Adventure Is Calling

This is the chronicles of our adventures in the wild outdoors of Colorado. We like to hike, camp, and sometimes climb mountains. Kim takes pictures and Chris teathers the pups-teamwork.

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Summiting Mt. Sherman- First Fourteener of The Season

Let me start off with the preference that I believe no Fourteener should fall into the category “easy” or even “moderate.” They are all difficult. Yes, some are more difficult than others, and some require a different level of technical skills. However, this being my 5th Fourteener since moving to Colorado (I don’t count riding the cog-rail up to Pikes Peak when I was younger), Mt. Sherman was the least difficult one I have done up to this point. 

(Looking up the road at the trail head from the car)

Mount. Sherman is about 10 miles south of Fairplay, Colorado and only requires some time on a bumpy dirt road. We woke up super early around 4:15 am to ensure we were done before afternoon thunder, and more importantly, lighting storms in the area. As a general rule, it is advised you should be heading back down the mountain by noon to avoid lightning hazards. Given many recent injuries and even deaths on Fourteeners this year, this caution was motivation enough to get my ass out of bed even though mornings are never my strong suite. I like sleep, but I would not want to get caught in a lightning storm because I was being stubborn. So we arrived at the trail head around 7 am and started our ascent. 

The trail starts at an old abandoned mine called Sherman Mine (hense the name of the mountain), quite cool actually, and a couple of streams and small lakes. Usually this is one of the toughest parts of a hike; the first 30 minutes as your body is adjusting to the exercise. The acclimation was much worse because the trail head starts at 12,000 ft, so breathing is labored right at the start. However, before we knew it, we were starting the steep ascent over loose gravel and rocks. 

I had to keep myself motivated most of the time, literally telling myself to take one step at a time, to keep moving my feet. The mental aspect is probably the most difficult part for me on a Fourteener. The steep inclines, the heaviness on your chest because of the altitude makes it harder to just walk as you would on a normal trail. To my surprise, we made excellent time though, and I felt like I was more so enjoying myself than feeling like complaining (which is a miracle believe me). 

#adventureiscalling

Yes, there were multiple “false summits” and yes, every time we encountered one I almost felt like giving up, but eventually we made it to the top. It took us only 2 hours to reach the summit, and I had planned for 3 so that felt like an accomplishment in itself.

The view at 14,036 feet was, of course, amazing and what makes these journeys so worth the effort. It was quite cold up there, requiring extra layers, but we were able to hang out for a while and have a snack.

(obligatory pic on the summit)

And a beer for Chris.

(Chris’ beer from #aspenbrewing)

The descent was much slower-going as you had to really take your time on all the loose rock and gravel. This is where our hiking poles really come in handy and provide much needed reassurance with every step down.

We hiked down past a mine graveyard and stopped for some photos.

As we were nearing the bottom, we still saw lines of people heading up the mountain. I was glad we were heading down because dark, angry looking clouds were already gathering around the summit.

At the bottom, we explored The Sherman Mine, which produced 10 million ounces of silver in its day between 1968 and 1982. Hard to imagine this place when it was active with everything in ruins today.

Arriving back to the car, I felt pretty good. I wasn’t as exhausted as I had been in the past and I had another accomplishment under my hiking belt. All in all it was a good day. 

The drive home was not so fun. It started to rain as soon as we started driving past Fairplay, and continued to pour all the way back home, making traffic stop and move slowly. We passed by an accident that appeared to have happened mere moments before; a small car, completely smashed in the front end, had turned 90 degrees and slid under the dividing fence on the highway. My gut just ached for them, and it really could have been anyone sitting in that car. It looked like a few cars had already stopped to help so we continued on, hoping everyone was alright. If nothing else, the rain reassured us that getting up before dawn had indeed been the wisest choice. 

[adventureiscallingco-blog]

A Short Day Hike To Maxwell Falls

I love the smell of pine forest and running water. That is exactly what you get with this day hike to Maxwell Falls. 

Access to the lower trail head is through Evergreen, Colorado which is a short 30-45 minutes from Denver depending on what part of the city you are coming from via i-70 west or 285 south. The town of Evergreen is a nice mountain town with a lake and wooden Boardwalk, good for picnics in the park or a stroll with the pups.

