Twin Lakes

Day 14

Miles hiked today: 18.8
Miles from Denver: 181.4
Elevation: 9,200 ft
Segments 10, 11
Landmarks: San Isabel National Forest, Mt. Massive Wilderness, Mt. Elbert, Twin Lakes, Wind Spirit Cafe

VIEW MAP

I had set an alarm so that we could set out for Mt. Massive at an early hour. With this being thunderstorm season, it is best to attempt any summit of a 14er as early as possible. Paul was going to attempt to summit too, and neither one of us have climbed a 14,000 foot mountain. Unfortunately, when I looked outside in the morning, it had dawned dark and grey. There was low cloud cover in all directions, and the clouds had just enough shade in them to look menacing. Paul was still optimistic, but I was seeing our chances at Mt. Massive as pretty much gone. We decided to go ahead and hike the 4 miles to the summit trail, and see if the weather changed.

There is a possibility here of bypassing Mt. Massive, camping at the Halfmoon Creek trailhead, and trying for Mt. Elbert the next morning. They are practically the same height, Elbert being 12 feet taller at 14,433 feet. The problem is at this point I just really wanted to keep moving. I passed the Mt. Massive side trail at about 8:45 am, and if I wanted to wait for tomorrow for Elbert I only had another 3 miles to walk to camp.

Paul from D.C.

Instead, both Paul and I made for Twin Lakes, a tiny historic town that's in the valley below, and just a mile off trail. According to a hiker we talked to this morning, there is a restaurant there that serves some pretty good pizza. That was all the convincing I needed. Leaving the two 14ers for another day, I hiked on.

The hike off of the lower slopes of Mt. Elbert was beautiful. A very old aspen forest gave way to ponderosa pine and sagebrush. What had started out as a cloudy day was turning sunny, even hot. The Twin Lakes are spread out far below as you descend, providing a great view of the entire valley.

This turned out to be one of my favorite town stops so far. There is a general store that is run by a very small lady who looks to be in her late 70s. When asked what time the store closes, she said usually when she gets tired, around 5 or 6. There is a very small post office in the back, and she is also the postmaster. I had shipped a box here, and she simply pointed to a pile of boxes on the back shelves and told me to pick out which one was mine.

Everybody we talked to in this town is friendly. There was a minivan that had pulled up, and several children got out. The dad came over to talk to Paul and I, who were sitting on the steps of the general store. After a few questions about the hike, he revealed that two of his kids had puked all over the car on their way through Independence Pass, which is why he was talking to us while all the cleaning was going on. With mail and supplies set, we migrated next door to the Wind Spirit Cafe. This was the place with the famed pizza, and I had been looking forward to this all day.

This cafe was something special. The food and service were really good, but there were also several other people hanging around the cafe, all of whom came over to ask about the hike and were just really nice. The place was owned by a couple from eastern Nebraska, who drive out every summer to run the place. When I asked for a ride back to the trail, Rich, the owner, made a special effort to clean out a few seats in his pickup so he could drive us back out there.

I had a half a pizza in a ziplock in my pack, and Paul and I had decided to hike around the other side of the lake where there was a campsite, about 4 miles. This turned out to be some of the most memorable 4 miles on the entire trail so far. Back in Twin Lakes when I was trying my best to eat as much pizza as I could, it was sunny with lazy white clouds above. We were seated outside on a green lawn and I felt like I could crash on the lawn for a few hours. Now that we had left and were walking around the lake, ominous clouds started to gather around Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert behind us. I kept checking over my shoulder to see if the clouds had moved any closer, and of course they had. This was looking like one heck of a storm.

All around the lake there are campgrounds and rv sites, which meant that every 3/4 mile or so there was a bathroom building. These are brick structures with mens and women's sides, each with two stalls with outhouse toilets. We were no more than 2 miles from Twin Lakes when the storm finally caught up, and suddenly it seemed prudent to hightail it to the nearest bathroom building.

