Mount Elbert

Thursday, we woke up before 5, packed up and checked out of the hotel.  We stopped at a 24-hour gas station to grab breakfast and then headed north to the trailhead for North Mount Elbert Trail.  Mount Elbert would be our first 14er; in fact our first mountain higher than Mount Mitchell.  The Rocky Mountains are notorious for afternoon storms in the summer, so we wanted to start early and arrived at the trailhead just after 6.  A spur trail lead to the Colorado Trail (#1776), where we turned left towards Mount Elbert.  The first part of the trail was only moderately steep as it headed up through a forest.  In a little over a mile, the trail split and we went right on North Mount Elbert Trail (#1484).  The trail got a little steeper, but still not too bad and it was still forested.  In about 2.5 miles, we reached 12,000 feet and got above the tree line.  At this point, the trail got significantly steeper, but we had great views.  It wasn't a great view of Mount Elbert, but we had clear views of Mount Massive.

The headwaters of Elbert Creek had snow in it.

The best views were around 12,800 feet where we had a clear view of Mount Elbert and snow near the summit.

Snow in July!  It was also clear just how much further we had to go up.  As we got closer to the summit, it got really steep but there were still some hardy wildflowers blooming amidst the loose rocks.

Hairy goldenaster have bright yellow flowers.

Soon, we made it to the top, getting there just before 10.

Quite a few people were up here as well as dogs.  The view looking east was really hazy from the wildfire smoke, but it was clear views in all other directions.

We spent some time up here enjoying the panoramic views from Colorado's highest point.

It was really beautiful here from the high point of the Rocky Mountains.

We had a light lunch before heading back down.  The first part of the descent was tricky as it was so steep down loose rocks and gravel.  Stopping to view the wildflowers provided a couple much-needed breaks.  Sticky polemonuim had really pretty little blue flowers.

Moss campion is an arctic species that can grow at very high elevations this far south.

Shrubby cinquefoil was probably the most common wildflower way above the treeline.

Eventually, the slope decreased and it was downhill, so the going was fast.  Soon, we were below the tree line and made it back to the car a little after noon.

Our next destination was Colorado Springs, so we drove back to Buena Vista and took US-24 east.  We passed the road that was closed due to the fire.  A little over half-way to Colorado Springs, we made a detour to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.  In the visitor center, they had some nice displays of fossils that had been discovered in the park.

No dinosaurs or large animals, but lots of plants and insects.

The insect fossils were surprisingly recognizable - orb-weaver spiders, wasps, beetles and other bug fossils in stone.

Outside the visitor center, were some of the petrified stumps protected from the elements under shelters.

These massive petrified tree stumps were from redwoods that grew in Colorado millions of years ago when the climate was warmer.  The Trio were three huge stumps right next to each other.

Next, we hiked the Petrified Forest Trail towards the Big Stump.  A few patches of bright red Indian paintbrush were blooming in the dry terrain.

We also saw some penstemon flowering.

Soon, the trail led to the Big Stump.  This was a truly massive redwood tree that had left a petrified stump so large.

Just past the stump we could see the Hornbek Homestead in the distance.

Continuing on the trail, we spotted some white thistle flowering.

A few more petrified stumps were along the trail but none as large and impressive as the big one.

We finished up the loop at the visitor center and headed back to the car.  From here, we drove back towards the highway and made a quick stop to check out the Hornbek Homestead.

The homestead is a replica of a typical Colorado ranch from the late 1800s.

It is named for Adeline Hornbek, a pioneer woman who raised four children here.

As we were walking around, the weather was getting worse and a storm was rolling in, so made for great pictures.

But rains were coming so we didn't linger long.

Driving away, we spotted a mule deer along the road.

On the way to Colorado Springs, a hail storm rolled in and the temperature plummeted.  At one point, we had to pull over as visibility dropped to zero.  After the storm passed, we stopped in Manitou Springs for dinner at the Loop and then continued to the Hilton Garden Inn to check in for the evening.  After a very long day, the hot tub was very relaxing.

Rafting the Numbers

Wednesday was Independence Day and to celebrate, we headed to the Numbers on Arkansas River.  I mistakenly thought our trip started at 8, but when we arrived at Performance Tours, I was reminded it wasn't until 9.  So to kill some time, we headed to McPhelemy Park back in town.  A little festival was starting and though most of the booths weren't yet set up, we walked around to check it out for a little while.  A trail on the other side of the park led along the artificial lake on Cottonwood Creek with a small waterfall at the dam.

After a bit, we headed back to Performance Tour and met up with our guide Curtis.  We got our stuff together and then boarded the van to head out to the Numbers put-in at Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area.  Curtis went over safety and other information on the drive.  We carried the raft down to the put-in and set off.  The Numbers, as the name implies, are a series of seven numbered Class IV rapids on the upper section of Arkansas River.

