Gear:
Kelty Gunnison 2.1 Backpacker Tent
MSR HUBBA
Markill (Vaude) Peak Ignition Stove
Jetboil Four Season Fuel
MSR Fuel
Light my Fire Spork (Small & Extra-Medium)
Kelty Gunnison 2.1 Backpacker Tent
MSR HUBBA
Markill (Vaude) Peak Ignition Stove
Jetboil Four Season Fuel
MSR Fuel
Light my Fire Spork (Small & Extra-Medium)
Patagonia Capilene
Northface Paramount Pants
Smartwool liners
Smartwool Phd Heavy Wool Hiking socks
Asolo TPS 520 boots - Patrick
Vasque boots - Matt
Asolo boots - Kenny
Leki Super Makali poles
Northface Coolmax Vaporwick t-shirt
Icebreakers Body-fit 260 Quarter-Zip top
OR Windstopper skull cap
OR Rain cap
Northface Summit Series Gore-Tex XCR shell
Smith Optics Sunglasses
Nalgene bpa-free bottles with Tritan glow in the dark
Katadyn Hiker H20 Filtration
Lowe Alpine Expedition Pack
Northface Redpoint Primaloft vest
I wanted to start this entry to get it going. I am going to review a lot of gear in this post. I just returned from 11 days in Colorado. About seven of which were spent in the backcountry camping.
August 20, 2010: Traveling parties meet and depart Indianapolis. Land in Denver to find one pack missing so we have to file a claim and decide to head out to Boulder for a leisure trip since it makes no sense to leave the area, confident Bryan Bedford's fine folks at Frontier Airlines will locate the bag expeditiously. We were a little late and guessed the bag just missed the plane. Boulder is a fun college town and my companions had never been there so they enjoyed themselves. They were quite entertained by the 80 or so Medical Marijuana Dispensaries that have opened in town. I would have to guess that petty drug crimes are now a thing of the past.
Frontier Airlines calls and the bag is at the Denver airport. Frontier Airlines are very diligent to accomodate us and make it a point to give us a number to call when we drive up so a staffer can meet us at the curb with our missing piece of luggage. We pull up, pick up the pack, and hit the road.
Off to Minturn, CO, a small town located West of Vail about 8 miles South of US70 on CO24. Our destination is Tigowon Road and a campsite to prep for out ascent of Mt. of the Holy Cross.
August 20, 2010: Traveling parties meet and depart Indianapolis. Land in Denver to find one pack missing so we have to file a claim and decide to head out to Boulder for a leisure trip since it makes no sense to leave the area, confident Bryan Bedford's fine folks at Frontier Airlines will locate the bag expeditiously. We were a little late and guessed the bag just missed the plane. Boulder is a fun college town and my companions had never been there so they enjoyed themselves. They were quite entertained by the 80 or so Medical Marijuana Dispensaries that have opened in town. I would have to guess that petty drug crimes are now a thing of the past.
Frontier Airlines calls and the bag is at the Denver airport. Frontier Airlines are very diligent to accomodate us and make it a point to give us a number to call when we drive up so a staffer can meet us at the curb with our missing piece of luggage. We pull up, pick up the pack, and hit the road.
Off to Minturn, CO, a small town located West of Vail about 8 miles South of US70 on CO24. Our destination is Tigowon Road and a campsite to prep for out ascent of Mt. of the Holy Cross.
August 21, 2010: Proceed to Fall Creek/Half Moon Pass Trailhead. Reach Half Moon Pass. Descent into Cross Creek camp site. Set up camp at Cross Creek.
August 22, 2010: Ascent of Mt. of the Holy Cross. Full pack attempt to cross over Halo Ridge and connect to Fall Creek Trail. I'm packing full H20. Have advised others to do so to know avail. There is no H20 available above 11,400-600 on Halo Ridge Route and Cross Creek is the main source on the North Ridge Route. On the North Ridge Route you lose wather at 10,600 ft. and on Halo Ridge Route you lose it at 11,600 ft. This puts you in a position with about 4.5 - 6.0 hours above 13,000 ft. and no water sources between. In an emergency you could descent to Bowl of Tears or Lake Patricia to get water, but you'd extend your route by many miles, so the only reason to do so would be for survival.
With a later start than required and less H20 capacity we choose to descend the North Ridge Route rather than try the Halo Ridge Route (weather doesn't look great) with half full bottles of water. There will be another time, this was way too much fun.
Descend back to Cross Creek to set up camp.
August 23, 2010: Break camp and return through Half Moon Pass to Tigowon Road and trailhead. Not sure where we're going next we head to Red Cliff, CO. Red Cliff is an old mining town turned arts colony tucked away 9 miles south of Minturn on CO24. Located about 10 miles North of Leadville, ended up at Mango's Grille. I saw a sticker on the dashboard of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative truck at the trailhead. By the way, a plug for CFI, they have the best website for anyone pursuing the summit of 14ers. The Mt. of the Holy Cross pictures and route were spot on. As one hiker on the mountain yelled to us (as we followed the 14ers.org route): "Stay over there on the ridge, DON'T follow the guidebooks route, it will add miles to your hike..." Well we followed the 14ers.org route and while a bitch...it was quite bearable.
Anyone who has played High School football, I would equate this to a 7-hour "two-a-day" practice. It is that hard, but if you are in shape and fit, it is merely a matter of figuring out how to pace yourself and acclimate yourself to the elevation gains. I had very little problem acclimating, but I endurance cycle and have been working out my legs for a few months in preparation. Regardless, any person can prepare themselves and make this summit, unless of some actual physical impairment.
We ended up pull up camp and heading back towards Denver to drop Kenny off so he can return to Indianapolis.
Matt and I contact my friend Kent and plan to grab a motel room then meet Kent for dinner. After a few missed turns we are back to meet Kent, get a room, and eat dinner.
We eat Mexican, not sure of the name, and Kent is nice enough to buy us dinner. He probably felt sorry for us. We looked like a couple of mountain men.
August 24, 2010: Matt and I awake, collect up some breakfast and check out. I've suggested we go up through Boulder, then Estes Park, through the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and out the other side. I spotted a dirt road on the other side that proceeds 11 miles into the backcountry on a reservoir, Lake Granby. This accesses Pawnee Pass. Matt is Pawnee so he has an affinity to do this one. I've crunched the numbers. 17.0-18.0 round trip. Base elev: 8,300 ft., Pass elev: 12,500 ft. Gain: 4,200 ft. Length: 8.5 miles.
We take off and I noticed that we cross Cascade Creek about 6-8 times so there is water along this whole hike. You could literally stop and filter for anything you need the whole way. I prefer to use my Camelbak because I can drink on the fly so I fill up then fill a half Nalgene attached to the back of my pack. I carry this pretty much as a reserve, but often it ends up supplementing someone in my group or another hiker on the trail. I'm okay with carrying that extra pound. Hopefully it will earn me the same sips when I'm in need.
We pitch camp just above a box and chute on the creek. Most of the area is rock, but we find a spot under a tree that will provide some shade and a little cover.
We'll settle into some Mountain House for dinner, hot cocoa after.
More to come...and pictures!
