One thing that I forgot to mention about the hike in Coyote Gulch are the amazing arches that we saw. These huge rock arches of red rock that towered about us. We also saw some from much farther away at Natural Bridges National Monument. Some extended over 140 feet across there.
After Coyote Gulch, we decided to walk through some tight canyons nearby that we thought would be fun... Spooky, Peek-a-Boo, and Brimstone Canyons. This was to be one of Avram's highlights of the whole trip. He wants to go back there but with a wetsuit, headlamp and breathing apparatus next time. We started with Spooky, thusly named because of the narrowness of the cave and you can go around corners and not see the person behind you. Even though this canyon was 3 ft. in width most of the way, you could see above about 12 feet or more. We picked the perfect time of day since the sun was part of the sliver of sky that you saw. If you're claustrophobic, this was not the hike for you.
Next, we went to Brimstone, Avram's favorite. This hike started with a cemetary. We saw a dead mouse, a dead baby mouse, a bat and a dead bird. We think there had been a flash flood there that caught these animals by surprise. This was an omen or sorts for us. We continued through and walked through some pretty fetid, gross water until we could see the water continued the rest of the way. Well, the walls were narrow, about 3 feet or less, and when the water reached my neck I stopped. Avram decided that the cow pies/poop floating in the water weren't going to spoil his fun so he continued. We both had taken off our day packs and the stench in there was starting to get to my nose so I stayed near the packs. Well, Avram did reach a spot where he could no longer touch the bottom and all those floating cow pies must have greased the walls well enough that he couldn't tread water very well. A vallant effort though. Then we re-traced our steps back.
The last was Peek-a-Boo Canyon. This one began with a mud pool in front of the entrance and one which you had to climb up into. The element that made this canyon difficult was that there must have been rain recently as every turn you made seemed to have a pool of muddy water in front of you. We had also been warned the a baby rattler was at the end. This made me a little nervous. I didn't want to have another injury so soon after my first one. And could Avram have sucked out all the venom or at least carried me back. I don't know, I ate a lot of tortellini the night before... But we never saw the snake and had fun climbing up slippery rock and landing in muddy water.
We were good and dirty now so we headed for a campground with showers and flush toilets. The greatest thing about campgrounds is that they can't turn you away if they have space. And not only that but most of the people that run them are so friendly. I really appreciated this when on any given night we came rolling in and a campground host would come out to meet you and talk with you and tell you where you could camp, even if you smelled like a sewage pile. They would smile and ask you where you had been. Is this a great country or what? So we went to one such friendly campground and on my way to the bathroom, an older man who worked there smiled and said hi and struck up a short conversion with me. Please keep in mind that I hadn't showered in about 5 days and it probably seemed like 5 months.
That day was a catch up on your life day. We called our parents and stocked up on food and ate some hamburgers. I discovered this summer how much I like hamburgers. Maybe it was all the dehydrated food that we ate. I don't know but I craved a good hamburger about 6 times at least. While Avram was talking to his mom on the phone, I decided to aquaint myself with the locals of the town. First I met a man that had grown up in the area and still owned a hotel there even though he lived in California. He told me about his dad and how he had settled there. Then I spoke with his son who seemed to be in his 30's. He said he wanted to tell me about some cool spots but they were secrets for locals only. I understood. Then I went and spoke with the lady in the information building. She was really nice and told me about how her husband and she owned cattle and how they made a living there. Next, I spoke with a couple who were retiring there and their experiences. Everyone was so friendly and had time to talk. I love small towns.
We headed off again and went to Boulder Mountain. I think that I was ready to be at a higher elevation for a while where the sun wouldn't bake me. Avram and I found a pretty spot and instead of leaving the next day, we decided to go for a hike. Now, I have heard about all the cattle grazing in the west but I realized this summer how many cows there are out there and it's amazing. Ranchers pay next to nothing to the government to let their cows roam EVERYWHERE and it was annoying after a while. The particular cows that we saw this day ran from us and most have assumed that we were hearding them because they fell in line quickly. After the cows, we reached a nice lookout where we could see the whole area. Incredible.
Next, we headed off to Moab. Since the rangers there didn't think that it would be a good idea to cross the Colorado River at a narrow spot in Canyonlands, we decided to take the locals' advice and headed for the La Sal Mountains. We spent 4 days there, sometimes walking on ridge lines and sometimes walking on dirt roads. It was beautiful scenery and one of the highlights of the summer for me. One night we even heard a pack of coyotes. It sounded like a group of giggling teenage girls yelling out. The next day we saw a carcass not too far from our camp. How nice, our neighbor's brought us a welcome basket and said hello. There's not too much to write about this area. Just amazing scenery that I know I'll go back to, maybe for some backcountry skiing.
