Tom Rankin
Well-known member
This trip had been planned for quite some time. Thanks to Mellonie, and others for their input and sharing of resources.
We spent 7/2 - 7/6 at a convention in Denver. It was a good way to get used to a little higher elevation. We also hit Wynkoop Brewery, Rockbottom Brewery, and Breckenridge Brewery while in town. Not much hiking here, but we did walk everywhere we went. We could see the snow capped Rockies teasing us from afar.
Sunday we hit College Inn, a bar that serves a variety of good beers. After that we headed up to Lyons. As we drove, the mountains got closer and closer, adding to our excitement. Lyons is just about on the edge of the mountains, and the Oskar Blues Brewery's Dale's Pale Ale reminded me of the Amstel Light quote 'Sorry, we didn't know Pale Ales were supposed to suck!'. This Pale Ale had more 'kick' than most IPAs! Their IPA was to die for!
Moving on up, we drove thru the 'hills'. Laurie was just amazed at the canyons, peaks, water falls, and everything else. I'd been here before, so it was not the 'first time' thrill, but it still was great. We headed generally South until we came back to I-70 and then we drove to Dillon. We made the Dillon/Silverthorne Super 8 our Base camp for the next several days. For a Super 8, this place rocked! It's at 9000+ feet, has free Internet, free breakfast, and the manager allowed me to use his printer for free. Just the view outside the window was great! The Dillon Dam Brewery and Pug Ryan's brewery were more great places to wet our whistles. Speaking of drinking, everyone in Colorado really pushes water on you when you order a beer. This was very much appreciated!
Monday, 7/7, was our first big hike. We met a local guy named Robert and set out for Gray's and Torrey's Peaks. The 'road' to the trailhead (it was actually called a County highway!) was a rutted mess! If you go to Colorado, rent a high clearance vehicle! It took about 45 minutes to go 3 miles. We finally got to the trail head, (at 11,200 feet!), and started out across a large metal bridge. The stream probably has a lot more water in the spring. There were tons of flowers everywhere, from the bottom to the top. The trail was very well defined at first, with frequent water bars, and lots of rock work. But like many trails out east, the level of maintenance decreased as we got higher. Eventually, the trail looked like this. And, yes, there was newly fallen snow on the trail! The temps were about 40 when we started, and it got colder as we climbed. The fog line was always close to us, sometimes above, sometimes below. Eventually it cleared up, so we could see some other peaks.
The pace was a little slow, as we were feeling the lack of oxygen. A lot of people marched right by us. But eventually, we were at the top of Gray's Peak! Our first 14er! Woohoo! We were both tired, but Torrey's was only .7 miles away, so when Laurie said let's go, off we went. The col was about 600 feet deep, and as we went down, we actually met 3 guys who were going to ski down the snow slopes! Soon, we were at the top of Torrey's Peak. #2!
The hike back down was interesting. After traversing a snow field, it was getting hot and sunny, and we were putting sun block on. 5 minutes later, we were getting pelted by hail! It cleared up again and we walked back to the trailhead w/o incident.
The next day, we decided to take it easy, partly because it was supposed to rain, and partly because we wanted to do a fire tower. We chose Squaw Mountain, a short 600' up from the trailhead at 10,900. The entire hike was on the access road, and it alternated between rain and sunshine very rapidly, several times. At the top, the stone fire tower was waiting for us. This was waiting for MichaelJ! The views were pretty good, but to the North, we saw this, so we headed down as fast as we could go!
We continued on to Mt. Evans, which has the highest paved road in North America. At Summit Lake, the view was spectacular. At the summit, we saw these tiny but beautiful flowers. The views from here were great, but again, the weather was changing fast, so we beat it down the mountain. Too late! We got caught in a hail storm! As we went back down, the weather changed rapidly, and we saw a few bristle cone pines.
After the days exercise, we went to Back Country Brewery (nice sign!) and Wolf Rock Brewery in the area south of the Dillon Dam.
The next day, we set our sights on Sherman. It was a beautiful day, with no clouds in the sky for the first several hours of the morning. We drove up to 12,000' to start the hike, and off we went. We passed an old mine as we went up. About half way up, we had to cross a short snow field. As you can see, it was hot and cold at the same time! When we got past the snow, we could see this! It was a long slow hike, but eventually we were at the top! For a BIG video, check this out. The ridge line can be seen as we went down. Just before the bottom, I decided to check out a mine entrance.
When we were finished, we decided to go to Leadville, via Westin Pass. This was a HUGE mistake! This is the worst road on earth! Do NOT go this way! The only up side was that we saw a herd of elk and some mag pies by going this way. The goal in Leadville was Rosie's Brewpub, America's highest Brewery! The beer was pretty good, but not quite worth the 2 hour's drive over rough terrain!
I could write a book about our trip, but I'll just sum it up briefly:
We had a great time!
Drink a LOT of water!
Be prepared for sudden changes of weather!
It was very hot and very cold in the same day. Bring appropriate clothing!
