2010 RUNNING & TRAVEL ADVENTURES

 

   
 
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DIVIDE & CONQUER  

CT SEGMENT 24, Page 2: Cruising Along the
Continental Divide to Elk Creek Canyon

MONDAY, JULY 5

 
"The view from the top of the Continental Divide at this point is one of the most
striking on the CT.  Savor it! The trip down Elk Creek is also very inspiring."
 
~ from the description of Segment 24 in the 2006 edition
of the Colorado Trail Guidebook, p. 204
 
  
 

(Continued from Page 1)

SELECTIVE MEMORY OR *CRS??

Now the real fun started for me.

I was finally back on one of my very favorite sections of trail anywhere and the weather could not have been better for it. I would have been terribly disappointed if I'd had to cut this hike short because of an incoming storm. I wanted to savor the views as long as possible.

The photos in this sub-section are in order, heading mostly southbound for about five miles on the Colorado Trail toward the Elk Creek canyon. The CT is contiguous with the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) for about four of those miles. We remained on the CT after the CDT veered off to the left.

Call it selective memory from the one time three years ago that we were on this CT re-route . . . but neither of us remembered all the rocks we encountered within the first mile. I just remembered the smooth parts of trail and the glorious views! 

Where did all these rocks come from??

 

 

 

It's not the first time I've forgotten how rocky a trail is, if it has other redeeming features.

Fortunately, the trail smoothed out considerably after about a mile and mostly stayed that way to the top of the canyon. See how nice it is below?

The rocky sections slowed us down but that didn't bother me at all. Since I had to quit running last fall my agenda has significantly changed. I'm no longer training for races all the time. When I'm out hiking I still want a good physical workout but equally important is the Fun Factor -- the grand vistas, the tiny natural details, the wildlife, the clouds, the joy of discovery -- you get the idea.

And I obviously enjoy taking pictures of all of that, too!

[ * CRS = Can't Remember Stuff, for those who forgot what that acronym stands for. ]   <wink>

LOTSA LAKES, LOTSA PEAKS

I love all the little alpine lakes and ponds along this section of trail. The old CT route missed the ones I'll show you here.

Since most of the snow has already melted, some of the low spots that were probably full of water several weeks ago have dried out now. There are still plenty of water features left to enjoy, however. It's an unusual day (like today) that some rain or snow doesn't fall to replenish water in the ponds.

Which reminds me of something . . .

I'm always intrigued when I go over the Continental Divide, whether it's on foot or in a vehicle. The whole concept is so cool -- that a drop of water that falls on the western side of the Divide might eventually end up in the Pacific Ocean (assuming it doesn't get used up in one of numerous ways before it makes it that far) while one that falls a few feet away on the other side of the Divide can end up in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic. (Except for the place in Wyoming where the Divide splits and forms sort of a circle, with some of the water staying there. You knew about that, right?)

Yeah, I actually thought of all that while wandering along the Divide today! But mostly I thought about what a wondrous place I was in.

I was happy to see lots of flowers in bloom. It was chilly enough this morning for plants to have frost on them in shady spots going up the access trail, and there were remnants of last night's snowfall along the trail on the Divide (we got some rain 3,000 feet lower in Silverton). I noted that it was all melted on my return this afternoon.

Somewhere up on the Divide we spotted a medium-sized mammal like a coyote in the distance, running downhill at warp speed. It was too fast and too far away for me to even try to get a picture. I was a little disappointed we didn't see any elk or even deer all day. I thought we got an early enough start this morning to see more wildlife, but apparently it wasn't early enough.

