We set off today to the northeast part of Yellowstone in search of bighorn sheep.

We drove straight through Madison junction, Norris junction, and Canyon junction on our way north toward Tower. We were on a mission to find bighorn sheep, so we skipped out on all of the other attractions along the way and drove on to the Mt Washburn trailhead. We had been told the day before by one of the cashiers at a gift shop we stopped at by Lake Yellowstone that this was the best bet to find the rare bighorns.

The road up to the trail head was a fun dirt road with plenty of bumps and twists. The trailhead was a simple dirt parking lot but was still full of cars, trucks and RVs. The vast majority of the other visitors either took one look at the first hill and gave up, or made it to the top of the first hill and got no further. The trail started out at an incredibly steep grade for a quarter of a mile before easing up a bit. The breaks we got on this trail were all relative, however, because it was a long, relentless climb all the way to the summit with no level or downhill spots the entire way. The majority of the trail was actually a forest service road used to get supplies up to a watch tower on the summit, so at least it was wide enough to pass other hikers or for hikers going opposite directions to not interfere with each other.

We were well rewarded at the two mile point on the trail when we came across a pair of bighorn sheep lying right on the trail itself. As we got closer we could see that they were watching over a larger herd of sheep just below them on the hillside, including many kids. The sheep in the trail were not terribly concerned with hikers, and let many pass by within ten feet of them without even getting up.

We stayed and watched the sheep for several minutes until a forest service truck came driving up the road. That was enough to make the sheep move off the trail and farther down the hillside, so we decided to move on and continue to the summit.

On the summit was the watchtower, including a residence for the ranger currently assigned there. The lower part of the tower was open to hikers to come inside out of the wind and relax and enjoy the view. During the last quarter mile of the hike the wind had been increasing until just before we got in the tower we were in a 35mph wind with 40mph gusts. It was a huge relief to get into the watch tower and be able to relax and eat lunch. Several other groups of hikers were doing the same thing.

Before we left, I walked out onto the outdoor observation deck on the second level of the tower. By then the wind had increased, and I had to hold on to the railing to keep my balance. The winds were gusting over 50mph at that point, so we decided to head back down before it got even worse. The first 20 minutes of the hike down we were fighting the wind from multiple directions as the trail wound around and down the mountain. When we were walking into the wind, it was very difficult to even breath, and we had to struggle to make forward progress. When the wind was coming from the side, we were constantly working to keep our balance and not get blown to the side. Finally we got down low enough that the wind wasn’t as strong and we were able to walk and talk normally.

After an hour of hiking down we made it back to the parking lot, tired but exhilarated at both summiting the second highest peak in Yellowstone and seeing a herd of rare bighorn sheep. Since we accomplished our main goal of the day, we decided to head back to camp early to let Stacie get in a few extra hours of studying.

Read the rest of this post...

Stacie and I hiked an old favorite today, Devils Backbone.  The last time we hiked it was a year ago, and we were terribly out of shape at the time, so we wanted to revisit it to see how much easier it would be now, and to see some of the extra trail we skipped last time.

The trailhead is right off of highway 34, just a few minutes from our house.  It’s one of the closest trails we can go to.  We go to the trailhead at 9am and it was already getting hot.  The only real shade on the trail was right at the beginning, just down the hill in the picnic spot.  After that we were completely in the sun the entire time.

The first part of the trail id very easy, and went by extremely quickly. After a quarter of a mile we took the small left hand spur to the mountain overlook.  There is a sign that identifies all of the high points you can see on the horizon.  We could see Bald Mountain and Flatiron Mountain, which are right where we live, and all the way west to Longs Peak.

After four tenths of a mile we took the left hand fork to go to the keyhole.  This path runs right up along the backbone itself, and had some great view of the rocks.  After a mild climb and a small rocky section we made it up to the keyhole.  In the afternoon this is a nice shady spot to take a break, but in the morning it is still in full sun so we didn’t stay long.

After the keyhole it’s another short hike to the end of the Devils Backbone loop (Wild Loop), and the start of Hunter Loop.  Last year we turned back at this point and completed the lower part of Wild Loop to get back to the trailhead.  This time we went on to Hunter Loop.

