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| Hiking | 8.00 Miles |
2,987 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.00 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.78 mph |
| 2,987 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Just wasn't feeling the best this weekend, and it showed. I enjoyed this trail more than the Handies one, mainly because the slope was softer, the trail itself was nicer (not too many loose stones on the trail), and it was more interesting near the top -- ah, scrambling and climbing!
The trail starts out below treeline, which is a nice change to most of the 14ers I've done. You're out pretty quickly though, and onto some nice views of Uncompahgre's pinnacle-like peak. Once up to the Matterhorn Creek trail junction, the views get even better. It's at this point also that the wind starts to get worse and worse. It was blowing so strongly out there that it took great effort just to be able to breathe. Got a real ab workout forcing the air in and out! Staying ON the trail (and avoiding being blown away) was also a lot of work, as I'd forgotten to pack a trekking pole. Really would have come in handy. Eventually made it up to the climbing portion of the trail near the top. There are a lot of routes up this section, so just look for cairns if the first route you see doesn't look pleasing. Everything here is loose and there's a good amount of exposure. Lots of scree, lots of dirt covering the rocks. But very doable! Once at the top, the wind was surprisingly calmer. Got into the peak log and saw/learned some interesting things:
- this peak was the first 14er for a five-year-old boy that day,
- as well as for a 56 year old woman.. good for her!
- the day before, a woman said "yes" to her new fiance
- a woman named Donna left an angel at the top for John Proctor, who had died just days before
- despite almost a full page of entries, the top was completely empty.. I guess that's what a late start gets me, but this early September weather was very cooperative!
Went down the loose bouldery/scree area a little more to the northwest (the righthand route) of the way I came up. Much better going down that than the other one. Ended up getting a good burst of energy coming down, which surprisingly hadn't happened the day before on Handies. Practically ran down the mountain and got back to the TH just a bit before sunset.
Oh yeah, and this is another one of those roads I'd suggest 4WD/high clearance. Really cuts off some good mileage on the hike. Without it, about 8 miles are added onto the trip. Save those miles for another mountain down the road, such as Wetterhorn. =) |
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