San Luis Peak 14,014 ft

Day 27

Miles hiked today: 22.7 (20.1 CT plus 2.6 San Luis Peak)
Miles from Denver: 358.2
Elevation: 10,898 ft
Segments 20, 21
Landmarks: Continental Divide, Continental Divide Trail, San Luis Peak, La Garita Wilderness, San Luis Pass, Snow Mesa, Spring Creek Pass

VIEW MAP

I was a little worried that I wouldn't want to get out of bed at 3 in the morning, and would decide to sleep in until 9. But thankfully nature answered, awaking me with the need to pee at 2:30 am. My alarm was set for 3, so the choices were to hold it for a half hour, or get out and freeze a half hour early. So as it went, I lay there awake for a half hour.

Finally the alarm came, and I was stoked to get packed and get going. I have never climbed a 14,000 foot peak before, and climbing one in the dark before sunrise seemed an appropriate way to climb my first one. Bo was up, but then again he's in the Army so I wasn't too worried. We were packed and on the trail at 3:30 am, right on the dot. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it would be. The night was perfectly clear, with billions of stars visible.

Because most of the elevation to San Luis' saddle had already been climbed, it didn't look that intimidating. We had camped just about 900 feet below it. Once we got up on the saddle, we were hit by a very strong wind, which was very cold. This wind was coming directly across the entire ridge, and it would be a constant enemy the entire climb up. The Colorado Trail simply goes across the saddle, and the peak itself is a side trail. We stopped at the bottom and nearly emptied our entire packs, including my heavy food bag and left everything by a bush on the ground. I was kind of hoping that the marmots wouldn't be up yet.

The climb was very steep, with many false summits. It just got colder and colder the higher we got. The wind was constant and strong, I am guessing around 30 mph. When we got to around 13,500 feet, the rocks we were walking on were covered in a heavy frost. My water bottles started to freeze, and later when I thought of it, I was extremely glad that I left my water filter down below, because if it freezes it is ruined.

Finally the last false summit was passed, and we were on the knife edge. The path was about 3 feet wide, covered in frost, with a 2,000 foot drop to either side. The summit was just beyond this, which we reached in a comfortable two and half hours from the start. This presented a bit of a problem because we were nearly a whole hour before sunrise. There was still no glow on the horizon, and every star was bright, and there was also a very bright half moon. It really was remarkable to be up that high, at that time. Thankfully somebody had built a rock wall against the wind, which we hunkered down behind, and huddled under space blankets. This is the first time I've used mine, which has travelled with me since Denver. It was just barely enough to make the cold tolerable, and every time I stood up to get a picture, the blast of frigid air would force me to sit down again.

The sun arrived right on time, revealing a world of jagged horizons in all directions. There really are mountains as far as you can see in all directions. Tall mountains. The neat thing about San Luis Peak is it stands alone as a 14er in the entire area, so it really did feel like the top of the world. With the sun came a little bit of warmth, but not near enough, and pretty soon we determined it was time to head down. This went pretty fast, and pretty soon we were back where we left our stuff, happy as larks. It was around 8 am, and the day hadn't even started. I still wanted to do 20 miles today.

So started the longest and most epic day of this entire hike. The trail had been transformed from a path through the woods to a path up and over high passes and tundra. There were barely any trees to be seen for the rest of the day, except on two occasions. I spent almost the entire day above tree line.

The trail went over one pass, and down into a cirque, then over another into San Luis Pass. This is where Bo was heading into the town of Creede to resupply and take a zero. I was still going to walk another 15 miles, even though I barely had the energy.

There were four of five more cirques in store for me, and despite my efforts I lost count. It is really hard to describe the beauty here. To be up this high, on these mountains is really magical. There are incredible views in every direction, and the weather was a perfect blue sky the entire day. This has been one of the best days of hiking I've ever experienced.

Last but not least today was Snow Mesa. This alone would have made for an incredible day, because it is like nothing I have ever seen before in my life. After walking on or near the continental divide for many hours, the trail goes up and over one last mountain, and curves around the back side. There I was treated with a view of something I've never seen before. A massive plain, elevated to 12,000 feet and nearly perfectly flat, and miles across. The trail descended to it.

