the hope in hope

last night i visited my brother for steaks and treats. it was a good time as usual and i crashed on the floor. the spare room was occupied by jason and sara, while jason’s boy eric was on the couch. i was perfectly content being on the floor. i think of all the rotten spaces i’ve squeezed into for a night’s rest. most anything is better than the back of my car, although i can attest that 2 will fit snug. he wanted me to sleep in his camper that was parked on the main road, but my luck it would get plowed into by a drunkard. the carpet would do just fine.

my cell was dead so i relied on body and mind, which decided 4:26 was the right time to start the day. nice job body clock. i left littleton and took 93 into boulder, which was preparing for the day’s boulder-boulder festivities. cones and cops and eager participants started to litter the area. i sped off into lyons and then allenspark where i drove to my parking spot by memory. i’ve been here a few times, but most notably a year and a half ago when i got bb stuck in snow and had to have a gracious citizen of allenspark pull her out. today the dirt road is snow free and thankfully i’ll be parking prior to that dreadful bend in the road.

hitting the trail a little late today, aren’t we ethan? well yeah, i guess so. got to bed late and probably woke up later than normal. i’ll get ‘er done, i have no doubt. i’d have to head east into the gulch of rock creek. last time we met i do believe my foot, sock and boot got to know you real well, and then you proceeded to wage a full on deer tick assault against me. today your white waters were flowing hard and it appeared there was nowhere for me to cross. most trees that crossed the 6-8 foot wide creek were too small, old, slippery, or some combination of to attempt a crossing. i walked up and down the banks for a while but had no luck. i could go up ¼ mile through the thick brush along the creek banks until i hit the old road that should cross the creek, or i could suck it up and wade barefoot, which is what i did. the whole process took about 8 minutes. obviously the water was bitter cold. at one point my pant leg was coming down so i had to hustle across swift rapids, a foot deep. nothing crazy, but not how i like to start my hikes. 

the notorious rock creek

gotta do what i gotta do

i chose to tackle the more difficult of the two peaks first, which consisted of 3+ miles RT in steep (2,023’ vertical gain) forest that hasn’t seen fire in a millennia.

10,583' - one of only two "10ers" in boco

my gps batteries were dead. i have new ones but they are on my kitchen counter at home, so i had to rely on my map and compass skills, which haven’t failed me yet! this was pretty straightforward but i was blind in the thick of the forest. once in a while a few peaks would come into view and i’d do some triangulation. mostly i just followed my gut. it knew there was a brownie waiting for me on the summit and knew exactly how to find it. there were very few traces of game trail. i don’t blame the animals for not wanting to be there. it was probably in the top 5, or even 3, toughest bushwhacks i’ve encountered in boulder county. the distance, slope, dense timber, dead and alive, combined for a tough 5 hours. it pleases me to know, and pleased me during the hike to know, that this would be one of my last gnarly bushwhacks in boulder. most of the remaining have trails on the summit approach! 

finally, one of the last boulder bushwhacks. try navigating in this!

broken glass mason jar and usgs bench marker on 10,583'

i hiked the ridge, around the north set of rocks, up the north summit, down, then up to the true summit of 10,583’, where waiting for me was a broken glass mason jar and usgs bench marker. and some freaking incredible views all around! most of the mountains are starting to peel away their white coverings for a more hiker-friendly landscape. i’ll be there soon guys.

longs & co.

the boulder mountain group and front range beyond

there wasn’t much time to diddle-daddle if i was to continue on to meadow mountain (11,632’). i made a more direct approach back down to rock creek, this time down the steep west face of 10,583’, to the old rock creek road, which according to the map, eventually crosses that old, damned creek. it was tough going, through steep 2-3 feet patches of snow, but after about 45 minutes i made it back down and met up with the road. it took 15 minutes just to go the last 100 feet…that’s how steep and dense it was. once i got on that road i knew it would be smooth sailing to the car, and it was. 

late may. still some snow.

on the trail of life, i blaze my own

there were some folks camping near the creek, and some packing up as the 3-day weekend winded down. i crossed the spot where bb got stuck so long ago. it wasn’t that long ago. everything that happened before last july seems like an eternity ago. the woman that i waved at through her kitchen window, happened to the be the wife of the wrecker for allenspark, who was kind enough to spend about an hour working to get her unstuck. now i carry chains.

i was now nestled in the back of my black and beautiful pathfinder, contemplating my next move. i seemed to have run out of time to make a move on meadow mountain. it looks to be ~7 miles RT on the map and it was nearly noon. estimating around 1 mph means i’d miss happy hour. can’t miss happy so meadow would have to wait, which isn’t such a bad thing. i’ve had a buddy at work asking to hike with me but my hikes of late would have surely left his children fatherless. i couldn’t have that on my hands. since the path to meadow mountain runs entirely on the meadow mountain trail, this would be an ideal hike for my work compatriot. so i left with bb and visited my new favorite mountain eating establishment: the meadow mountain café in allenspark. today was a quick to-go item ala chocolate malt, hold the whip cream. i decided that i’d drive a little north of lyons to see where i could approach indian mountain. previously i had checked the area south to west but had no luck. the road ends at a gate and there is a very visible fence line as far as i could see. this time i’d check out south to east to north, which was mostly another fence line, although I did find one spot by a dumpster that i could see a break in the fence where it could be possible to slip through and dodge the house up on the cliff, then climb away. it would have to be done in the wee hours of the eve. i don’t know what other option i have.

avoiding boulder’s marathon mess, i hightailed it to i-25 and back home. waiting for me was an empty apartment, margaritas and food at the joint next door, and perhaps hope. i hope, that hope shows up soon.

hope