Labour Day weekend 2014 – what better way to kick off the Fall season than with a 14er hike. Wait – how ‘bout backpacking followed by two 14er summits. Sweet!
Because of work obligations, I could not travel down on Friday with my Fort Collins-based hiking friends, Cammy & Erik so woke early on Saturday, loaded the backpack (with newly acquired camping gear) & hit the highway. Stopping only once along the way, I arrived at Blanca Peak trailhead in under 5 hours (yep, it’s a haul).
Drove a quarter-mile up Lake Como Road & parked – Prius is not the right ride for this extreme off-road trail.
Lake Como Road in the Sangre de Cristos is regarded as one of the roughest in Colorado. Hikers, accessing fourteeners Blanca and Little Bear peaks and Ellingwood Point, hate it. Extreme off-roaders love it.
My 70lb rucksack was crazy heavy. In addition to a tent, sleeping bag & water, I packed poles, a winter jacket, ski cap, gloves & long johns. Who doesn’t in August, right? 🙂
Backpack propped on the hood of my car, I slide under the sack thinking this my best approach to stand upright. 100ft down the road, pop – lost 2 straps. Argh. Jerry-rigged my tent onto the top of the backpack – off I go again.
7 miles UP. Really questioned hauling winter gear with starting hike temps in the low 90’s.
Arrived lakeside 5 hours later (welcomed by Cammy & Erik), tent set-up (super easy, thanks Marmot), filled my stomach (dehydrated food packet & hot water), campsite greet by 4 deer, then crashed an hour later. Early start tomorrow – Blanca awaits!
(After the sun goes down at 12,000 ft, was mighty happy with the jacket & long johns. Just saying.)
Up at dawn & immediately hit the trail. Struggled a bit with altitude. Haven’t climbed high peaks since early July, compensated with extra water intake.
Rock…lotta rock on today’s trek. Lucky for me, super hiker Cammy blunted skillz on the prior day’s (Class 4) 14er climb (allowing me to keep pace). Little Bear Friday, Blanca Peak & Ellingwood Saturday. Seriously HARDCORE.
Abandoned poles & rock climbed the last 500 feet – only scary if you look down 🙂
SUMMIT SUCCESS! Genuinely stunning, view created by the gods – SPECTACULAR!
Hiked 1,000ft down to Ellingwood junction, said our goodbyes to Erik (ditched us to fly fish) & started navigating a seemingly endless boulder field. Two misfires, then spotted a descending hiker. Started climbing UP his direction, gathered advice & just kept at it. Wasn’t punking out, eye on the prize. Sooooo much rock. Lotta short breaks – my stomach was churning (altitude & poor food management – hadn’t consumed enough calories, now couldn’t eat).
10:30am – SUMMIT SUCCESS, 2nd of the day. FAAAANNNTASTIC!
Lost our way on the trek down. Climbed back UP, rock traversed & scoured for safe passage down from Ellingwood’s towering rock shelves. Wasn’t pretty but ultimately made our way on trail near Blanca’s base.
Crashed in my tent for the afternoon. Amazing what sleep can do a body. Highly recommended. Downed a 2nd packet of food – refueled, all good now. Tagged along & watched Erik fly fish at Como – catch n release, fish were a bitin’.
Lack of serving dishes dictated a formal 3 course meal – a camping fiesta. Hot tea, followed by couscous, followed by Ramen, followed by dehydrated red beans & rice. Yep, kept re-using the same cup. LOL>
High altitude air, alpine lakes, sunsets, fly fishing, star gazing, smell of pine, darting marmots & deer. Absolutely nothing like it in the world. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life.
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- Lake Como Road (far background, Blanca)
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- Sangre de Cristo camping
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- red beans & rice (just add water)
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- frequented our campsite every night
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- trees look ablaze – BEAUTIFUL sunset!
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- so much colour – WOW!