About halfway to the Elk Creek gorge we got high enough to begin seeing the Grenadier Range to the southwest. Jim took this picture of Cody and me soon after the peaks became visible. The Grenadiers were like a beacon, drawing us closer to the canyon: 

 

It still took a while to get there, though. We had lots of "hills and dales" to cross first. We marked our progress not only by Jim's GPS but also by how much larger the peaks appeared as we got closer:

 

I did my best to keep up with Jim but there were some photos that I just had to take, even knowing that I could take as many as I wanted on the way back when it was just Cody and me. I reasoned that I'd miss some great shots because I would be going the other direction and couldn't constantly turn around to look behind me. And besides, some clouds might come in or, perish the thought, it might get overcast or start raining and I'd forever lose the opportunity to get those shots on a perfect blue-sky day like today . . .

Poor Jim. He refused to go on ahead. Turns out, that was a good thing or I probably wouldn't have gotten all the way to the top of Elk Creek Canyon to see my Most Favorite View.

FLEXIBILITY & GENEROSITY

When we were still three miles from my turn-around point at Elk Creek we altered our original plan to accommodate Cody, who began limping a little bit for an unknown reason. He's trained for the distance, he shows no difficulty breathing at high altitudes, his paws are conditioned to rocks and didn't appear to have any cuts, he had plenty of water to drink along the way . . . but he began altering his gait and looking at us with pathetic eyes.

Labs are very good at that.

Rats. I got worried because I considered my hike to be more expendable than Jim's long run and I was afraid I'd have to take Cody back down without reaching my destination today.

We were about four miles from our truck and Cody's too big for either one of us to carry that far, especially down the steep access trail we used. The most obvious solution was that he needed a break.


A dog's version of slack-packing:  Jim's carrying Cody's pack now.

The first thing we did was to remove Cody's pack and empty out the two liters of water he was carrying for himself (he never carries our water, and I'm always surprised when other hikers assume that). There was plenty of water along the trail for him and if he needed any more, I had enough in my Camelbak to share with him. Apparently he's not adequately conditioned yet this summer to carry the weight and/or maybe he's getting arthritic at age seven (as did the other three Labs I've had).

Jim carried Cody's empty pack and we continued forward for a little way to see if Cody was still limping. Yes he was, but less and less in the next mile until it wasn't even noticeable and he began running ahead of us instead of following behind.

Slacker!


Part of Jim's view toward the Grenadiers from his hillside perch;
he could see me coming over the hilltop on my way back (an intentional detour)

We didn't want to push our luck, however, and Jim hatched a generous plan that was a win-win-win for all three of us.

When we came to a nice grassy hillside facing the Grenadiers about two miles from the Elk Creek turn he suggested stopping to let Cody rest for a while. He knew how much I wanted to see my favorite CT view so he encouraged me to continue forward to the top of the canyon, take all the pictures I wanted to take, and come back in a reasonable time. Meanwhile, he and Cody would take a nap in the bright sunshine and wait for my return. Then Jim would continue with the rest of his run to Molas Pass and I'd return the last five miles with Cody to the truck as originally planned. That way Cody just had to walk ten miles and not fourteen.

We all benefited from Jim's generosity, and he was happy to take a nap in the warm sunshine!

 
The other part of Jim's view, to the left of the last photo. The CT re-route follows the arrows.

This never would have worked if there had been a bunch of clouds coming in. We totally lucked out with perfect weather today. The only potential problem was if Cody was seriously enough injured that he couldn't make it the last five miles on his own four legs.

We were optimistic that he would. He already walked better and was happier before his nap.

GOING SOLO FOR A BIT

It was about 10:30 AM when I struck out alone, toward the little lake in the photo above. I was surprised to see a sign in the wet area to the right of the lake directing me left instead of right. I could swear I went right and up over that slope, also shown below, in both 2006 and 2007 . . . in fact, I know I did:

I could see the old trail, too, still marked with cairns and old posts.

The newest CT/CDT route was totally unfamiliar for the next mile and a half but I was curious where it went so I followed it outbound as marked. The trail now makes a big curve around the north, east, and south end of the mountaintop and ascends it on the far side -- instead of just going up and over it more directly from the north to the south. It has less elevation gain (the new route doesn't go to the highest point of the hill on the other side) but it's noticeably longer and today it was a lot wetter.