The storm was so bad that I seriously considered what it would be like to spend the night inside this building. There was an overhang on the roof and we were able to hang out on the leeward side without getting wet, and eventually the storm passed. It was still cold, windy and drizzling a little bit, and didn't seem like it would be a pleasant night. It was 7:30, we had taken shelter for an hour and we still had a few more miles to go.

A little ways down the trail, we took shelter from the rain in another of these buildings. This time the storm was not so bad so I got my camera out, and I noticed that there was a small ray of light appearing between the peaks at Independence Pass, coming over from Aspen. Within 5 minutes there were reds, blues, pinks and purples surrounding all of the mountains to the west, and it was a spectacular sight. You could not take a bad picture of the scene, and it has to rank as one of the best sunsets I have ever seen.

The most amazing thing was as the clouds cleared from the taller peaks, they revealed SNOW. Snow was covering every peak from about 12,000 feet up. How incredible!

Holy Cross Wilderness

Day 13


Miles hiked today: 19.1
Miles from Denver: 162.4
Elevation: 10,600 ft
Segments 9, 10
Landmarks: San Isabel National Forest, Holy Cross Wilderness, Mt. Massive Wilderness

VIEW MAP

Today started out with a massive breakfast at the Leadville Hostel. This place is quite the operation, and definitely is a huge asset to the trail. I was able to request a ride back to the trailhead, and Bill took me up there right after breakfast. Bill stocks a trail magic box on the trail at Rt. 24, which is supposedly the only trail magic on the entire trail. There is a register in the box, which is supposedly also the only register on the entire trail.

As Bill pulled into the parking lot, there were two hikers just coming up from the opposite direction. One of them went down the trail just ahead of me, and I ended up chatting with him for most of the day. His name was Paul, and he's from Prince Edward Island.

Paul from P.E.I.

The trail really is an amazing place. Things happen out here that just seem far beyond coincidence. Once Paul said Prince Edward Island, I told him I know a few hikers from there. And in no time the name Linus came up. Linus is also known as Serene on the trail, and was one of my favorite hikers to run into on the AT in '08. He was always in a good mood, and always brightened your day. Every time I saw him I was afraid it would be the last time, as I hiked much faster than he did. But he found ways to keep up, and I enjoyed running into him all throughout Maine. The last time I saw Serene was in Millinocket, just before I left town. Serene passed away this last summer, while hiking the Pilgrim's trail in Spain. It really shocked a lot of us who knew him, and it was devastating to lose a close friend from the trail.

So here is this guy Paul, who was good friends with Linus, who happens to be at Tennessee Pass at 9 am, headed south, same as me. There is an expression on the AT that it is a 'really small trail.' But this is pretty amazing. Paul and I talked about Linus and his family for quite a bit, as we navigated the rolling hills of segment 9. We entered the Holy Cross Wilderness area, which is named for the Mount of the Holy Cross, a 14,000 ft mountain with a giant cross on the side. This mountain caused a sensation when it was photographed in 1873, and was designated a National Landmark in 1929.

It was great to talk to someone who knew Linus, and my prayers go out to his family. They should know that the entire AT community is behind them.

After a while the other hiker from the parking lot caught up, who is also named Paul. This Paul is about my age, and is headed south to Durango. He's also from the DC area, so we had lots to talk about. He and I decided to make it a long day so that we could camp close to the base of Mt. Massive, one of the popular 14ers that the trail goes near. Mt. Massive is just 12 feet shorter than Mt. Elbert, the tallest in the state. But according to Bruce back in Breckenridge, who is trying to summit all the 14ers, Mt. Massive is not only a better mountain than Mt. Elbert, but he says it is his favorite mountain he's ever climbed. At any rate, the two mountains are side by side, and potentially we could climb Massive tomorrow and Elbert the next day.

Those extra miles made for a long day, and we camped near a meadow about 4 miles from the side trail up to the top. Having another hiker to hang out with was great, bringing back memories of hiking the AT.