After a short, flat section the trail climbed a long, fairly steep hill.  Part way up there was a short section of trail with partial shade from overhanging rocks, so we took a short break for water.  We had to crouch down to get fully into the shade, but Shy-Anne was able to enjoy it and take some water and cool down.

When we reached the fork we chose to take a left and complete the loop going clockwise (I believe that this is the easier way).

The trail looped around the west side of the hill before climbing up to the top.  Shortly before the top of the hill we hit the north fork where Hunter Loop joins Laughing Horse Loop.  By this time we were both getting hot, and Shy-Anne was almost overheating, so we decided to complete Hunter Loop instead of going on.  After some more water we continued up the hill.

From the top of the hill we had a great panorama of most of Devils Backbone as well as the mountains to the west.

From here it was all down hill back to the original fork and then back to where we left Wild Loop.  On the way back down we took another break to pour some water over Shy-Anne to help her cool off.  This hike was far rougher on her than us because of the heat.

We took the east half of Wild Loop on the way back.  This section was not that exciting; there wasn't all that much scenery to look at and there still wasn’t any shade, but it was a little bit shorter and easier than the west half going by the keyhole.  By this point we were really looking forward to cold water and air conditioning, so we quickly hiked the rest of the way back to the trailhead without stopping.  Back at the trailhead, we used the hydrant to cool down Shy-Anne and get ourselves some cold water.  Once that was taken care of we all hopped back in the Hummer with the AC blasting and headed home.

This hike was great fun, not only for the hike itself but also because we could really see how far we’ve come in the last year of conditioning.  This is certainly not the last time we will visit Devils Backbone!

View all of the pictures: Photo Gallery

Read the rest of this post...

While we were in Colorado Springs we decided to do some hiking on Pikes Peak northwest slope.  The trail we picked starts at the Crags Campground (near Divide) and runs up to Devil’s Playground and the summit of Pikes Peak.

We got up at 5am, ate a quick breakfast and left the house at 5:45.  In the early morning fog I missed a turn on the way to the trailhead, wasting almost an hour, so we didn’t pull in to the parking area until just before 8am.  The trailhead was located at the far end of the Crags Campground, with a very small parking area and restroom.  We left the trailhead at 7:55 am at a chilly 41 degrees.

The trail to Devil’s Playground splits off from the Crags trail a few hundred yards down the trail.  The junction is easy to miss, but we had read the description before we left and knew what to look for.  The trail at this point was wide, not too rocky, and a nice gradual climb.  It was a perfect warm up for our cold muscles.

After the first half hour, we stopped to load up on energy.  We tried the Clif Shot Bloks this time.  We both liked them; they were easy to eat and tasted a little bit better than most energy gels.  After a short break we moved on up the trail.  By this time it had warmed up to 47 degrees, and the sun was high enough to give us some warmth in the open spots between the trees.

The forest growth was extremely thick through this part, and the trail was narrower; there were several times when my shoulders were brushing the branches on either side, or I had to duck under a tree/branch across the trail.  After another break for some gel around 9:30 we started getting into the transition between the sub-alpine forest and alpine tundra.  By 10:30 we were ready for some solid food, and Stacie’s left knee was giving her some pain, so we stopped for a break for some bars and ibuprofen.

As we got closer to tree line the trail got steeper.  The last mile leading up to tree line averaged an 18% grade.  After getting above tree line (around 11,900 feet) we had to climb a long, open hill side.  This half mile was brutal; it climbed straight up the hill for 800 vertical feet.  That’s a 24% grade – ouch.  It took us almost an hour to climb this stretch of trail, and we weren’t the only ones taking our time.

As we made our slow way up the hill, we had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the view to the west, and watch the ground squirrels running around on the rocks.  We also met a couple groups already on their way down from Devils’ Playground.

When we finally made it to the top of the hill we found ourselves in a huge saddle between several high points on the north flank of Pikes Peak, and we finally could see the summit.

