(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