Last Wednesday I filled up the tank and headed to the Denver Airport Wednesday night to pick up my buddy and we headed out into the mountains. We left Denver and took the Kenosha Pass out to Fairplay for the night where we got to bed a little after midnight.
We got up at 4:15am and drove out the trailhead to hike the 14,036 foot peak of Mount Sherman. After Sherman, we drove down to Buena Vista, had lunch and filled up the tank again. From there we took Independence Pass through the Sawatch Mountain Range up and over the Continental Divide before dropping back down and passing through Aspen on our way to Marble. From Marble we took the trail out to see what's basically the ghost town of Crystal and the Crystal Mill deep into the Elk Mountains. Crystal started as a mining camp in 1880 and had over 500 residences, the population declined to 8 people by 1915. Today it's vacant all winter due to being so inaccessible but during the summer months, the town is home to around 10 people. Passing back through Marble we stopped at Slow Groovin BBQ for dinner and then set out to find camp. We found a forest road that took us out a handful of miles and across a small creek crossing, we setup camp on the creek bank next to a small waterfall.
We got up early again, around 5:20am, packed up and headed out for Glenwood Springs so we could hike Hanging Lake. We finished the hike and made our way back east to Dillion for fuel followed by lunch and a beer at the Dillion Damn Brewery. From there we headed over to a trail that during the summer months takes you right up to the top of the Keystone Ski Resort. I’ve been there a couple times and usually the gate was closed, this time it was unlocked and open so we went up to the peak. We left Keystone and crossed the Continental Divide a second time on the Loveland pass on our way to Rollinsville. When we arrived there we started making our way up the Rollinsville Pass/Corona Pass until we got to an area that was impassable from snow in the road. From there we hiked it up to the Needles Eye Tunnel and back around and down. We drove back down the pass in the dark and hit Nederland hoping to find a late night dinner. Everything open at 11pm had the kitchens closed. We didn’t want to find a camp spot that late and in the dark, then still have to setup and cook before getting some sleep before another early morning, so we ended up going down the canyon to Boulder and hit Illegal Pete’s for a midnight snack and opted to drive back to my house. We took much needed showers, had a beer, and went to bed.
The next morning we got up and headed to Mount Sanitas to hike to the summit and loop back around the east ridge. We followed that up with a lunch and trip to the beach at Boulder Reservoir. That left us with enough time to drive back to my house to get showered up and an hour to sit and relax before heading back to the airport.
Our trip took us past 12 ski resorts: Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, Aspen Snowmass, Beaver Creek, Vail, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, and Eldora. Through 5 National Forests: Pike, San Isabel, White River, Arapaho, and Roosevelt. And I don’t even know how many designated Wilderness areas and different mountain ranges.
Celebratory summit beer
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