We stopped for a break to recover from the climb, and I tried out my new tripod along with the timer on the camera to get a picture of the three of us:

We had originally planned to turn back just after Devil’s Playground (as soon as we reached 13,000 feet), but with the summit in sight we started talking about whether or not we could make it all the way.  We had started a bit late, and the weather was forecasting a chance of thunderstorms, but we were getting summit fever badly.  We decided to keep hiking on to 13k and see how it looked from there.

The trail at this point was a wide and smooth two track; it’s actually an old spur road that is no longer used. The trail winds around the valley, through a cut in the rocks and then into the dirt parking lot for Devil’s Playground. 

From the far side of the parking lot we could look down and see both Catamount Reservoirs and Rampart Reservoir.

We had reached Devil’s Playground, but we were still short of our goal of 13k feet, so we continued on.  We had to cross the road and step over a metal cable to get to the next segment of the trail; it parallels the road on the opposite side.

After about half a mile we joined up with the road at a lookout spot where a break in the mountains allows a view to the east.  For the first time we were able to look east and see down to Colorado Springs at the foot of the peak.  As we walked in to the lookout, the expressions on the faces of the tourists getting out of their cars was priceless.  Most of them could not believe that we had actually hiked up to here.

At this point we had already hit 13,100 ft, but we weren’t ready to head back down yet.  We continued on up the hill on the far side of the lookout point.  Part way up the hill, as we were taking a breather, I noticed I had service on my cell phone, so I called my parents to tell them we had made it to 13,000 feet (that was the highest cell phone call I’ve ever made!).

When we reached the saddle above the lookout, we could once again see the summit.

We had less than 2 miles to go to the summit, but we reluctantly decided not to continue on.  We had not planned on summiting that day, and we had accomplished our goal of getting above 13,000 feet.  With the uncertain weather forecast and already being late in the day we didn't want to rick thunderstorms, plus we wanted to have plenty of energy for descending the steepest parts of the trail. At 1:10 pm we turned back and started the hike back down.

When we got back to the cut in the strip of rocks on the other side of Devil’s Playground we stopped out of the wind for a longer break for “lunch” (bars and gels with plenty of water).  During our break we met a friendly pair of hikers who had already summited and were heading back down.

After our break we continued down and tackled the steep descent.  Even with trekking poles it was hard on our feet and knees, but we were able to make much better time on the way down.  We met a large group of Bay Scouts taking their time on the way up the hill.

Eventually we made it back to the trailhead a little before 4:30.  What took us just over 5 hours to ascent took us just over 3 hours to descend.  After relaxing for a little while at the trailhead we loaded up the Hummer and took off for home.

View all of the pictures: Photo Gallery

Read the rest of this post...

When we pick a new trail to hike, I tend to prefer summits, while Stacie tends to prefer lakes.  This weekend we compromised by picking Chasm Lake.  This hike has lakes and waterfalls for Stacie, and it let me check out the first part of the Longs Peak Trail that I plan to use to summit later this month.

The Longs Peak trail is incredibly popular, primarily for the summit but also for the side destinations, like Chasm Lake.  Most serious summit hikers get started between 1 and 3 am, so it was no surprise when we pulled in to the trailhead at 7:30am that the parking lot was completely full, and cars were parked down the side of the road for half a mile.

We parked the Hummer at the end of the line of cars and hiked up to the trailhead.  That short walk

The trail started out fairly mild; it was smooth and wide, and not too steep.  The first 2 miles hike through the woods along Alpine Brook.  At the 2 mile point we reached the waterfall in the brook and crossed above it.

After crossing the waterfall we quickly got above tree line.  The views that had been teasing us between the trees were finally visible: Estes Cone to the north, Twin Sisters to the east, and the top of Longs Peak, Meeker and Lady Washington to the west.

The trail started getting steeper as we continued to ascend, with more rocks and steps to climb.  As we climbed up we saw a snowshoe hare who immediately hid in a bush on the side of the trail.

The last bit of the hike up to the saddle was very steep, almost all rock stairs straight up.  The saddle is a natural rest spot; it is large an open and the park service has installed a privy here.  There was even a group flying a couple of kites in the strong wind.  The trail splits here; straight ahead continues on to Chasm Lake while the right goes to the Boulderfield and the summit.

The view of Meeker and Longs Diamond was incredible, and we could see Ships Prow for the first time.  We stopped for a short break to appreciate the scenery and get our picture taken before continuing on the trail to Chasm Lake.

The trail continues along the south side of Mt Lady Washington, above a deep valley and the Roaring Fork Creek.  After a short while, Peacock Pool comes into view, and then Columbine Falls.

Peacock Pool is a unique little lake with bands of colors and an almost iridescent look.  Its appearance is constantly changing, but most of the time it really does look like the eye in a peacock feather.

Columbine Falls is a beautiful waterfall from the upper valley down into Peacock Pool.  It’s obvious how the falls got their name: on the right side of the trail there were dozens of columbine flowers, more than I’ve eve seen in a single place.

The trail wound around to the head of the falls, where we crossed Roaring Fork Creek and entered into a large alpine meadow bounded on three sides by huge cliffs of rock.  Our hike could have ended right here and we would have been satisfied; the views of Meeker and Longs towering over us were awe inspiring.

The trail continued to follow along the creek until we reached the ranger cabin at the base of the rocks.  Here the maintained trail ends, and it is a steep scramble up the rocks to finally get to Chasm Lake itself.

Chasm Lake sits just below the Diamond on Longs Peak east face. The lake is about half a mile (in vertical feet) below the summit.  We picked a spot on the east shore to take a break and eat our lunch.  It took us 4 hours to get all the way to the lake.  While we were eating I got out the binoculars to watch some technical rock climbers heading to the summit.  What looked like a tiny white dot to the naked eye resolved itself to be a climber ascending the 950ft face of the Diamond.

After lunch we packed up again and headed back down.  Despite being a repeat, the beauty of the scenery was still incredible, and we had a hard time turning our backs.  The descent was much easier than the climb up, and we made it down to the trailhead in 2.5 hours.

This hike really had it all: forest, tundra, streams, waterfalls, lakes, and mountains, plus the scenery was some of the best I’ve ever seen.  Seeing those massive peaks up close and dominating your view was indescribable.  I already feel that this hike is destined to be one of my all time favorites.

View all of the pictures: Photo Gallery

Read the rest of this post...

This weekend we decided to attempt Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon.  These are part of a series of 12 and 13 thousand foot mountains in the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Once you reach the first summit you can walk from peak to peak via the saddle between the mountains and keep going on down the range to as many other mountains as you wish.

We decided we were going to try for all three, but we figured that we would get at least the first one or two.  We got up at 6am on Sat to get an early start.  To get to the trailhead, we had to drive through RMNP to Endovalley in Horseshoe Park, and then take Fall River Road about 7 miles to the trailhead.  We got to the trailhead just after 9am, and the tiny parking area was full.  We had to park on the side of the road about a quarter mile farther up and hike back down to the trailhead.

The trail started out all business; the first 100 feet were at a 10% grade, and the first quarter mile was a constant climb, with grades up to 20% in a few spots.  It was also very technical, requiring us to constantly climb over roots and rocks.  We had to stop after the first tenth of a mile to catch our breath and put on bug spray; the mosquitoes were thick and aggressive in the woods.  We kept pushing on at a fast pace.

 

 

At about a quarter mile we hit the intersection where Chapin Creek Trail continues north and the summit trail goes east. We took the east (right) trail, of course.

 

The trail continued to be a steep climb for another quarter mile or so before it started to level out for longer stretches between the harder climbs.  We also started getting into larger meadows between the trees.

Looking ahead of us we could see a large, crumbling cliff with rocks and boulders spread out for a long distance downhill of it.  It almost looked like the summit, although we knew we were still too low.  The trail wound around to the left of it.

 

 

At one point there were several groups of blue columbine growing in the rocks right down the middle of the trail.  It was right in the middle of a particularly steep climb, so we were happy to stop and appreciate the flowers.

