| High mountains have their own kind of environment | | | | continued on. In places we found the trail again, and |
| and backpacking challenges. | | | | even had long dry stretches to hike. The melting |
| The high mountains of Colorado still had a lot of | | | | process is very irregular. In one of our photos Mike is |
| snow in mid June. In fact, the Arkansas river was | | | | standing on dry grass next to a seven-foot high wall |
| close to flooding here in Canon City, despite there | | | | of snow. In another, I'm trying to climb a |
| being no rain in weeks. The snow melt was enough | | | | twenty-foot snow-cliff. |
| to raise it to its highest level in years. But my friend | | | | Then there is the photo from the first lake. It is of |
| Mike and I were still hoping to go backpacking up | | | | myself, standing on it. There was dry ground around |
| high. | | | | half of it, but it was frozen. We headed back down |
| We had been up to 9,000 feet a couple weeks | | | | to a small pond that was only partially covered in ice. |
| earlier and saw just one snowbank in the woods. | | | | It had been a hot day of backpacking in deep snow. |
| Driving home we could see that though there was a | | | | We put our water bottles in a snowbank and set up |
| lot of snow in the high peaks of the northern Sangre | | | | the tarp on the grass. Marmots came near to |
| De Christo mountains, it was in patches. There were | | | | investigate. |
| large areas without snow, even above 13,000 feet. It | | | | The next day we hiked up past the first and second |
| was time to give it a try. | | | | lakes, both above tree line. We followed a stream up |
| We decided on a two night trip to Bushnell Lakes and | | | | a steep hill and into a meadow full of wildflowers at |
| possibly to the top of Bushnell Peak (13,105 feet). | | | | about 12,000 feet. There were frozen lakes below, |
| About this time I received a phone call. I own a | | | | flowers around us, and a 13,012-foot mountain |
| backpacking website, so I get emails with questions | | | | waiting above, past rocky climbs and slippery fields of |
| all the time, but this was only the second time | | | | snow. We made it to the top - the highest Mike had |
| someone had called me at home. The man on the | | | | ever climbed - and signed the register. We could see |
| other end was calling from Texas, wondering about | | | | mountains in all directions, some of them over 60 |
| the conditions in the Sangre De Christos - was there | | | | miles away. |
| too much snow? | | | | By the time we made it back to the camp, I was |
| "I hope not," I told him. "Me and a friend are headed | | | | sick. I hadn't anticipated the effect of the sun. I had |
| up there tomorrow." He said he had called the forest | | | | a hat and sunglasses, but the sunlight reflects at you |
| service rangers for an area south of where we | | | | from all sides when you cross snow and ice. It wasn't |
| would be, and they had told him everything was still | | | | just a sunburn, but sun-sickness. I spent the night |
| snowed in up high. He was going for a week, starting | | | | alternating between feeling on fire and having chills |
| a few days after us, and wondered if they might be | | | | run through my body. Mike got the chills the following |
| exaggerating. We agreed that they probably were. | | | | day. With that in mind, here are some tips for |
| Challenges Of High Mountains | | | | backpacking in the high mountains. |
| It was hot when we started, even with only 13 | | | | 1. Call the forest service. Find out what the |
| pounds on my back (I like to go light). Where the trail | | | | conditions are where you plan to hike, so you can |
| split we decided to go to the Stout Lakes instead, | | | | bring the proper equipment and clothing. |
| by the Twin Sisters Peaks. This was the next valley | | | | 2. Have a good map and know how to use it. This is |
| over from Bushnell Lakes, and a shorter hike. When | | | | especially important in early summer, when you might |
| we came to a trail register we noted that only a | | | | lose the trail in the snow. |
| couple people had been up there this year. One had | | | | 3. Sun block is just a start. Where a hat, sunglasses |
| left an entry on the way down: "Lost the trail in the | | | | and long sleeves. |
| snow at 10,800 feet." It was dated just a few days | | | | 4. GPS your car location. If you have a GPS device, |
| earlier. | | | | mark your car in case you lose the trail. |
| We headed up the trail, soon hearing the roaring | | | | 5. Check the trailhead register. Those backpacking |
| stream it follows. We saw the first small patches of | | | | before you may have stopped on the way out to |
| snow before we crossed it at about 9,600 feet. | | | | note that a bridge is washed out, fallen trees have |
| Then we were hiking on a trail that doubled as a | | | | covered the trail, or something else you should know. |
| stream itself, complete with small waterfalls. The | | | | 6. Climb high early. Afternoon thunderstorms are |
| snow patches were more frequent, and we walked | | | | common in many high mountain ranges. If you want |
| over the stream/path on a snow bridge at one point | | | | to go to the summits and high ridges, it's best to do |
| before realizing that it was a three-foot fall if it had | | | | it early and be lower before noon. |
| broken. | | | | It's great to have meadows and valleys to yourself. |
| Several hours up the trail there was no trail. It was | | | | That's one of the advantages of backpacking in the |
| somewhere under several feet of snow. It is hard to | | | | high mountains early in the season. Just be ready for |
| get too lost following a stream up a valley, though, | | | | a wide variety of hiking conditions. |
| so we kicked steps into the hard snow and | | | | |