I would highly recommend a trip to Colorado to anyone on this site!
We spent 7/2 - 7/6 at a convention in Denver. It was a good way to get used to a little higher elevation. We also hit Wynkoop Brewery, Rockbottom Brewery, and Breckenridge Brewery while in town. Not much hiking here, but we did walk everywhere we went. We could see the snow capped Rockies teasing us from afar.
Sunday we hit College Inn, a bar that serves a variety of good beers. After that we headed up to Lyons. As we drove, the mountains got closer and closer, adding to our excitement. Lyons is just about on the edge of the mountains, and the Oskar Blues Brewery's Dale's Pale Ale reminded me of the Amstel Light quote 'Sorry, we didn't know Pale Ales were supposed to suck!'. This Pale Ale had more 'kick' than most IPAs! Their IPA was to die for!
Moving on up, we drove thru the 'hills'. Laurie was just amazed at the canyons, peaks, water falls, and everything else. I'd been here before, so it was not the 'first time' thrill, but it still was great. We headed generally South until we came back to I-70 and then we drove to Dillon. We made the Dillon/Silverthorne Super 8 our Base camp for the next several days. For a Super 8, this place rocked! It's at 9000+ feet, has free Internet, free breakfast, and the manager allowed me to use his printer for free. Just the view outside the window was great! The Dillon Dam Brewery and Pug Ryan's brewery were more great places to wet our whistles. Speaking of drinking, everyone in Colorado really pushes water on you when you order a beer. This was very much appreciated!
Monday, 7/7, was our first big hike. We met a local guy named Robert and set out for Gray's and Torrey's Peaks. The 'road' to the trailhead (it was actually called a County highway!) was a rutted mess!
If you go to Colorado, rent a high clearance vehicle! It took about 45 minutes to go 3 miles. We finally got to the trail head, (at 11,200 feet!), and started out across a large metal bridge. The stream probably has a lot more water in the spring. There were tons of flowers everywhere, from the bottom to the top. The trail was very well defined at first, with frequent water bars, and lots of rock work. But like many trails out east, the level of maintenance decreased as we got higher. Eventually, the trail looked like this. And, yes, there was newly fallen snow on the trail! The temps were about 40 when we started, and it got colder as we climbed. The fog line was always close to us, sometimes above, sometimes below. Eventually it cleared up, so we could see some other peaks. The pace was a little slow, as we were feeling the lack of oxygen. A lot of people marched right by us. But eventually, we were at the top of Gray's Peak! Our first 14er! Woohoo! We were both tired, but Torrey's was only .7 miles away, so when Laurie said let's go, off we went.
The col was about 600 feet deep, and as we went down, we actually met 3 guys who were going to ski down the snow slopes! Soon, we were at the top of Torrey's Peak. #2! The hike back down was interesting. After traversing a snow field, it was getting hot and sunny, and we were putting sun block on. 5 minutes later, we were getting pelted by hail! It cleared up again and we walked back to the trailhead w/o incident.
The next day, we decided to take it easy, partly because it was supposed to rain, and partly because we wanted to do a fire tower. We chose Squaw Mountain, a short 600' up from the trailhead at 10,900. The entire hike was on the access road, and it alternated between rain and sunshine very rapidly, several times. At the top, the stone fire tower was waiting for us. This was waiting for MichaelJ!
The views were pretty good, but to the North, we saw this, so we headed down as fast as we could go!We continued on to Mt. Evans, which has the highest paved road in North America. At Summit Lake, the view was spectacular. At the summit, we saw these tiny but beautiful flowers. The views from here were great, but again, the weather was changing fast, so we beat it down the mountain. Too late! We got caught in a hail storm! As we went back down, the weather changed rapidly, and we saw a few bristle cone pines.
After the days exercise, we went to Back Country Brewery (nice sign!) and Wolf Rock Brewery in the area south of the Dillon Dam.
The next day, we set our sights on Sherman. It was a beautiful day, with no clouds in the sky for the first several hours of the morning. We drove up to 12,000' to start the hike, and off we went. We passed an old mine as we went up. About half way up, we had to cross a short snow field. As you can see, it was hot and cold at the same time!
When we got past the snow, we could see this! It was a long slow hike, but eventually we were at the top! For a BIG video, check this out. The ridge line can be seen as we went down. Just before the bottom, I decided to check out a mine entrance.When we were finished, we decided to go to Leadville, via Westin Pass. This was a HUGE mistake! This is the worst road on earth! Do NOT go this way!
The only up side was that we saw a herd of elk and some mag pies by going this way. The goal in Leadville was Rosie's Brewpub, America's highest Brewery! The beer was pretty good, but not quite worth the 2 hour's drive over rough terrain! I could write a book about our trip, but I'll just sum it up briefly:
We had a great time!
Drink a LOT of water!
Be prepared for sudden changes of weather!
It was very hot and very cold in the same day. Bring appropriate clothing!
I would highly recommend a trip to Colorado to anyone on this site!