This is the second time we have hiked Maxwell Falls. The first time was around this same time last summer (2014) and really nothing has changed. This is a heavily trafficked trail for families and dogs. The trail starts off at a slight incline and winds its way close to the river. You encounter a fork in the road about a mile in, and we take the trail to the left as it breaks away from the crowd for about a half mile. The trail to the right is a shortcut to the falls and most people end up on this route.

This route is fairly exposed to the sun so its much warmer, but its worth it to get away from the crowds for a bit. We’ve seen hawks circling above and mushrooms and flowers along the forest floor.

We cross a small river running along side the trail as you meet up with the intersection to the upper trail head. This is where you start seeing most of the families with their children as its just a short distance to the parking lot from here. There are multiple, small water waterfalls as you follow the river down the path.

A couple hundred feet brings you to where the trail seemingly dead-ends on the top of Maxwell Falls. You can hear it rushing down the chasm and are able to climb up on some rocks to peer over in order to see the actual waterfall. This is also a good place to catch an amazing view... 

And catch some wildlife...

I am not sure if there is a trail down to the bottom, but for the more adventurous, you can scramble down the side and make you way to the bottom. Which of course we did. 

Getting the pups down was a challenge at times, and we sometimes had to pick them up and hand them off to each-other to make it down. One time, Caspian thought it would be great to jump over a large bolder, not being able to see the other side, and proceeded to slide down and get stuck on a tree branch. I will; never forget the look of sheer terror on his face. He was in no immediate danger, as the bolder was actually quite small but large for a Papillon so we just laughed and laughed. Maybe next time he wont leap before looking!

At the bottom, you can feel the power of the water tumbling down, and feel the spray as it hits the rocks. Pretty cool, well worth a couple of scratches obtained to get here.

After climbing back up, we decided to take another loop option called “Cliff Loop.” This basically takes you out unto the edge of the forest, giving you more great views and, of course, an #adventureiscalling photo op.

The trek back is pretty fast and we are done in no time. The total distance is about 4 miles from the lower trail head with the cliff loop option and took us around 3-4 hours total (with time allowed for stopping for a snack and taking pictures)

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The Mis-Adventure in Lost Creek Wilderness: Backpacking the Goose Creek Trail to Refrigerator Gulch (Day 1 of 3)

Chris and I decided that we needed an extended two-day backpacking adventure, so we took a day off work and invited my Dad to drive up from Albuquerque, NM to join us.

We wanted to try making our own food, instead of relaying upon expensive pre-prepared meals, so we bought a Nesco Food Dehydrator at Bed Bath and Beyond. Just a few items we dehydrated were blueberries, strawberries, apples, spinach and taco meat with re-fried beans. The fruit took the longest, almost 2 whole nights, before all the moisture was drawn out.

Dad arrived on Thursday night and immediately impressed us with his boy-scout mentality. He pulled out maps upon maps! He had spent entirely “too much time” in his words, preparing for this. He planned our route into Refrigerator Gulch from Goose Creek Trailhead, an approximately 6 mile hike. He gave us each a copy of the trial map and surrounding areas (which never made it into my pack, whoops!).

Our road trip was only supposed to take 2.5 hours taking 285 out of Denver and proceeding up to Platte River road. To our dismay, after a 7 mile drive, the we found the road was closed due to flooding so we turned around. I saw a few deer on the side of the road as those knuckle heads were both staring down maps and map apps trying to re-route us a different way. I earned a quarter for the first spotting of wildlife, a game my Dad often played with us as kids.

Finally, after a long, windy dirt road through burn scars, we arrived at the trail head at 11:00am and had lost no time with the detour. There were about 20 other cars there already, which was not a surprise.

We snap some pre-trip photos:

Finally, we hit the trail!

The trail follows the river for about 45 minutes, then climbs up the canyon.

We have to take many breaks because it was really hot in the high 80′s, low 90′s. With a 26 + pound pack, plus lots of steep uphill climbs, it made remembering to drink water easy.

...or did it?

Bella and Caspian looked forward to taking their water breaks at every mountain stream we had to cross. One of their favorite things to do on hikes is drink that cool, clear mountain spring water.

The views are worth the miles we were putting in. What a unique landscape with the sprawling mountains, low valleys and rock formations scattered in every direction.

#adventureiscalling

We find a aspen valley and I had to pause to take in the beauty.

And hug a tree of course!

When we had traveled about 6 miles in, my Dad kept checking the map and his GPS to figure out why we hadn’t reached the turn off for Refrigerator Gulch via McCurdy trail. He was also feeling the heat and started getting leg cramps. At one point we had to stop as he fell to the ground with a charlie-horse. He must have been dehydrated, and somewhat defeated, decided he couldn't go any further today.

It actually worked out that we stopped where we did because we were able to find the perfect camping spot next to the river with a little privacy from the trail.

We set up camp and filtered some water.

Dinner tonight was a Mountain House Spaghetti with meat sauce for us, and Pasta Primavera for dad.

I wanted to take advantage of the setting sun; perfect conditions for photographing rivers with a slow shutter speed. 

As I was setting up my tripod next to the river, Bella got loose and chased a squirrel down the trail. When I turned to yell at her, I heard my Dad scream “Kimberly!”

I was too late to stop my camera from tumbling down into the river below. I rushed down to pick it up, but it was already drowned with water. Ugh.

We opened up all the compartments as water dripped out, took out the batteries and SD cards, and let it dry out on a shirt. Completely depressed, we determined I wouldn't be using it any more this trip, and I prayed that I would be able to use it at all again.

With Day One complete, we had one drowned camera, one dehydrated Dad and we still hadn’t reached our destination. Would we ever make it to Refrigerator Gulch?!

Here are a few shots I was able to take before my camera took a swim

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Backpacking Ben Tyler Trail in The Lost Creek Wilderness...Our First Backpacking Adventure

For our first post, its fitting that it should be a “first.” I have never been backpacking. I grew up RV and Tent camping with my parents, but never had the opportunity to actually go backpacking. Needless to say I was a little nervous. As I get older, I’m finding that comfort is becoming more of a priority, and sleep is a necessity. Backpacking seemed to offer less of these commodities than other forms. This should be interesting…

We began by laying out all the needed supplies. Its difficult to believe that everything could fit into our packs, but like magic, they do. Bella wanted to help of course. 

We choose a trail we had hiked a number of times prior to ensure a smooth maiden voyage. Ben Tyler Trail sits about 20 minutes outside of Bailey, Colorado in Lost Creek Wilderness, Pike National Forest. Its a relatively easy trail (although we have yet to make it all the way to the top). It starts off with a few steep switch-backs to get off the highway, and then you enter the valley. Here we go!

We only had to hike a couple of miles in before we were in what I like to call the “magical aspen grove.” I call it this because we first visited this trail last year during the fall, and it was simply magical. A canopy of golden leaves as far as the eye could see. It really felt like something out of a dream. 

We had scouted out the trail a week before and already had our campsite picked out next to the river.

Next on the agenda was a fire and dinner of course. We tried out Mountain House pre-packaged meals we inherited from Chris’ parents. They were a bit expired (some over a couple of years) but its dehydrated so should be okay right?! 

What a surprise! They were actually quite tasty. We had lasagna with meat sauce (pictured above), apple crumble for dessert and berries with granola and milk for breakfast. I guess they can be pretty pricey but the taste was fairly decent, I would eat them again. And as an extra “treat” we brought powdered apple cider and a flask of rum (a present from my friend Kelley with one of my favorite quotes).

I was excited to practice some night photography that night, but sadly the night sky was too bright with a full moon when we went to bed. We set our alarm for 2 am to try again and, to our dismay, it was completely overcast at that time. We also had a rough night’s sleep; the river was too loud and we both had the strangest dreams. Needless to say, we were ready to break down camp in the morning and get home quickly.

All in all it wasn’t a bad first adventure and we are ready for the next one soon! (real soon.) Here are some edited shots I took during the two excursions to Lost Creek Wilderness.