My Colorado Travelings

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 6 [A Frosty Morning]

It had rained at my camp overnight. It had been light and was frozen by dawn. Daybreak projected an exceptional gracefulness in those conditions.


The mood exhibited itself well on the old Jeep.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 7 [More Frostiness]

It had snowed overnight up on Mt. Elbert--the highest point in the state.






And the frozen droplets on the pop-up canopy in camp.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 8 [Celebrity Sightings]

I caught a glimpse of some famous vehicles in those first few days of the trip.


The Shaggin' Wagon.



The band must have been out on tour.

 

[pith helmet]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing the trip.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 9 [Assembling the Team]

My friends arrived one late afternoon. It was time to get serious about hitting the peaks.


The next morning we made another big breakfast. (I know what you're thinking--"That's a lot of breakfast photos!" Well, it is the most important meal of the day.)






We went to Twin Lakes and made the short hike to Inter-Laken. (I know what you're thinking--"These guys have hiked out there before. I just read that a few pages back." Yes, but it's a cool place and one of us had never been there.)


There was an Osprey nest along the trail with a young Osprey in it.

 

[TripLeader]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing the trip.

Thanks. The best is still yet to come.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 10 [Before the First Peak]

We made our preparations after returning to camp from Inter-Laken. We would try for a summit the next morning.



One has to rest a bit in advance of a long hike at elevation.



And an afternoon shower rolled through.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 11 [Heading Out for Sherman]

It was another frozen summer morning at camp.



Elbert looked tremendous.



We drove to the Mt. Sherman trailhead. We were attempting it from the west side. We had scouted the location the day before. We had an appropriately early start. We saw some hikers on the trail in front of us. We started up the trail.


Looking back down and across at Mt. Massive.



Heading up the trail.









The trail had been somewhat of an old mining road. It petered out after a couple miles or so near some old mining ruins. We met up with the hikers in front of us. It turned out we were all on the wrong trail. We had followed them blindly.


We figured out the real trail had initially descended from the trailhead. Dang. We had messed up even though we had scouted the trailhead. We turned around and decided we still had time and energy to continue. We started off on the real trail.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 12 [On Mt. Sherman]

We were now on the proper trail.









We summitted.



Looking down at the bonus trail we had explored earlier.



Leaving the long, flat summit of Sherman.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 13 [Descending Sherman]

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 14 [The Evening After Sherman]

We went back to camp. We made dinner and relaxed around the campfire.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 15 [Rest and a Shower]

We went to Leadville the day after Sherman. We found a shower at a nearby RV Park. We went to Quincy's Steakhouse afterward for dinner.






We headed back to camp after dinner.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 16 [Mt. Massive]

We used the rest day to save up our energy for hiking up Mt. Massive. We set an early alarm for the long day.















Looking over at Elbert.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 17 [Massive Goat]

This fella was on the trail coming down as we were going up.





















Yes, this is a lot of photos of the same goat.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2021

Part 18 [The Second Highest Point in Colorado]

We split ways with the goat and continued on.






14,421 feet above sea level.



Hitting the nearby unranked Massive Green.









A bird's-eye view of Leadville.