Trip Summary: September 20 - September 28, 2016
1) Flight to Denver and travel to Glenwood Springs
2) Hike at Hanging Lake, visit Aspen, and rock climbing at The Narrows in Carbondale
3) Hike at Maroon Bells and rock climbing at Gold Butte in Aspen
4) Visit Glenwood Hot Springs
5) Layover day to prep gear and Alan's birthday dinner
6) Backpack to Snowmass Lake via Maroon-Snowmass Trail and camp
7) Backpack out, visit Doc Holliday's gravesite
8) Climb Mt. Elbert via the Northeast Ridge
9) Travel to Denver and flight home
Golden leaves of the aspen trees at the Maroon Bells.
This was the first time I had experienced Colorado in the fall, and it was stunningly beautiful. The aspens were golden, and all the leaves were full of vibrant colors. Every view was ridiculously beautiful. Did I say it was beautiful? Just astounding.
Alan was working as a seasonal park ranger for the Bureau of Land Management in Silt and was living just outside of Glenwood Springs. This made for a different type of trip logistically, as I flew to Denver from Austin and then took a bus to Glenwood Springs. We used his place as our home base for our adventures. This year we focused on flexibility. We were watching the weather and planning our summit attempts around it. A weather system was forecast to bring freezing rain and snow towards the middle of the trip. Our friends Cole and Darien were also visiting for the first four days, so these constraints put our summit attempt in the latter half of the trip. Alan and I wanted to attempt Capitol Peak, with Snowmass Mountain as our backup.
My friends Adolfo and Kristen were also travelling to Colorado around the same time, but had their eyes on a different mountain. I ended up meeting up with them during the middle of our trip. I had a direct flight to Denver, and ate a late lunch at Root Down in the airport. I took a train to the bus terminal and took a bus to Glenwood Springs. I arrived late in the evening, and Alan, Cole, and Darien picked me up and we had a fun night of shenanigans catching up.
Hanging Lake - hiking near Glenwood Springs, CO
Hanging Lake is nestled high up in Glenwood Canyon.
I started my first morning in Colorado off with a hearty breakfast at the 19th Street Diner with Cole and Darien, while Alan went to work. We then went to Hanging Lake, just 10 miles east of Glenwood Springs. We hiked up to the lake, on a moderately steep, mile-long footpath. The views were gorgeous. A little further up and we were gifted with a view of the Spouting Rock waterfall, where water rushes out of a hole in the rock.
Rock Climbing in the Narrows - single pitch sport rock climb near Carbondale, CO
A little town called Aspen...
A few hours later, we were on the road to Aspen. We walked around the city and visited some of the shops, and I made an impromptu purchase of a North Face insulated jacket. We went for a little walk on a trail out of town up the slopes. Cole was quite excited by the intermittent aspen groves. Alan gave us a call, and we agreed to meet in Carbondale to go climbing at the Watchtower, where we had climbed the previous year.
Rock climbing at the Watchtower in the Narrows.
On our way there, we could see a huge rainstorm washing down the valley of the Crystal River. I had a bad feeling we weren't going to be able to climb, but nonetheless we drove to the parking lot and met up with Alan and his friend Nate. The rain had passed, but we were skeptical that the climbing wall would be dry enough to climb. We decided to hike up to the wall and scope it out. As luck would have it, it was dry. It was running late in the day, so Cole hiked back down to the cars to get some headlamps. I lead on the familiar Night School (5.8, 1 pitch, 60ft). With some slippery rock at the crux, I pumped my arms out and was unable to finish the climb. Nate lead another climb to the right, which was probably "Needs More Cowbell", but is not listed online. At this point the sun had set and darkness had enveloped us, and we were climbing with our headlamps under the night sky. Alan finished Night School, by bypassing the crux to the left, and Nate was able to free it on top rope. I top roped the route and successfully made it over the crux. The other route was also a fun climb, and Cole climbed the routes as well, while Darien cheered us on.
We hiked back down to the cars and jumped in to relax with a beer in the hot springs in the river. There were quite a few other people hanging out in the pools as well. It was a beautiful night with the cold mountain air and brilliant constellations of stars overhead. When we left, I'm pretty sure we drove back to Alan's place and made some frozen pizzas or pasta or something.
Maroon Bells - hiking near Aspen, CO
Darien, myself, Cole, and Alan hiking at the Maroon Bells with Maroon Lake in the background.
