Holy Cross, and then some!

Oh, what a great pre-Labor day weekend it was! And let me say from the start, that part of Holy Cross Wilderness we chose to spend two and half days in - was THE most beautiful place either one of us have visited in big ol' USofA (and we know we have been around, not to mention the Colorado trail and a (small) bunch of Colorado mountains we had already explored). FULL ALBUM HERE

A few things to mention. First weekend of September being a 3-day weekend, and my new (not very severe) goal of summiting as many 14-ers (class1, 2, and then possibly "some" 3) in the next couple of years had me pinning Mt. Huron, then an overnighter. But, since I don't care where to go, as long as I am in the mountains, and I want my honey to be happy and have a hand in making plans, I let him do the picking. Well, he "stalked" our friend Annie's Strava, and one of her pre-Leadville runs was in the area with oh, so many lakes. Larry's new hobby is fly-fishing (and he just got himself a new Tenkara kit, in addition to his fly rod), and lakes are a must in our outdoors venturing from now on. It doesn't hurt that I ADORE alpine lakes. I could live happily without ever seeing an ocean (again), or putting my feet in any body of water, but I can sit by the high alpine lake for hours, not bored - or hike by any number of however small (and similar looking) mountain lakes and still be in awe and take a million pictures (proof in photoalbum). Anyhow, he picked Mount of Holy Cross as our 14-er destination, then a make-up loop from there.

We left home on Friday afternoon (a man still has a job), drove through Leadville, took a dirt road to Halfmoon trailhead, and at 5:30 pm started on a 3.2 mile first-leg towards Mount of Holy Cross. And, holy cow, was it gorgeous from the get-go!

 

We took the last official campsite. Let me tell ya, as someone who backpacks for "speed attempts" a whole lot, and drops tent wherever it fits, having a campsite was a luxury I don't remember! It was nice! Huge flat open space, trees, boulder area away for cooking - with amazing views on a mountain range and a sunset. Who wouldn't love backpacking like that?!

The alarm went off at 4:55, simultaneously with a pair of male voices walking by. 15 minutes later we were hiking up towards our 14-er, equipped with a running vest, leaving our tent and the rest of the gear behind for now. Darkness was slowly giving way to some light, the steps over boulders were steep, and the trail was relentless. Soon we over-took those 2 guys, and then a pair of gals (ha on 50+ year old's kicking the young pups). With that, and nobody coming down, we were bound to be the first of the day to summit Mount of Holy Cross. A well worthy of mentioning, if you don't mind - plus it's always super-special to have a summit all to ourselves!

As we hit the ridge before the fila push, the sunrise lit up the sky. Oh, the glory of rising sun! Life can't get any better than that. The temperatures was way below freezing, and the kick in the nuts came with that last push straight up scrambling hand over foot boulder field. But it wasn't too long, and we got the summit, alone, with 360 degrees views! Even if with completely frigid air and a crazy blowing wind picking up. Not quite feeling the fingers, I fumbled with a piece of paper that I prepared and we took turns for the photo-op.

All of it lasted, I am not kidding, 2 minutes max. Because, seemingly out of the blue, clouds rolled in, the wind blew harder, and it started grappling and snowing, stinging hard every part of the body not covered! That was a mad dash down that very boulder field, for sure! Adding insult to an injury, the rock got more slick with being covered now with fresh sleet sort of thing, and our hands felt zero grabbing whatever we could to not tumble down. By the time the ridge came, the "whiteout" stopped, and we could exhale - as well as see those two pairs of summit-ers (and later many, many more).

We got back to our campsite, and after eating some snacks, broke down the tent, packed up, and prepared for the next leg of our journey. Because, the plan was not that straight forward, to say the least.

Larry being Larry, he found on Google map that we could connect from the Holy Cross trail to a trail on the OTHER mountain range, across the river, if we "simply" bushwhack down the gully between two ridges about 2.5 miles and cross that water body. Well, lets just say, neither one of us expected quite THAT. Between the route finding, getting through brush, crawling over huge rocks, and trying not to cliff-out in the process, those 2.5 miles took us over 2.5 hrs. And that crossing? Sucking mud bottom (even not looking deep) was not an option, though lucky for us there was a beaver pond up some above where we dropped, and we crossed over the "bridge" built by beavers. Thanks!

We still had to cross hole-filled field of grass, but at last, we found a trail on the other side! "Back on trail, man, shit!". 10 minutes later, we did our best impersonation of IBTAT (drop the poles at the camp) and took a 5 minutes rest and recharge. We had some re-assessment to do on the miles ahead...

The original plan had us go another 10 miles from there, up and over a ridge, and a connector to Missouri lake. Well, the "dropping down the mountain" took over twice as much, in length and time, than anticipated, plus three times the energy we were willing to spend. So, we cut that portion of the day shorter, by good 4 miles that is, and decided to have an early camp at yet another lake (did I mention how many lakes this area has?!?) just a short 0.2 mile off the trail up on the ridge. After all, I swore to Larry that our "together" hikes are done for a completely different reasons than my own _push the physical boundary", and I wasn't lying. I wanted to really enjoy ALL the parts of backpacking, which includes camping, relaxing, sitting still.