Now it was time to leave Utah and head back to Colorado. continued later... Susie
I believe there was some confusion and most people did not receive the second summer story in the series. My sincerest apologies. I'm not sure what happened but I'm trying to save copies of the emails too, as a sort of diary, so if you got confused and didn't receive the 2nd email. I re-sent it. Let me know if you have any further problems.
So now that I'm back in Denver I've been reading a book entitled "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Some of you may have read it already or be familiar with the author. It's a good book and at times laugh-out-loud humor. He seems to capture certain feelings or thoughts of backpacking pretty well. His book is about hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and although my thoughts are different on certain subjects, it has been a good read. One thing that he writes about that I can relate to is how simple your needs become when you carry everything you need on your back. It's a very gratifying experience. There is never anywhere that you HAVE to be, time becomes relative, and you can concentrate on the basics in life---food, water, walking, entertainment, and health (meaning that you are not too hot or cold and feeling generally ok). That was my life for 2 months. Everything else became an added bonus. "You mean that I can eat some ice cream 2 days from now?" or "I can shower for 8 glorious minutes with soap when I wake up and the bugs won't bother me? Get out!" I learned to appreciate everything more.
So last thing was that Avram and I left the La Sals and headed back to Colorado... We visited with Avram's cousins who live just outside Telluride and camped in their backyard. You might think that we craved a bed but there was some nice continuity in staying in the tent near a town with lots of people (5000 or so). Some habits are hard to break. So I met Susan, Allen, their twin daughters Bailey and Liana as well as Avram's dad, Dennis, and Susan's sister. Everyone was very hospitable, excellent Boogle players, excellent chefs and bakers, and amazingly knowledgable when it came to recommending movies. A veritable cornocopia of knowledge. While there we climbed up bear creek and didn't even have to walk down since the gondola in Telluride is open to public transportation. What a great town. And it saved my poor knees.
Now right about this time I started to try to figure out just how many miles we had walked so far. I was adding up all the backpacking, day hikes, and nightly strolls we had done. I figured that we had averaged about 5 miles a day. This doesn't/didn't seem like much and I was a little disappointed. But then I started thinking about it and I had taken a week off from the trip to travel back to Denver and there had been some days, though not many, when we were driving and/or not hiking at all. This made me feel a little better.
While I was at Telluride, I decided that I would volunteer for the upcoming film festival that takes place Labor Day Weekend. Sounded like fun seeing a bunch of new movies, hiking around the area, and schmoozing with the stars and directors. Why not, I'm an unemployed vagabond with some time on my hands.
Next, we headed towards Aspen, Colorado, to visit with Chris Barbour, a good friend from college. We had talked about doing a hike from Aspen (the Marroon Bells Wilderness Area) to Crested Butte. The hike was supposed to be 11 or 12 miles and beautiful with wildflowers everywhere. Now, to see us hike was probably pretty funny if you watched us closely. Chris, who bikes and runs regularly, easily left Avram and I in the dust. You may think that since we had been hiking for a while that we would be in such good shape and tearing up the trail. No, no, no. Unfortunately our packs were heavier since we were planning on backpacking after we departed ways with Chris and all that gear tends to add some weight. But mostly I kept telling myself "Chris lives at a higher elevation. He's used to it. Plus he runs and bikes a lot. His pack is lighter." Things like that became the running monologue in my head, nearly a mantra. So Chris sped off with the smaller pack. Avram was last with his mega backpack (complete with tent and food) and I was somewhere in between with the medium-sized pack. It was akin to the story of the 3 bears.
We had a beautiful walk over to Crested Butte with the wildflowers at their peak near the mountain pass. We stayed at the hostel there in town and had the BEST burger of the summer. I even had a Fat Tire beer. After saying goodbye to Chris, Avram and I headed back to the trail and walked toward Copper Lake. It's always hard getting back on the trail. My back had to adjust to my pack, even after only a twelve hour break. We saw the most amazing sunset that night while a doe ate some grass within 10 feet of our tent. Wow.
Next day we endured a rain/hail storm to get to Triangle Pass. The clouds were rolling in and we heard some thunder a little ways off. This was a little bit scary, being as high as we were, but it was such impressive views and really, how often do you get to experience nature like this so close and personal? I was smiling the whole way up. Avram was too since there is nothing that makes him happier than an uphill climb. Except maybe stinky canyons.