The next day Alan took off work and the four of us drove down to Aspen to visit the Maroon Bells, where Alan and I had gone backpacking three years before. We ate lunch at Justice Snow's (again), before taking the shuttle bus from Four Mountain Sports up to the Maroon Bells trailhead. The views were breathtaking. The aspens showered golden leaves onto the forest floor, and the Maroon Bells
The Maroon Bells as seen from the trailhead visitor center.
Alan, Cole, and I being goofy.
towered in the distance. We hiked from Maroon Lake to Crater Lake, which lies below the Maroon Bells. Adolfo and Kristen were attempting to climb Maroon Peak that day. gone missing, and they were searching for him. Despite that sad news, we enjoyed the view of the mountains and the aspen trees at Crater Lake for some time, before hiking back to the trailhead. The round trip distance was ~3.5 miles.
On the hike in, we had seen a rescue helicopter searching the mountain, and I asked a park ranger what had happened. They said a climber had Gold Butte - single pitch sport rock climb near Aspen, CO
The view of the valley from Gold Butte climbing area near Aspen.
After spending a few hours at the Maroon Bells, we were back in Aspen and headed out of town a few minutes to the Gold Butte climbing area. It was situated overlooking a beautiful valley, and after a quick snack I lead up "Flake Armour", a fairly straightforward 5.6-5.7 on the east face. We left a rope for Cole and Darien to climb the route, and Alan belayed me as I lead climbed "Dusty Ridge Direct", on the arete between the east face and the upper southwest face. It is rated between a 5.6 and a 5.8+, but definitely felt more challenging due to the longer pitch and high winds wrapping around the unprotected southwest face. It was really quite a fun climb. After Cole climbed the route, we then walked around to a route on the upper
Me climbing "Flake Armour" on the east face with Alan belaying.
southwest face that I think was "Hero Loop", a 5.9/10. It was filled with fist sized holes in the rock, but was surprisingly difficult for me to climb. A little over halfway up, I took my first ever lead fall which shook me up a little. In a way, it was good to finally fall on a lead climb, as I had some fear of it ever since I had started leading. Alan was surprised I had never fallen on lead, as he apparently fell just weeks after I taught him. Nonetheless, I was pumped and couldn't finish out the climb, so Alan lowered me down.
Cole descending a top rope climb of "Dusty Ridge Direct".
At this point, the sun had set, so we decided to retrieve our gear by top roping. After hiking up to the top of the cliff, Cole and I belayed Alan over the edge. After he was anchored to the chains, we threw the rope down and I went below to belay him. Cole and Darien went back to retrieve our other rope and gear from the east face, and I belayed Alan who retrieved our gear from "Hero Loop". By the time we made it back to the car, it was dark. On our way back to Glenwood, we stopped in Carbondale for a delicious dinner and beer at Carbondale Beer Works. Glenwood Hot Springs - hot spring spa on a rainy day in Glenwood Springs, CO
Cole, Darien, and I enjoying the hot springs on a drizzly day.
We woke up the next morning to a gloomy, cold, drizzly day... perfect for relaxing at the outdoor hot spring spa! Cole, Darien, and I (Alan had to work again) went to Glenwood Hot Springs Resort for a relaxing morning of watching the mist slide down the mountains while staying warm in the pool. It was a little uncomfortable knowing that Adolfo and Kristen were out in the mountains somewhere, attempting to climb the Maroon Bells (although, not as uncomfortable as they actually were, huddled in their tent under freezing rain for a few hours before deciding to bail). I was glad to be relaxing and enjoying myself, and planning our summit attempts around the weather. It would have been miserable climbing in those conditions. Aside from the drizzle at lower elevations, the mountains received freezing rain and several inches of snow. Of course, we couldn't see the new snowfall at that time because of the mist and cloud cover.
Celebrating Alan's birthday with Kristen and Adolfo.
After towelling off, we drove up to Silt to visit Alan as he got off work, and Cole and Darien said goodbye. They continued on towards the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. The next day, I prepared my gear while Alan went to work, and met up with Adolfo and Kristen in town when they arrived on their bus from Aspen. We went out to lunch at Glenwood Canyon Brewpub where we shared stories of our adventures, and then checked out their AirBnB rental which was downtown overlooking the river and mountain. It was a second floor suite, with a beautiful porch and interior design (marijuana-themed). Later that evening, we celebrated Alan's birthday with dinner at The Italian Underground Restaurant. We then parted ways, and Alan and I headed back to his place to prepare for our backpacking trip and summit attempt the next day.
