August 31st - The Saddle..and hiker trash in town!
Originally, I had wanted to get out of town this past weekend for a nice, long, hard backpacking trip.
I contemplated going up to the Medicine Bows/Snowy Range just over the Wyoming Border or perhaps the Rawahs. Both ranges I have not explored much and see little use.
But my plans changed.
I received a call from my CDT friend (who now lives in Boulder) Love Barge.
LB said how another CDT buddy Skittles is up in Steamboat Springs with Recess. Poor Recess had a case of giardia, needed to recuperate and could not hike for a while.
Long story short: I picked them up in Steam Boat and came back to the Boulder area via Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.
It was great seeing Skittles and Recess. I have not seen Skittles since near Wolf Creek Pass in 2006 when we hiked the CDT. All four of us had fun playing tourist on the road, we enjoyed the sites and we all christened my new apartment (that I moved in 2 days before!) in true hiker style: we ate a lot of food!!!
I still wanted to get in a hike, though.
So Saturday, I had planed to hike Fairchild Mountain. However, the impending clouds made me decide to hike to The Saddle instead. At 16 or so miles R/T and almost 4000' elev gain, it made for a nice, solid day hike.
The park, as expected, was busy.
However, once I was past the main trailhead area, the crowds dispersed.
The hike up to Lawn Lake was easy. I enjoyed the view towards my destination and the high 13ers of the Mummy Range surrounding me.
I continued my hike to The Saddle.
The appropriately named place connects the ends of the Mummy Range together and makes for the easiest approach to Fairchild.
However, with the black clouds building up, the mountain would have to wait for another day.
I enjoyed one last view from The Saddle and headed down.
The rest of the hike was uneventful but was a great way to unwind from the busy week.
I made it back to Casa Mags, we ordered some pizza had two more local hikers visit us and called it a night.
Labor Day was uneventful. But Skittles and Recess did get to finish up some needed chores.
And Tues morning? I drove Recess and Skittles up to Brainard Lake where they planned to go to Pawnee Pass on the Continental Divide, hook up to the CDT again at Monarch Lake and do some sort of flip-flop to continue their journey.
It was hard seeing them off. Not only was it the perfect Colorado Fall day (crisp air, blue skies, gorgeous mountains with a slightly coating of snow), but my friends were able to be on a long journey. Me? I had to go to the office and work. Waaah!
Not quite the weekend I planned, but enjoyable.
All the photos from The Saddle Hike
I contemplated going up to the Medicine Bows/Snowy Range just over the Wyoming Border or perhaps the Rawahs. Both ranges I have not explored much and see little use.
But my plans changed.
I received a call from my CDT friend (who now lives in Boulder) Love Barge.
LB said how another CDT buddy Skittles is up in Steamboat Springs with Recess. Poor Recess had a case of giardia, needed to recuperate and could not hike for a while.
Long story short: I picked them up in Steam Boat and came back to the Boulder area via Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.
It was great seeing Skittles and Recess. I have not seen Skittles since near Wolf Creek Pass in 2006 when we hiked the CDT. All four of us had fun playing tourist on the road, we enjoyed the sites and we all christened my new apartment (that I moved in 2 days before!) in true hiker style: we ate a lot of food!!!
I still wanted to get in a hike, though.
So Saturday, I had planed to hike Fairchild Mountain. However, the impending clouds made me decide to hike to The Saddle instead. At 16 or so miles R/T and almost 4000' elev gain, it made for a nice, solid day hike.
The park, as expected, was busy.
However, once I was past the main trailhead area, the crowds dispersed.
The hike up to Lawn Lake was easy. I enjoyed the view towards my destination and the high 13ers of the Mummy Range surrounding me.
I continued my hike to The Saddle.
The appropriately named place connects the ends of the Mummy Range together and makes for the easiest approach to Fairchild.
However, with the black clouds building up, the mountain would have to wait for another day.
I enjoyed one last view from The Saddle and headed down.
The rest of the hike was uneventful but was a great way to unwind from the busy week.
I made it back to Casa Mags, we ordered some pizza had two more local hikers visit us and called it a night.
Labor Day was uneventful. But Skittles and Recess did get to finish up some needed chores.
And Tues morning? I drove Recess and Skittles up to Brainard Lake where they planned to go to Pawnee Pass on the Continental Divide, hook up to the CDT again at Monarch Lake and do some sort of flip-flop to continue their journey.
It was hard seeing them off. Not only was it the perfect Colorado Fall day (crisp air, blue skies, gorgeous mountains with a slightly coating of snow), but my friends were able to be on a long journey. Me? I had to go to the office and work. Waaah!
Not quite the weekend I planned, but enjoyable.
All the photos from The Saddle Hike
posted by Paul Mags at 12:55 PM
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