The terrain on Snow Mesa is exactly like walking on the grassy plains. It turns out it's not perfectly flat, but for the most part it is, and the walk was about 5 miles across. For that entire time I was the tallest thing for miles around. Again I was very thankful for the great weather.

I was getting tired, and ready to be done with the mesa and get down to the highway at Spring Creek Pass where I planned to camp. Just when I thought the mesa would go on forever, I saw some sheep on the horizon. Hundreds of them. They were standing right near the trail, and there was a cowboy among them on horseback, with a dog. I ended up having a very nice conversation with him, whose name is David. He's tending the flock for the entire summer, which is 1,500 head of sheep. He couldn't have been older than 22, and I got the impression that he really enjoys talking to the hikers that come through here. It really was cool to see something so unusual, and put a nice cap on an extremely memorable day.

Exhausted, I made it down to the highway after dark, and found a picnic area where I planned to camp. There were already a couple of  hikers doing the same thing. It was getting cold, but I braved it to cook up some food anyhow. I was going to sleep extremely well this night.

The San Juan Mountains

Day 26

Miles hiked today: 14.2
Miles from Denver: 338.2
Elevation: 11,720 ft
Segments 19,20
Landmarks: Continental Divide Trail, Gunnison National Forest, Chochetopa Creek, La Garita Wilderness, Eddiesville Trailhead

VIEW MAP

I woke up this morning with a lot of dew on my tent, and a slight frost. It is getting colder, and I have a feeling its going to be that way for a while. I was pretty late in waking up, and while I was eating breakfast the sun actually came over the nearby mountain and shined directly on me. It was nearly 9 oclock.

This didn't really follow my plans for the day, which involved waking up early so that I can get 15 miles done by early afternoon, so that I could summit San Luis Peak today. San Luis Peak is 14,014 feet tall, and is one of only a handful of 14ers that are easily accessible from the trail. I have passed all the others.

Today was just one of those days where the miles slowly ticked by, while time went faster than it should. By noon I had only done 6 and a half miles, and I found myself at Eddiesville Trailhead stopping for a snack, seemingly in slow motion. 2 hours later I had only moved about 2 miles, having stopped in a beautiful meadow to soak in the sun, eat some food and dry my stuff out. San Luis was not going to happen today.

A few miles earlier I had entered La Garita Wilderness area, which is the 5th Wilderness Area the trail has come though. After these last several segments of hiking on jeep roads, I was very excited for some pristine trail untouched by motorcycles and ATVs. What's interesting is that even in the wilderness area, I was still seeing double rut tracks.

The trail at this point is following Chochetopa Creek to its source, which is what I did for the whole day. The river valley is lined on either side with an ever more impressive array of mountains the farther up the valley I travelled. According to my map I have officially arrived in the San Juan Mountains, which is what I have been looking forward to this entire trip. If this introduction is any indication, they are absolutely beautiful. But I have the feeling I haven't seen anything yet.

I had decided to stop just before the climb up to San Luis Peak, and summit in the morning. That is going to make tomorrow a very long day. As I got closer to the head of the valley, the trail became enclosed in a very ancient forest. Most of the forests I've seen in Colorado, or even in most states I've been to, have already been logged and replanted. Some of the forests on the Colorado Trail are 3rd generation, having been logged and replanted twice. This forest however, doesn't seem like its ever been touched. This is the most remote part of the entire Colorado Trail, and is also the least used by even hikers.

About a quarter mile before I reached my intended camp site I met another hiker named Bo, who was already set up for the night and was about to build a fire. It was early, maybe 5 pm. Bo explained that the camp site listed was out in the open, which would be a concern with the cold wind coming off the pass. I decided to set up my tent at his camp, and enjoy a fire for the first time on this trip, as well as some rare company.

It was very nice having a fire, and we traded stories over the campfire until after dark. Bo explained his plan to hike San Luis Peak not in the morning, but the middle of the night so that he could get up there just before sunrise. This sounded intriguing. I had done something crazy like this once before; my middle of the night hike of Blood Mountain on the AT, and was greatly rewarded with one of the most unforgettable sunrises I have ever seen. I was in. We figured that a 3:30 am start would be needed, and I turned in to my tent for what was to be a very short night, and a very long day.