With the recent snowfall, now clearly visible on Mount Sopris and some of the other mountains, we debated our objective. Alan was concerned about climbing Capitol Peak, a class 4 route on a ridge, with the fresh snow. We came to an agreement that it wasn't in the cards for us this year, and decided we would make another attempt on Snowmass Mountain via the approach from Snowmass Creek Trailhead. We had attempted this route two years before, so we knew the area fairly well. The weather looked stable, and we went to bed feeling confident about what the next day would bring. Snowmass Lake - backpacking trip on Maroon-Snowmass Trail
Backpacking through the aspen forest along Snowmass Creek.
In the morning, Alan and I drove down to the Snowmass Creek Trailhead. The scenery was magical. Capitol Peak was blazing white, covered in fresh snow. After seeing the snow, I decided to wear my mountaineering boots instead of my hiking boots. I had also purchased a pair of microspikes, and left the crampons at home. We started hiking, and unlike the last time we were here, we were well rested and in good spirits. The Snowmass Creek approach is an 8 mile hike up an elevation gain of 2,600ft to Snowmass Lake. Being familiar with the trail, we didn't stop very much except to take pictures and admire the absolutely stunning scenery. We hiked through the aspen forests and came to the halfway point where we could the backside of North Snowmass. We then continued on through the valley into more open ground, crossed the log jam, and saw a red fox
The scenery was just unreal during our hike.
by the creek. We then followed the switchbacks up into the evergreen forest. We started coming across snow on the ground, which was steaming into the air under the bright sun. When I approached the waterfalls near the lake, the scenery turned to that of a winter wonderland. The ground, the pine trees, everything was covered in snow and gleaming under the sun. My heart was pounding with excitement and appreciation of the beauty around me. For the third time in my life, I came to the shore of Snowmass Lake and took in the majesty of Snowmass Mountain. I'm not sure that there is a more beautiful sight on all the Earth.
Backpacking along Snowmass Creek Trail, with North Snowmass visible across the valley.
Once we arrived, and the initial euphoria of the beauty and the anticipation of climbing had worn off, I began to appreciate the challenge that lay before us. The mountain was fairly dry, with a few inches of snow part way up. Having been on the mountain before and familiar with the talus and scree, Alan
Alan walking along the creekside trail where the valley opens up.
and I both realized this was quite possibly the worst possible condition to climb in. There was enough snow to cover some of the holes between individual rocks, but not enough to just walk right over the scree fields and avoid tripping and falling. We each took some time to think about the situation, and we ate our dinners on our own. We had both packed a homemade chicken, hummus, spinach wrap, and it was nice to eat real food in this remote area. Since we were alone, all of the campsites were open. We set up my new four season tent in the same campsite we had used every time we had been there. It was cold, but nonetheless we set about tasks such as replenishing our water supply.
Alan crossing the log jam over Snowmass Creek.
The insoles of my feet were pretty sore, and when I took off my boots I saw why. I had developed huge blisters on the inside arches of my feet. This, combined with the light snow, factored in to our reluctant decision to abort our attempt of Snowmass Mountain. We made little snowmen, and I broke out two mini bottles of Maker's Mark whisky and we toasted to Alan's birthday. We brewed some hot tea, which did wonders in restoring energy and happiness, but I don't recommend spiking it with Maker's Mark. With our food stowed in a bear cannister, we stowed our bags away from
Alan enjoying dinner on the shore of Snowmass Lake.
camp and watched the sun set behind the mountain. We briefly considered packing up and hiking out in the middle of the night to attempt another mountain early in the morning, but once asleep, our 3am alarm had no chance of rousing us. We slept in until sunrise.
In the morning, we shook the ice off the tent and broke it down. Alan went ahead to do some fishing at the ponds in Snowmass Creek in the valley on the hike out. I finished packing up, took a final look at the mountain which was beckoning me under the clear blue sky, and turned around and hiked back out. I met up with Alan while he was fly fishing, and after catching a trout or two, we finished backpacking out. Despite our disappointment at being foiled by Snowmass once again, we were happy to be in this place. We were alone, or very near alone, in this part of the wilderness. The sky was clear, the air was cold, and the views unbeatable.
Snowmass Mountain and Snowmass Lake with fresh snow and clear blue skies.
We drove back to Glenwood Springs and met up with Alan's friend Arnel. We went to visit Doc
On the trail with Alan and Arnel to Doc Holliday's grave.
Holliday's grave, which was an interesting and easy hike. The cemetery was in remarkable shape considering how old the tombstones were. We then met up with some more of Alan's friends at Glenwood Springs Brew Garden to watch the Presidential Debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Arnel and I agreed to attempt to climb Mt. Elbert, Colorado's highest fourteener, the next day while Alan was at work.
