Through the Wilderness

Colorado Trail Day 11 – No Name Creek to Rock Creek, 17.1 miles

I wanted to try and make some miles today, as I had been thinking about trying to summit one of the upcoming 14,000+ foot peaks. I had the choice between Mt Massive  and Mt Elbert, but first I had to get close enough to set myself up for the climb.

The first few miles of the day were pretty smooth, traveling along a mix of old forest road, wide trail, and then onto single track.

Mid-morning I passed into Holy Cross Wilderness, the second Wilderness zone of the trail so far. The Colorado Trail is barely in the area, cutting across the southeast corner of the Wilderness in a mere eight miles.

It was a really beautiful eight miles though, ascending to over 11,700 feet. I passed by some really pretty alpine lakes, and through more wildflower-filled meadows.

My energy level wasn’t great through the day. I felt like I was dragging along a bit, and gave myself lots of rest time. I stopped for lunch at a small lake and was joined by a trail friend, Jumanji. I always enjoy having company for meals.

It was a long 1700-foot drop to the valley bottom, and I wasn’t too enthused to then have to climb out the other side, especially because there was a really steep section to get through, in the hottest most humid part of the day. It was definitely threatening to rain and storm again.

Not long after that I crossed into the Mount Massive Wilderness. This Wilderness area is a pretty small one and the Colorado Trail crosses through it in the span of 10 miles. Unfortunately you don’t get any views of the 14er from the trail.

The trail leveled out and I was able to cruise through a few more miles before reaching Rock Creek where I set up camp for the night. Even better, I stayed just ahead of the rainstorm, enjoying some afternoon sunshine instead.

Even with my lower energy I’d managed to make some good miles. Tomorrow I’d decide whether I’d summit a 14er.

Day 12 – Rock Creek to Mt Elbert tree line, 10.3 miles

For the first time on trail I slept in. I did it on purpose, feeling that I really needed some rest after the last few days. I woke up a couple times but rolled over and fell right back to sleep.

I decided to get moving around 8 am, but didn’t rush my morning. I usually just have a bar for breakfast and get rolling but this morning I took the time to make oatmeal and have a coffee.

I finally rolled out of camp a bit after 9 am. I didn’t make it far though! Within less than a mile I ran into CJ and Bambi who were taking their morning breakfast break.

Right as we were getting going DJ joined us. He was planning to summit Mt Elbert and had a similar plan to what I’d been thinking about – camp at tree line, wake up early and summit for sunrise. We decided to join forces.

It was fun to walk in a small group and have conversations shift and flow. We passed the turnoff for Mt Massive and dropped to Elbert Creek where we were greeted with a bit of trail magic! A fellow whose son had hiked the CT last year was handing out Gatorade and candy, exactly what we needed in the heat of the afternoon!

DJ and I took a long break by the creek, then started our climb. We had two miles of gradual ascent on the Colorado Trail, and then another two miles of steeper trail on the Mt Elbert spur trail.

We hunted around a bit at tree line until we  found a perfect campsite – some flat ground, some tree shelter and a bit of a view. In fact we had a great view of Mt Massive, and enjoyed watching the colours of the mountain change at sunset.

Then it was into our tents to try to catch some sleep before our 3 am alarm.