Then I kept smiling the whole way down since I knew that we would be seeing some natural hot springs before we set up camp for the night. This hike was something that we had talked about for a couple of weeks, at least. Soaking in a 102 degree pool at about 12,000 feet with no signs of civilization. We weren't dissappointed. Knowing that there would be other people there, we tried to make sure that we would be there during the week when it was less crowded and we met some really nice people there. I found it hard to pull myself out of the water (let's not forget that high altitude means chilly weather) so I planned well beforehand. We brought everything that we needed to make dinner to the hotsprings with us and ate it in the spring. The next day, we spent the better part of the day soaking and talking to our neighbors (about 7 hours). Luckily, we were ready to leave the next day and caught a ride into Aspen. We stayed with Chris Barbour and his roommate Beth for a night and had an ice cream taste-off. I still claim that Dreyers makes the best ice cream. Vanilla rules!
I will save the last installment for later. Hope you are enjoying this Susie
Did everyone get #5? Let me know if you didn't. Ah computers.... I just typed the final email and wouldn't you know that I lost it due to using my back browser button. I'll try again....
I've been reading this book called "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson who recounts his hike along the Appalachian Trail and even though I see some things differently, he hits on some goods points. I am really enjoying it. There is something about being away from the rest of the world that's wonderful... You forget the day and time becomes relative. You get on your own schedule because there is really never anywhere you have to be. The most important, basic things that I found were water, food, walking, health and entertainment. Everything else was just a bonus. "You mean that we can eat ice cream and hamburgers in 3 days? Is this a great country or what?" And it always took some adjustment being around people and towns again.
So we headed for Colorado after the La Sal Mountains.... Avram has some family in Telluride that we visited. Susan and her family really spoiled us with good food, some Boogle, good conversation and an amazing amount of movie knowledge. We still slept in the tent outside because sleeping on a floor or couch seemed a little strange. Although the first night I was ready to sleep anywhere since I was ready to go to sleep like usual--about an hour after the sun goes down.
Next, we went up to the Aspen area to meet up with Chris Barbour, a college friend. He and his roommate Beth kindly offered their couch and floor for the evening. The next day we headed off to hike from the Maroon Lake (in the Maroon Bells Wilderness area) to just outside Crested Butte. There were some amazing wildflowers out and quite a few people as well. Chris said that this is the most photographed area in Colorado. With all the people, I can believe it. Beautiful scenery. The funniest part was watching the three of us hike. Chris was at the lead keeping a break-neck pace with a small pack (He was only going to hike to Crested Butte and then head back. We planned on backpacking with tent and equipment.) So he is leaving our slow butts in the dust. I was next with a moderate pace trying to keep within eye distance of both Avram and Chris with my mid-weight pack. As I watched Chris, I had to continually remind myself "He's used to this elevation because he lives here. And he runs and bikes all the time... Besides, his pack is smaller" None of these running monologues really made me feel too much better since I had decided that he was in much better shape than me regardless. Even though I was getting there, I wasn't quite there yet I guess. And then Avram brought up the rear with the megapack. He was carrying most of the stuff and he just kept his usual pace. We looked something akin to the three bears.
In Crested Butte, I had the best burger of the summer. It was incredible. That was the highlight of the town for me. After we parted ways in the morning with Chris, Avram and I caught a ride up to Gothic and began our ascent to Copper Lake. It always seems to be hard to begin backpacking after a break, even if that break is only 12 hours or so. After watching an incredible sunset that night and regarding a doe about 10 feet away from our tent grazing, we retired for the night.
The next day was pretty exciting for us since this was going to be something we had been dreaming about for a couple of weeks. On our way back to Aspen is a hotsprings in the mountains at about 12,000 ft. The water is supposed to hover around 102 and you have to hike at least 9 miles in so they won't be too crowded. On the way up to the mountain pass (triangle pass) we encountered some rain and hail. Instead of drowning my spirits, it was incredible. It's not that often that you find yourself in the mountains in such conditions and everything is so close and green and beautiful. I felt the same when we got up high and the lightning and thunder were nearby. Mother nature is an awesome power. When we reached the hotsprings. NO ONE was inside. Avram and I had the presence of mind to realize that we weren't going to jump in and out of these heavenly waters. We brought our dinner and everything necessary to bunker down for the evening. At one point, I even considered the possibility of sleeping there, but didn't. I can still remember my pot floating in the water while I ate from my food pouch. Does it get any better?
So the next day, we had a 7 hour marathon in the spring and got to know our neighbors also camped up there. We had nicely planned our stay to be in the middle of the week but there were still quite a few people there... very friendly. Then the hail came again. None of us wanted to exit so we endured the pellets for a few moments and felt the water temperature drop a bit. The next day we decided to leave and went and stayed with Chris and Beth again. At their place we decided to have a taste-off to see which flavor was better--- chocolate or vanilla. We bought both and of course our previous inclinations rang true. Vanilla was by far the winner (Right Chris?)
