very easy trail up to the top meets the access road about 200 yards from the top. What should have been a very easy summit was made more difficult by the work from the previous two. The view from 12,493'...
Looking back on the day's accomplishments and feeling pretty good about it...
The dogs enjoyed a bit of snow and cooled off before we headed straight down the mountain following the powerlines...
...and DONE! 13.1 miles, 4,560 feet vertical gain, 7hrs 13min and three peaks. Nice. Still, 36 hours was all I could get out of the dogs after that. Then they were up and ready to run again...
Now we await Jennifer's contributions from her camera's point of view.
Fin.
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