We had a bit of a different (and also
very busy) weekend this past week, which is why I'm just now managing to get a
post up. Back in June I got a call from my aunt asking if Scott might be
interested in backpacking with my cousin, Matt. Well, he was, and so this past
weekend, Matt came to Colorado from Georgia so they could set out on an
adventure.
My mom and aunt also came over from
the Denver area to see them off and spend Saturday with me, exploring the
Montrose area a bit. We did some shopping downtown and picked up some local
produce (squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, and peaches) and had a nice girls
weekend.
Despite not doing any hiking myself,
I was still able to see some great views both when dropping the guys off, and
then when driving my mom and aunt over Dallas Divide, in order to show them
some gorgeous views of the San Juan Mountains. So I'll start with a few pictures
I took, then Scott is actually going to do his own post, followed by some of
his pictures.
Scott's
Post:
It was a dark and stormy
morning…. Well it wasn’t stormy yet
(we’ll get to that part) but it was cloudy.
The weather report called for scattered afternoon thunder storms for all
four planned days of backpacking. Matt
and I started just south of Ouray on Bear Creek trail for a four day camping
trip across the Uncompaghre Wilderness.
We would hit the area’s high point, Uncompaghre Peak, then hike out
towards Ridgway where a vehicle was waiting.
The trail started uphill as many trails do in the Rockies and we didn’t
stop going up until the end of the day.
Along the way we saw a couple of abandoned buildings belonging to old
mines in the area. There was one mine
next to the trail that was so deep our flashlights couldn’t penetrate the
darkness. We wisely decided against
exploration in case of any critters that we couldn’t see. Eventually we came to a U-shaped valley full
of marmots, and in the distance, a herd of 30ish elk. They quickly spotted us and we watched how
they grouped together and shot straight up the mountain side. Something that would take us well over two
hours took them about 10 minutes.
At the top of the U-shaped valley,
we came to the high point of day one.
After being rained on for most the day and traveling 4000 feet in
elevation in 8 miles, we were dead tired and seriously considering a shorter
route home. And the worst of the weather
was yet to come. We could see our first
camp site – American Lake. As we made
our way there, the clouds opened up and poured on us. The hardest rain we had seen all day soon
turned to hail. It wasn't that big but
it was the stinging type. We kept walking until the weather broke and quickly
set up the tent as more mean looking clouds were coming. Like clockwork, as soon as we got our
sleeping bags inside, more rain came. It
was like this most of the night. We used
the breaks in weather to eat, grab gear, or use the restroom, but most the
night was spent hunkered down. It felt
like the tent would blow away if we weren’t in it. And the rain was so hard, it would hit the
tent wall and burst into many little droplets peppering our faces. I’ll admit my sleeping bag got a little wet
that night. And by “a little” I mean, I
had to go out to the packs and grab my rain coat to keep dry. It worked though! First time I slept in a rain coat in a
sleeping bag, but I was dry and toasty so I’ll take it.
Morning came at 6am and everything
was soaked. We were both carrying at
least 10 extra pounds because of the rain.
After packing up, grabbing a bite to eat, and filling the water bottles
in a nearby stream, we got back on the trial.
During the night we both agreed that a two day trip would be just as fun
as a four day trip, with less weather and elevation related misery. Foregoing Uncompaghre Peak, Horsethief Trail
was pretty uneventful on the way back.
No rain at all, which was great, and some wildflowers that covered
picturesque valleys. But the highlight
of the trip was going to the Bridge of Heaven.
It’s the kind of place you have to see to believe because even the
panoramic function on a camera could not capture the essence. We were 5000 feet
above Ouray and coming down from that was no easy chore. It really did seem those last five miles from
the Bridge of heaven would never end.
With heavy packs and a steep grade we had some sore feet nearing the
bottom. All in all we traveled 8 miles
the first day and a blistering 16 miles the second day with an elevation change
of over 5000 feet. And as it turns out, it was a good thing we decided to
cut the trip short because there was a flash flood warning for the area on what
would have been our fourth day.
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