Journal Entries

We climbed up and over Hope Pass today to make it into Twin Lakes.

Hope pass was a brutal climb, that was totally exhausting. It was made worse by the fact that 100 runners passed us on our way up, so we kept having to step aside to let them pass (even though we had right of way because we were going up, only 3 or 4 of them yeilded to us. So annoying).

It started snowing on us just as we climbed above tree line. It was the first time I had seen proper snowfall (it snowed lightly as we left camp that morning but really very little). It was so confusing! However, I strongly feel light Snow is better than rain to hike in now as you get so much less soggy.

It seemed to have stopped halfway down to town, so we sat down and ate lunch. Naturally the snow resumed as soon as we sat to eat, and then stopped as soon as we got up to keep walking.

Here is actual Lake Ann. If you look closely there are 3 tents in the photo for perspective.

There was a refreshing abundance of water through this area, it was so nice to hike through lush forest instead of dry for a change.

Here are the actual Collegiate peaks. Just as we left cottonwood pass. Very pretty.

If you do one hike this year, make it the Collegiate West route. There was a bit of thunder up the top of tincup pass when we arrived, but we had been watching it all blow through from across the valley as we descended so Bourbon and I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

It turns out it blew through, and the views up there were spectacular. It felt like we were on top of the world.

We thoroughly enjoyed the climb up from Monarch pass. The view were panoramic, and we stopped at this lovely little lake for lunch.

Colorado is definitely ramping up the challenge though. It feels as if every day there is a bigger mountain pass to climb, or more climbs that need to be done. But we are slowly getting our trail legs. We have sort of hooked back up with Maps, Coach and Obtuse, so we enjoyed their company on the climbs!

Luckily the last two days into Salida really made up for the rainstorm. We spent an hour and a half drying our sodden tent and clothes and liners and sleeping bag on Monday.

The weather really turned it on for us. Warm, sunny, slight breeze. Some intense climbs (we still did 24miles on Monday!) But some spectacular views. On the way down to Monarch pass we walked some of the most stunning trail so far. Big views, of big mountains, with sunshine and flowers and puffy little clouds. Days like this are what hiking was made for. Colorado is really turning it on for us.

Here comes another rain front. If you look in the middle of the shot you can see the perfectly straight line the rain formed.

We definitely embraced the brutality that day.

It rained on us for 12 hours on Sunday whilst we were hiking. We even stopped for an hour and a half lunch, during which it continued to rain. It rained as we climbed a mountain, it rained as we ate. It rained as we walked down a mountain. It stopped raining long enough for us to start pitching our tent, but then restarted immediately, just to ensure our entire tent became as wet as possible whilst we were pitching it. Then, it rained right on until midnight. It's just as well everyone knows bears don't go out in the rain, because we cooked in our vestibule and ate in our tent. Then we slept with our food. Because I think we might have floated away if we got out to hang up our ursack.

Here's a photo of the cloud we hiked right through at the top of the mountain. That was pretty cool.

We are now on our way out from Creede and up to Salida. There are a few thunderstorms forecast so hopefully we don't get too soggy and sorry for ourselves. The climb out of Creede is no joke. We climbed for 15 miles with only one small 3/4mile descent around mile 11. It was a very long day of climbing.

On the way out, we walked past some beautiful old mining ruins. They were quirky and cool, and helped break up the (very) steep section of climb right at the start!