Mt. Elbert (14,433ft) - day climb up Northeast Ridge Route near Twin Lakes, CO
Arnel with his truck at Independence Pass.
Around 6am in the morning, Arnel picked me up from Alan's and we set off in his pickup truck towards Mt. Elbert. We drove over Independence Pass and then continued on to the Twin Lakes. We initially drove up a 4x4 only road that I realized was not the approach we were intending to start from. When we turned around, there was a truck blocking the road. He had broken a U-bolt, and his axle was barely staying attached to the truck as he finally backed out of our way. We continued on to the trailhead for the Northeast Ridge route and started hiking at noon. After reaching the treeline, I realized just how far we still had to go. The climb is a Class I and basically follows a
Arnel at the treeline during our ascent of Mt. Elbert.
footpath, with minimal scrambling, all the way to the top. There were several false summits, and Arnel was climbing slower than me. We had cell phone service the entire time, and I made phone calls to my girlfriend and my parents while waiting for Arnel to reach me. At 3:30pm, we had hit my hard turn-around time if we wanted to be back before dark. At this point, I ran through my options in my mind.
I had to leave early the next morning to catch a bus back to Denver in order to make my flight
home. I also wanted to be back in the evening to see Alan. But I also wanted to summit Mt. Elbert, and it was a beautiful day. I knew that the weather was going to be stable, and I had plenty of clothing, food, and water. I now regretted leaving my headlamp behind, a choice I made to 'save a few ounces' since I thought there was no way we would be out after dark. I learned that lesson. I also knew it was going to be a new moon that night, as I was going to be racing in the Harvest Moon Regatta during a Full Moon two weeks later. I checked my phone and saw that I had plenty of battery life left, so I decided we could use our phone screens for light. Given the situation, I decided to keep climbing, fully aware that we would be hiking down in the dark.
Summited Mt. Elbert (14,433ft) at 6pm!
I waited for Arnel at the summit ridge, and we walked up to the summit together. The view of the vast land around us was amazing. I could see Snowmass Mountain, Capitol Peak, and several other mountains that I recognized. It was 6pm when we summited and the sun was beginning to set. The light cirrocumulus clouds turned an orange-red as the sun began to set. The mountains cast huge shadows across the valley floor. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the view on the summit, which was Arnel's first fourteener, we then began our rapid descent.
On my way down, I ran into a climber running up the trail. It turned out he was the guy we had run into earlier that had broken his U-bolt on his truck. He had it towed to town, fixed it, and drove to the trailhead and hiked up. He was obviously moving much faster than us. I wanted to make it to the treeline by dark, and I figured we had about one hour of twilight. Once we made it to the treeline, the darkness was complete. I messaged Alan and let him know our plans around 8pm, and we started hiking down through the forest. Arnel walked behind me, holding on to my backpack, as I flashed my phone screen to illuminate the trail. After glowing for a few seconds, it would turn off, and I continued walking from memory for a few more seconds before turning on the screen again. We talked the entire way down in order to alert any nocturnal animals to our presence. Arnel also carried a handgun, although I wasn't really sure what good that would do us in the pitch black if we did need it. Nonetheless, I felt pretty comfortable with the situation, and once my phone died I used Arnel's. After two hours of hiking in the pitch black darkness, we made it back to the truck.
Descending Mt. Elbert under the beautiful sunset.
We were both pretty exhausted after spending 10 hours hiking, and we still had another two hours or so to reach Glenwood. Once I got back, Alan was already asleep, and I packed up my stuff and finally hit the hay at about 2am.
Waking up at around 5am, I had breakfast with Alan before he drove me to the bus stop. I said goodbye, and rode the bus back to Denver. Since I was a little early, I had lunch at Wynkoop Brewing Company in downtown Denver where I enjoyed a grilled salmon club sandwich washed down with craft beer. I then hopped on the train to the airport, and flew home.
This trip to Colorado was unique, as it seems every trip is. I felt that we had made good decisions (except leaving my headlamp behind) and I felt revitalized with the positive energy I feel when I go to the mountains. This trip had been a little more laid back, but we did everything in style. And the fall colors, the snow, and the scenery could not be beat. It was good to meet up with so many of my friends. I also went through a difficult time in my relationship with my girlfriend during this trip, and being in the mountains helped me see things more clearly. There is no better environment for finding peace than in the mountains, and for finding happiness than surrounded by good friends. Check out the video below:
