Old Dan Walking

Editor's Note: For guest journal #3 we head back out West for another look at the grand Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Co-worker Jeremiah Schwartz spent a day during a recent visit to his relatives in Colorado climbing around the tree-less heights of the majestic Rockies, bagging three separate 14,000' peaks, known to those tough enough to conquer them as 14ers, in one hike. Enjoy his description and pictures from a day spent above the clouds:

Thanks Jeremiah for the excellent journal and pictures! -Dan

Triumvirate of 14er’s

Greetings! When Dan is not out wandering the hills, he is my taskmaster in the real world (yes, he has an actual job! :-). Thanks for the opportunity to share my latest hike with your readers Dan!

The access road from Alma as viewed from the summit of Mount Democrat

I was out in Colorado for a family reunion, and we started our day very early so as to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms. We had intended to get to the trailhead at first light, but the drive up the access road was slow going due to the above average rainfall washing out parts of the road this year. The access road originates in the quaint town of Alma where I hear they have replaced country music with reggae at the local bar. Alma, population 179, is on state highway 9 a little ways out from Breckenridge. Having engaged my 4-wheel drive I was feeling pretty rugged and manly until I discovered the Mustang and Mazda 3 already waiting for us at the trailhead.

 I had climbed Mt. Lincoln three years ago, but there had been low-lying clouds that time around. The net result was not all that different than if I had stuck my head in a bucket full of dry ice for a few hours (all while climbing a steep grade at high altitude of course). Thankfully we had clear skies this time, and the views were awe inspiring. Our plan was to climb Mt. Democrat (14,148 ft) and then a few of us brave (or foolhardy?) souls would continue from the saddleback up Mt. Cameron and from there on to Mt Lincoln (8^th highest peak in the state at 14,293 ft). Mt. Cameron, by the way, weighs in at 14,239 ft. The saddleback between Cameron and Lincoln does not swing sufficiently low, however, for Cameron to be considered a true 14er in its own right. But hey, it sounds better to say we climbed three 14ers in one day, so I’m going for it!

Kite Lake at the Trailhead to Mount Lincoln and Democrat

Kite Lake provides a scenic start to the hike, nestled in the amphitheater created by Democrat, Cameron, and Bross. Bross, at 14,172 ft, constitutes the third (true!) 14er of this triumvirate located in the Mosquito Range. We did not get around to Bross this time, opting instead to save that one for our next reunion. The trailhead follows a stream that feeds Kite Lake for a stretch on the way up to the saddleback between Democrat and Cameron. After working up a good sweat, we met with a very chilly wind blowing over the top of the saddleback. I am pretty sure some ice crystals formed on my brow while waiting for members of our troop. The moral of the story is to dress in layers because it is necessary to add and subtract along the way.

Mount Bross as Viewed From the Spine Leading to Mount Cameron

From that first saddleback we went on to a brutal ascent up Democrat. Near the end you crest a rise that previously looked like the summit, only to find a relatively flat section leading to the true summit. Once you have reached the “false summit,” however, the remainder of the climb is tame in comparison.

Mount Lincoln as viewed from Mount Cameron

The climb from that first saddleback to Cameron and then to Lincoln is longer than the climb of Democrat, but also more gradual. For anyone planning to do both in one day, I recommend they conquer Democrat first and then move on to Lincoln (or, alternatively, Bross, which is also on the opposite side of Cameron from the first saddleback). Otherwise, plan on crawling on all fours at the steepest part of the trail up Democrat. And speaking of all fours, there were quite a few little rodents, called picas, which greeted us along the path. We also saw a few marmots about the size of tomcats. Alas, I did not get a good picture of the marmots to share.

Pica along the way to the first saddleback

According to my cousin’s GPS, the entire trek was about seven miles. Toward the end we saw and heard the thunderstorms off in the distance, but we only encountered a few stray raindrops where we were at. We were good and worn out when we arrived back at the trailhead, but with that great sense of achievement that always accompanies an excellent hike.

Editors Note: My second guest journal is from back east in the Smokies and comes from the 13-year-old veteran outdoorsman Zachary Ott. Zachary is the son of my co-worker Randy Ott, who has appeared on Old Dan Walking before. Randy and Zachary often camp at the Smoky's highest elevation frontcountry campground, Balsam Mountain Campground, where I hear Zachary prepares some mean foil pouch pineapple upside-down cake over the fire. On a previous trip they'd walked nearby Flat Creek Trail, and since I missed that opportunity to have Zachary describe his day on the trail, I didn't want to miss his take on his most recent Smoky Mountain adventure. Enjoy!

Thanks Zachary for the great journal and pictures! (you can click on any picture to enlarge it) -Dan 

Newfound Gap to Charlies Bunion

Round trip: 8.1 miles 

My name is Zachary Paul Ott, my dad and I hiked a trail his boss, Mr. Dan DeSetto, recommended to us. That weekend we had camped at Balsam Mountain Campground above Maggie Valley, NC. It was an hour long drive to Newfound Gap through many tunnels. We finally got there, and in the middle of road was a sign saying:

I couldn’t believe we had come this far, so we parked and got packed up and ready to go. We had a hard time trying to find the trail, it wasn’t on a sign.

So we started off on Boulevard Trail, (editor's note - actually it was the Appalachian Trail)  it was all uphill for the first two miles, it was torture. We saw some grouse, but they were too quick to take a picture of. I kept asking how far we had come, my Dad kept saying “don’t think about it” 

( I had a hard time with that, heh heh).

We came to a sign that said we had come 1.7 miles and Ice Water Spring Shelter was 1.3 miles away. We found a lot of backpacking campsites, and planned a backpacking trip to Maine when I was in college. That only gives me five years to train!

After a while we came to the shelter it was a crude stone shelter, but hey… it was a shelter. About a fourth mile later we saw Ice Water Spring; a thin plastic pipe had water bubbling out of it. It was correctly named… burr! There were some crossroads and we got lost.

Soon, we saw some great overlooks through the trees.

We finally got to Charles Bunion, it had an amazing view.

It had a small cliff to climb,

…so far we had come 4.05 miles and climbed 1600 feet. 

The way back was painful. I fell on a rock and hurt my knee, which made us go two miles per hour slower than we could have, not to mention the uncomfortable rash and the blisters on my feet. Every one and a half steps it was, hurt, burn, squish … hurt, burn, squish. When we finally got back, I felt like passing out.

Editor's Note: I'm pleased to announce that Old Dan Walking will be featuring guest journals of three different friends on three different hikes in the coming days. In the recent weeks I've become Old semi-retired from walking Dan and I thank my three friends for filling in and providing stories of their wilderness treks. The first journal comes from longtime friend of my wife and I and former Florida flatlander Jodi Patton, now living full-time at 9200' in the Colorado Rockies. Jodi is quite the outdoorswoman and has enjoyed many treks around the high mountains of Colorado. Enjoy:

Thanks Jodi for the great journal and beautiful pictures! -Dan

August 2011 hike to Devils Thumb and Devils Thumb Lake, near Winter Park Colorado

Hi Everyone I am Jodi Patton and am a long time friend of Dan’s. I recently sent him some pictures from one of my hikes where I live in Winter Park, Colorado. He asked me to be a guest writer this week…..thinking you might enjoy a different perspective from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. 

Winter Park, Colorado is now considered the highest town in the US since we recently annexed The Winter Park Ski Resort.  The town sits at 9200’ and the ski resort rt peaks around 12,060’!

The Hike I did this past weekend is known as the Devil’s Thumb Trail. There are a few choices of trails to get there and I chose the one accessible from the Town of Winter Park, Colorado via Corona Pass Road.  Corona Pass Road is an unimproved non-maintained forest road that will knock your teeth out if you are not paying close attention to all hazards on the road. The road is slow going and takes about 45minutes of travel time to access the trailhead. This trail is approximately 8 miles round trip and follows along the continental divide on the western side before dropping down on the eastern side to a couple of lakes. The peak elevation during the hike is about 12,236’.

Devil’s Thumb – A Historical Note

According to local lore, Native Americans named Devil’s Thumb – a rocky outcropping that towers high above the town. As legend goes, after the warring Ute and Arapahoe tribes settled their differences in the Ranch Creek Valley, they buried the devil, but left his thumb exposed to remind them of the evils of war.

And YES! That is snow in the pictures. We still have quite a bit along the divide from our heavy snowfall this past winter. The views from the trail are spectacular and the wild flowers were in full bloom.  Of course don’t look to long at the flowers because you don’t want to loose your footing on the many steep ledges required to get there. 

And as always, I like to have a reward once I get to my destination. Here’s my catch of the day out of Devil’s Thumb Lake. Don’t worry I put him back so he can continue to enjoy that pristine alpine lake until the next angler comes lurking. 

A Colorado Cutthroat Trout

 Jodi's dog Nick takes a break and checks out the view