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- on the trail before 6, your everyday 14er hike
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- whole lotta rock
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- sunrise – Good Morning Blanca!
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- final rock scramble UP
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- SUMMIT SUCCESS!
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- crazy beautiful day
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- Blanca Peak 14,345ft
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- hey, it’s only 8:30 – time for another?
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- Ellingwood Point 14,042ft (Blanca stands behind us)
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- 2nd summit of the day – life is good
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- fly fishing on Lake Como
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- catch n release
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- Goodbye Blanca
Blanca Peak summit clip
With a mini-vacation & a 10th marathon scheduled in a week, stayed close & attended my first Lafayette Peach Festival.
Both of Lafayette’s annual festivals – winter Oatmeal Festival & summer Peach Festival – always seemed a bit far-fetched. Oats are not milled along the Front Range; Lafayette’s peaches are trucked from Palisade (4 hours away on Colorado’s Western Slope).
Maybe I’m over thinking things. We in Louisville often snub our sister ‘burb, Lafayette (sibling rivalry).
Peach pie, peach cobbler, peach smoothies, peach lemonade, peach pizza, fresh peaches (sold by the box or the bag), peach soap – and many many local products including honey, antique furniture, local art & jewelry.
Discovered why Palisade peaches are Colorado’s best – so juicy & messy, gotta eat over the sink. YUM!
Sunshine, summer temps & thousands of attendees – Lafayette, you hit this one out of the park. Well done.
Lafayette Peach Festival, highly recommended. I’ll be back next year 🙂
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- best peaches in Colorado
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- peach cobbler – YUM!
6 days after Ironman – couldn’t wait to hit the mountains, jump in & rejoin everyday life.
Kicked off the weekend at Louisville Street Faire listening to live outdoor music, filling up on pizza & ice cream. All summer, every Friday night on Front Street (just off Main). Haven’t been once this year – good to be back.
Woke late Saturday plus the weather’s been a bit unpredictable, so Lake Isabelle was today’s target. Ash & Tom’s dog Marty injured his shoulder a few weeks back so decided on a shorter hike to best assess his recovery.
Hiked Lake Isabelle 2 years ago during my 52 week hike challenge – actually overshot the Glacier, resulting in Ro & I hiking down to our end destination. Good memories.
Paid the park fee & queued 30 minutes for our turn into the Park. So many people flocking to Indian Peaks this day, that rangers limited car entry into the Park.
Located parking on the west side of Brainard Lake & hit the trail. Good to be outside, always enjoy the smell of pine.
Quickly made our way to Long Lake – much easier without waist-high snow – and continued on Isabelle Glacier trail. Memory failed me thinking I’d passed glaciers before Lake Isabelle. In actuality these were only leftover snow banks from the heavy winter season which socked the Rockies this past year. WOW – it’s August. Not expecting these drifts will melt before snow flies again. LOVE my escape from the summer heat – only an hour from home.
Sat on a large rock, Isabelle lakeside & shot landscape pics as dark clouds gathered. Rain, gusty cold wind, ice pellets, rain again, then sunshine – all within a 20 minute span. LOL>
What turns a good hike day into a GREAT hike day?
Saw 2 HUGE moose on our hike return. I’ve seen moose from a distance in New Hampshire & Alaska. These guys however were close (10-15 feet away) and H-U-G-E. Their rack, their heads – just enormous. Tried to keep our distance & not startle these giants…but in reality, they could have trounced us. SPECTACULAR!
Bear & bighorn sheep last month – moose today. Travelling to Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks over my birthday – excited about the possibilities. Life is good, really really good 🙂
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- perfect day for a hike
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- wet summer = lush green colour
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- snow melt & runoff…in August
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- snow silhouette – LOVE this place!
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- Lake Isabelle
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- Isabelle Glacier
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- he’s baaaaaack – my hiking buddy, Ro
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- Moose!
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- outdoor music & brew every Friday night (local summer fun)