As we climbed through this section of the trail, we had a magnificent view to the west of Trail Ridge Road and the Alpine Visitor Center.  We could see exactly where we were just a couple weeks ago, climbing Marmot Point Trail.

After working our way around and up the right side of a hill we came to a split in the trail at about 0.7 miles.  The sign indicated that the right hand path was the route to the summits, and also warned us that the trails were no longer maintained past this point (“primitive” trails).  This is the end of the trail on the maps.

From this spot we got our first clear view of the Mummy Range from the trail. From right to left, we could see Mount Chapin, Mount Chiquita, Mount Ypsilon, Desolation Peaks, and Flatiron Mountain.

The end was in sight, but we still had a way to go.  We stopped for our first real break, and got out some energy gel to recharge after the previous 45 minutes of climbing and get ready for the next stage.

We took the right hand trail and traveled along the west flank of Chapin for another mile. It seemed like we were hiking right by Chapin, and at times the trail faded to where we could hardly see it, but we kept on going where we thought the trail was and found it again every time. Long fingers of talus stretched across the trail in many places, and the trail became more and more rocky as we went on.

This was the easiest part of the hike; we were still climbing, but it was a long, slow uphill grade instead of the steep climbs earlier.  Thankfully, this gave our legs a little bit of a rest.  We had pushed a little too hard on the first section of the trail, and by this point Stacie’s legs were burning with every step.  This stretch of trail gave her a chance to recover and let the lactic acid flush out of her muscles.  We also got to see many marmot and pika along the sides of the trail.

After about an hour of easy hiking we reached the crossroad in the saddle between Chapin and Chiquita.  Straight ahead was the trail to Chiquita, to the right was the trail to Chapin, and to the left was the alternate trail back to the earlier fork in the trail.  We took the trail to Chapin, which immediately started a super steep climb up the north side of Chapin.

As we climbed up we got our first view of the east face of Chiquita.  Unlike the smooth slope of the west face, the east face is a series of sheer cliffs and snow chutes. Of course pictures don’t capture it in the slightest; it was an awesome sight that dominated the northern view.

The east and north faces of Chapin are similar cliffs, and the trail to the summit runs along north edge.  After a short while up the 10 – 20% grades were were climbing, we needed another break, and we got out some more energy gel to fuel up for the final climb to the summit.

 

It didn’t take us long to get to the ridge line on the east side of Chapin,  At this point the trail, which was already almost invisible, faded no non-existence.  By this time the energy gel had kicked in full force, and we easily followed the ridge up to the summit.

We took our time exploring the summit, and stopped to eat lunch in the shelter of one of the stone lean-tos.  While we were eating a pika ran by right in front of us and took shelter in the rocks near our feet.

After we finished lunch we walked over to the south summit (12360 ft). At this point the wind was picking up, and the clouds were getting a little bit darker, so we decided we needed to head back down.  We quickly made our way back down to the crossroad in the saddle.  From there we decided to take the lower path back.

A short distance down the trail we started to feel raindrops, so we stopped to get out our rain jackets.  After a couple minutes it turned into a real rain, but luckily we had no lightning, and it only lasted for about 20 minutes.

 

The lower trail was extremely steep at the beginning, but then leveled out and took us down into the trees.  Unlike the higher tail, which was above tree line mostly rocks most of the way, this trail was in the trees and grass most of the way.  We didn’t have the incredible views of the higher trail, but we did see many wildflowers, including pink and red Indian Paintbrush.  Shortly after crossing a small creek (we saw the pond that fed it on the upper trail) we climbed up to the split where the upper and lower trail meet.

After a short break and some more gel it was straight on down back to the trailhead.  Our trekking poles once again proved their worth, saving our knees from the pounding of the steep trail on the way down. At the trailhead we had a short but steep hike up back up the road to where we parked the Hummer, and then a short drive the rest of the way up the road to the Alpine Visitor Center.

Mount Chapin was a short but surprisingly difficult hike, with highly technical and very steep ascents and descents.  It turned out to be one of the best hikes we have done to date, with incredible scenery the entire way and a rewarding summit at the end.

View all of the pictures: Photo Gallery

Read the rest of this post...