Now, I began a few weeks before this to start totally up our miles. I like to do this while we were on the trail and was a little disappointed to find that we were only averaging 5 miles a day since we began in June. This included the breaks that we took away from hiking and driving days. I had a hard time believing that we hadn't walked more when I added up our backpacking, day hiking, and nightly strolls.
Since I was going to have to head back to Denver soon, we went to a wilderness area nearby called Elk Creek. As we walked a mile or more in though, we realized that the word wilderness may be a loose term employed by the park service. The only animals allowed to be in a wilderness area is a horse with a person on its back, not cows. We saw and smelled cow pies everywhere. This dampened our spirits a bit since we chose this area because it wasn't supposed to have cows. After about an hour, we decided to turn back and go somewhere else. This was one of the best decisions we made all summer.
Off to the Weminuche Wilderness Area. Why there? It's one of the biggest wilderness areas in Colorado. It's got to be good, and hopefully no cows. We weren't disappointed when we started the hike through aspen groves. Avram was nice enough to put up the food for the evening, away from and animals, and at the same time give us something fun to do in the morning since he had caught the string around the dead limb. He really is thoughtful to give us an interesting problem solver. The next day we tried our best to get the dead limb unentangled from the live tree, when all of a sudden, Avram realized that he could lift the dead trunk. He was extremely proud of himself, feeling a bit maybe like the Incredible Hunk. I can only compare this to the moment when I realized that my calf was actually two separate muscles and you could now distinguish them both of the backs of both my legs.
We hiked a while and set up camp with our second fire of the summer. I was excited. This was no easy feat since it was raining a little. Then the ranger came over to tell us all the rules of the wilderness area and it was ok to have a fire here but not in Chicago Basin... blah blah blah. She wasn't a very good representative of the NPS. She didn't come across and a good embassador etc. She didn't even ask us what we were doing, did we enjoy our day, etc. Bad trail ettiquette if you ask me. But her much younger ranger companion Josh was nice and he came over to the fire to do the aforementioned things. Nice guy. They were using llamas as their pack animal. I had never seen this before and was a little surprised.
The next day we headed up into the area where tons of people like to camp. Avram and I initially didn't realize that there were 14,000+ ft. mountains in the area but this drew many people who wanted to climb them and made the area a small version of Everest Base Camp. The weather the next day was rainy again. This dampened my spirits. I didn't really feel like walking in the rain today so I beseeched nature for just one day of sunshine plleeeeeassssse. We started on our walk with no particular goal in mind. Just walking when we decided to go up to Twin Lakes and have a look around. This was a ways up and once we got there, there was snow. Avram and I had a great time sliding down the snow slopes and finding snow drifts to climb up as if we were ice climbing (no tools though). We opted to go further and met a man who was waiting for the fog to pass over so he could photograph the mountains. As soon as the fog began to clear, we decided to go up a nearby mountain (Windom Peak). It was a great hike, maybe because of the weather clearing, maybe because of the fun run down the scree slope, maybe because of the sunshine that broke through and lighted up the whole basin area so that you could see all the peaks of the surrounding area. It was a great day and we didn't see a soul from then on, probably because of the previous weather that morning. That day was one of the highlights of the summer.
The next day we picked up and left. It was our second to last day and one of our longest walking days. For those of you who are somewhat familiar with the area between Silverton and Durango, there is a train that runs between these cities and it makes stops to drop off hikers who want to see the backcountry there. Well, on our nightly walk, we decided to walk along the train tracks. Erroniously, we thought that we were the only people camped there. But as we walked we saw some people eating dinner outside a lone train car and then walked further to encounter a quaint guesthouse in the middle of nowhere complete with hottub, pool, entertainment room, street lights lining the gravel road, etc. The next day was our last and Avram headed to see his friends John and Cathy and their kids while I headed for Denver, my current location. It was sad that the trip ended but I have plans to go to Nepal, Thailand, and New Zealand from Sept. to the end of April, so I am making arrangements for that now. I have been thinking of this trip for a while so now it's time to do it. I hope to contact as many people as I can before I leave but if I don't get the chance to talk to you all, I hope that you are having a wonderful summer and please write when you have the chance. And for any of you that are thinking you may want to travel in or near any of these countries, let me know so that we can possibly meet up.
Also, thank you John and Cathy for letting us use your place as our place. Thank you Susan, Allen, Bailey, and Liana for being so hospitable. Thank you Dennis for the wonderful meals in town. And Chris, thanks for letting us stay at your place.
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Click here for Susie's first three installments.
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