Brad, Tim and I set out in my manly minivan to a trailhead that didn't require 4 wheel drive to camp out the night before a more strenuous hike up Centennial 13er Mt. Hope and neighbor Quail Mountain. When we got there, Tim realized he forgot all of his sleeping gear. Fortunately, I brought enough extra gear including extra foam pads, extra pillow, and an extra sleeping bag, all of which I was intending to use for myself. So I shared these items with him, but it didn't really matter as sleeping in a tent is not usually very effective anyway.
We woke at 4:00 am as we knew weather was looking rainy. We hoped to beat the weather at least while we were above tree-line for safety. This trail from sheep gulch is relentlessly uphill. We moved at a steady pace conserving our energy knowing we had almost 5,000 feet of elevation gain today. We reached treelike just as the sun was rising with stunning views over neighboring 14ers Mt. Belford and Huron peak.
We reached Hope Pass and surveyed the route up Mt. Hope. Route descriptions I had read made it sound like most of the route up was on tundra until the top where there was a bit of scrambling. This was inaccurate as the terrain was a mix of steep gravel and loose rock for a majority of the climb and slowed us down a bit. There were a few fun sections, but overall a tad unpleasant. The way down required a bit of route finding, and we had to backtrack a couple times before getting into steeper sections. In general, staying closer to the ridge as much as possible is advisable.
La Plata Peak from the summit
Mt. Elbert
Twin Lakes
Once back down to the saddle, we felt good and the weather was cooperating nicely so we had a good workout up the steep trail to Quail mountain. There are some cool mining ruins up there. While we sat eating second breakfast, a few ptarmigan started harassing us for no apparent reason. maybe they had some little ones nearby where we were sitting? They are some beautiful but loud little boogers!
Ruins with Missouri Mountain (center) Belford (left of center) and Harvard (far left)
Fighting over who gets the hiking polls on the way down
This one was overal a great choice for a day hike. Though the forecast called for possible rain before noon, we were dry the entire time. As soon as we got in the car just after noon, it started raining. Perfect! K's Dariy Delight is now our go to burger stand in Buena vista right on the main road on our way home.
No comments:
Post a Comment