We walked in complete jaw-open state, by the snaking river, with the most grandiose sheer rock walls around us, and inside the valleys slowly changing colors to Fall. What a gift to be able to travel far in the heart of the mountains - and not soul around. We made it to the Harvey lake and set camp by 4 pm. Which gave us plenty of time to fly-fish, build fire (and stare at it), cook dinner, drink tea, and be inside the tent by 7 pm. Such a nice time after a grueling experience getting off that mountain (truly, if something was to happen, we would have never been found). Also, we camped right in the midst of blueberry field all around us, a true gem of a unexpected present!

We didn't set any alarms, but of course by 6 am nobody was going to stay in. Besides, because we shortened the previous day's mileage, it meant only one thing - the following day had to be longer. A full 16 miles, with 2 ridges, each going over 12,600 feet. There was no time to waste. It was well below freezing that morning, and since the trail took us by the river, the grass and lots of ground was covered in real frost. Fall is definitely in the air, and the winter is not far behind. While the cities in Central Colorado are still breaking heat index at above 80F, deep in the mountains it is a prevalence of yellow colors and sub-30 degrees at night. Hello, change of seasons...

Eventually, the sun came up from behind the mountain and gave warmth to the valley. We stripped our layers, just in time for the first pass climb. Fancy pass had two-step approach (with more lakes on the "shelf" of it, and some other backpackers camping), so it felt quite easy, plus it was our first of the day, and still in the cool air. Besides the pure beauty, let me just add one thing here: to all of you out there dog owners, if you can't train your dog well enough to listen to your command, and your dog is not behaving according to societal norms (a.k.a. running crazy at people and following them while barking), please keep your pet on the leash! Your "he's friendly" does NOT make an excuse. Really, it's a dog, and if it doesn't listen to you - how do you know your cuddly little bear is not going to get triggered? What if some of us don't really want to say "hello" to the slobby jumping monster? And what if some of us have PTSD after being bit by a dog (or two) and have a strong reaction to any animal running directly at us? Just saying, use your brain cells. I'll let you know if your house pet is cute and I am dying to scratch its ear.

The second pitch up the Fancy pass was steeper, more rocky, yet shorter. We made it in one breath, also fueled by the words exchange and trying to shake it off. Besides, we wanted to get out of the shade!

Down below was a Fancy lake, a popular hiker/backpacker destination, with a separate trailhead some 2 miles away. Unfortunately for us, we still had way over 12 miles to go...and this is where Larry mentioned there will be another pass, too. Not that it mattered to me that much, but I certainly was greatly concerned for his well being. I mean, I love suffering, it's a big part of my persona. My man, on another hand, really prefers to enjoy the experience differently:) More mountain views as we meandered through Holy Cross wilderness, and at an intersection, we had that trail that was to take us straight up the last pass, as before in two "steps"...and it was looming. We quickly made a short stop for Larry to fish for cutthroat at Hunky Dory lake, and then, as Larry put it, went on "Lets crash it" mode.

That middle shelf was absolute gorgeous, and the views all around (with a bunch of lakes, of course) were breathtaking. Which was a good thing, because the next push was steep, hard, and nocked even my smile off my face for a few minutes. Though it is exactly where I also was dreaming about another CT FKT attempt. As I said, I am a sucker for suffering and physical punishment...

The other side was just as beautiful! Sadly, the descend was just as steep and rocky for the first mile and half, and there's nothing more I dislike in hiking than exactly that. My feet were becoming beat up, and Larry's tolerance to mileage and heat was getting lower by the minute. Views of Constantine lake perked us up just a touch, because it meant we were within 4 miles from being done.

Of course, somehow 4 miles turned into 5 (damn maps), and at some point all we were doing just trying to be fast and efficient and get 'er over with. Yes, even the most gorgeous mountains can be not enjoyed at some point, and you know it.

Well, by 3 pm, we were in the car, driving home, and fully forgetting the not-so-fun parts, already planning the next backpacking adventure. This thing is really contagious, and I can't wait to see what next mountain range will bring us! No rest until November is upon us, gotta use the warm-er days and clear trails!

p.s. we stopped by Leadville on the way out to visit Annie

p.p.s. sometimes even I am bewildered how the hell do I hike 45 miles a day (3 times of what we did day 2 or 3) with a backpack weighing extra 15 lbs, for a handful days in a row. I guess the saying is true: mind over matter, it's all in a head.

Wednesday 9/8/21

September Pikes Peak summit is off the list. Boy, was I tired and slow! If on the way up my body held up ok (I wasn't even power-walking, just walking), on the way down I was fully pooped. But, the tourist season is over, and #9 is done. No wonder I was barely moving, in the last 12 days, between that trail marathon and today's Pikes Peak, I accumulated 30,000 feet of vert climb!