I followed the re-route as it swung around the far side of the lake (two photos up) and turned east along a pretty creek surrounded by mountain avens and marsh marigolds:

Then it curved south around the end of the mountaintop, went over about a hundred feet of snow left in a lingering snow bank,

and climbed up a little drainage area that was full of mud today:

This is one of the scenic views in this section, looking back to the north:

Soon I came to the junction where the CDT now goes left and the CT goes to the right and up the other side of the mountain I just skirted around:

The trail up the slope was moderately steep, no easier than the old way of up and over the top of the hill. It was fairly dry but the footing was rougher than most of the CT along the Divide -- clumpy tufts of tundra grass and not a well-defined path.

When I finished the climb I was back on the Divide and on nice, smooth double-track trail. I was happy again.

Ahead, I could see the signposts that marked my goal:


Almost there!

The next photo is looking back to the slope I ascended on the newest CT re-route:


I immediately recognized where I was when I looked back at the former, familiar trail directly over the mountain and decided then and there that I'd take the old route on my way back to Jim and Cody. I'll show that trail in the next entry.

I continued southbound along the double-track trail on the Divide for another one-third mile. The views from this high ridge (12,690 feet) are great in every direction.

To my left was a snow cornice and views of the mountain ridges to the east:

Just ahead to the south were the Grenadiers and a critical trail juncture:

This is where the CT makes a sharp, not-so-obvious right turn (red arrow above) to go west on single-track down into the Elk Creek canyon toward the Animas River and Molas Pass. There is signage here but according to the CT guide it's often missed.

If you go straight on the double-track you'll end up at Eldorado Lake and/or Kite Lake in 4/10ths of a mile. Either or both make a beautiful side trip but often lead inattentive CT hikers astray when they inadvertently miss their turn. I wanted to go there today; however, it took me longer than expected to get to this junction and I didn't want to keep Jim waiting too long or have him worry about me. I'll do it on another hike up here someday.

My favorite views from this ridge are to the west -- across the high basin, over toward Molas Pass and the mountains on the far horizon, and 'way down into the Elk Creek canyon just below the ridge. In addition to the third photo at the top of this entry, here are a few other views from this vantage point:


Lakes in upper basin at the top of Elk Creek Canyon


Close-up of distant peaks (Rolling Mountain and the Ice Lake Basin)

You have to walk over near the edge of the ridge to see down into the upper part of the canyon:


Looking down to the trail in the lower basin; there is an old mine shed to the right.

If you're acrophobic or get vertigo easily, don't look down!! It's a precipitous drop and it could make you dizzy or worse.

Fortunately, that doesn't happen to Jim or me. We live for exhilarating views like this! Now that we've both been down the multiple switchbacks (over thirty, I think) we know that the descent is a lot more gradual and runnable than it looks from the top. The first time you see it, however, you'll probably gasp and your eyes will bug out!

The CT makes a sharp right turn on the longest switchback of the series to begin the descent:


CT near the top of the switchbacks down into the canyon

The only time I've gone down into the canyon was when I did this whole segment point-to-point in 2006. Today I just descended to the first switchback to take the next two photos:


View of several of the Grenadier peaks near the top of the switchbacks


Some of the numerous switchbacks descending into the canyon;
they don't look nearly as steep from here as they do up on the ridge.

Too bad I didn't have time to go all the way down to the lower basin at the bottom of the switchbacks today. The descent is gradual enough that it wouldn't kill my knees. Jim did go down this way today and I'll show most of the photos he took in the last part of this series.

Meanwhile, I'd already been gone from the point where I left Jim and Cody for about an hour so it was time to head back. It took only half an hour on the return because I used the old route over the mountaintop (definitely a shortcut) and took fewer photos.

Continued on Page 3:  photos on the return trip across the Divide and down to Cunningham Gulch -- it's interesting how much different the views can be when going the opposite direction!

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2010 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil

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