The only section above, Pine Creek, is a lot of Class V and few outfitters go up there due to risk.  In quick succession, the Numbers weren't named, like just about every other runnable rapid, because they were too close together.  And sure enough, we got to 1 right off the bat.  The water level was a little low due to the ongoing drought at about 600 cfs.

This actually made the rapids appear bigger and more powerful.  In between the Numbers were the Fractions, smaller Class II and III rapids.  There was one relatively flat spot where Curtis offered to let us swim, but the water was so cold, no one took him up.  It took about an hour and a half to complete the rapids and when we got out, Rocket our van driver was waiting to pick us up.  We headed back to town and since it was early, Sandy and I headed off to find a waterfall.  Heading south of Buena Vista, we drove to the Browns Creek Trailhead (#1429) in San Isabel National Forest.  Browns Creek Trail (#1429) leads about 3 miles to Browns Creek Falls and and then continues another 3 to the lake, but we were only going as far as the falls.  Hiking in we talked to a couple heading back from the lake who said the hike past the falls wasn't worth it.  The trail was moderately steep at the beginning but leveled off.  A couple open spots in the trees provided nice views of the valley.

Near the end, the trail crossed through an open meadow with wonderful views of the mountains.

Soon, we made it to the beautiful waterfall.  I first went down to the base, but it was difficult to see the upper portion.

A little further up, I could see most of the waterfall, but still not a great view of the upper section, which was the most scenic.

At the base of the upper section, the lower drops were not visible, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

I climbed around on the rocks to get pictures and then we had a snack.  For most of the time, we had the falls to ourselves, then other people began to show up, so we made our way back.  Hiking back down, we went slowly to check out the wildflowers.  Colorado blue columbine near the waterfall were especially pretty.

Along Browns Creek, a number of prairie bluebells were blooming.

We spotted a single mariposa lily.

Yellow stonecrop was blooming in small patches.

Beardlip penstemon had pretty little red flowers with candy stripes on the lower lip.

Although much of the hike is forested, a few breaks in the trees provided lovely views.

Soon we made it back to the car.

Driving out of the forest, as the trees thinned, we could see smoke from the wildfires in the distance.

We headed back into Buena Vista and had dinner at House Rock Kitchen.  After dinner, we stopped at Deerhammer Distillery and tried some of their whiskey.  But we had a very early morning, so headed back to the hotel and started packing up.

Canyoneering Oak Creek

Tuesday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel then headed into town to Canyoning Colorado.  The other girl in our group - Libby - showed up just after us and then our guide Andrew.  After a quick introduction, we took off in the jeep driving up to Ouray's perimeter trail.  After parking, Andrew showed us how to make a backpack of the wetsuit and then we took off, hiking up Perimeter Trail.  In a short ways, we turned left to get on Oak Creek Trail and followed that for a ways, heading up via switchbacks.  Then we turned on Twin Peaks Trail and headed down to Oak Creek at a crossing.  There was a small falls just above the crossing.

Here, we put on our wet suits and went over some canyoneering techniques before heading down the river.  It was a little bit of creek walking and down climbing before our first rappel down a 20-foot or so waterfall.

Shortly after this was the big one - 135 feet high.

Andrew said none of the waterfalls were named since canyoneering is the only way to see them, so I'm calling it Oak Creek Falls.

It was a really spectacular waterfall.  It was so big, we could see it for quite a ways down canyon.

Below Oak Creek Falls was a smaller waterfall, I'm calling Lower Oak Creek Falls.

Continuing on, one of the next drops was an overhang and we rappelled down without kicking off of anything.

A little further, we stopped for a short snack break in the beautiful canyon.  Andrew had meat and cheese, snack bars, and a thermos full of soup for our break.  Another waterfall dropped into a narrow grotto of sculpted rock - I'm calling this one Grotto Falls.

There were a couple more rappels before we came to a footbridge over Oak Creek at the Perimeter Trail, where we left the canyon.  It was just a short hike back to the jeep to change out of our wetsuits and head back to town.  After saying goodbye to our new friends, we left Ouray and headed east towards Buena Vista.  Passing through Curecanti National Recreation Area, we stopped at the trailhead for Dillon Pinnacles, right off US-50, for a hike to break up the drive.  The trail started off along the shore of Blue Mesa Reservoir and the pinnacles were visible in the distance.

Soon the trail started to climb up Dillon Gulch approaching the east end of the pinnacles.

As we got higher in elevation, we had sweeping panoramic views of the reservoir below.

In about 1.5 miles, we came to an open spot with a bench and took a break here.  I think this spot had the best views of the pinnacles.

The sun was peeking through the clouds causing the water below to glisten.

It was starting to get late and we had another 2 hours of driving, so started headed back.  We spotted a little snake along the trail.

Closer to the trailhead, some type of thistle was blooming.

There were a lot of bees on the bright purple flowers.  We finished up the hike and continued driving east.

When we reached Buena Vista, we had dinner at Jan's Restaurant and then checked in to the Best Western.