Well, we got 'er done. The North Loop in the Indian Peaks Wilderness is in the resume'. It's planning didn't illicit the response expected but it went off without a hitch, none-the-less.
I drove up to Kelly Dahl campground Wens. the 25th. Had been there a few hours when ****(food) showed up. He got set up and then we went into Nederland for a meal, The Stage Stop I believe it was called.
Thursday morning, **** and I are having coffee and up drives Ed(slowanderer) and his long time hiking buddy Ken, which Ed has named Minuteman. I think that annoys Ken, which means it's a good name, a keeper.lol
So it's just the 4 of us. **** and I break camp and we all go to breakfast at the Sundance Cafe, walking in just after the doors opened. **** is considering opting out of the hike, as his stomach is bothering him.
After leaving my truck at the park-n-ride in Nederland, I load up in Eds truck and we drive to Brainard Lake. There are NO parking spots to be had. So Ed drops us off at the trailhead while he searches for and parks the truck. The Ranger checks to make sure we have a back-country permit and all it well, good to go. At this time, **** makes the call that he's bowing out.
So now we're 3. **** gets a picture of us at our starting trailhead, Beaver Creek. We're hiking the loop counter clockwise. The itinerary is Beaver Creek to the Coney Flats TH, from there we take Buchanan Creek west to Red Deer Lake and make that camp for night 1. It's about 10:15am when we depart.
http://youtu.be/YJaOcHzcMh8
http://youtu.be/ehRUDTRR2Io
http://youtu.be/Ozxdfc1YSFM
It's not long before we come upon the Mt. Audubon trail junction and we take our first packs-off break.
Staying on the Beaver Creek trail, we continue on to the Coney Flats area where Beaver Creek and Buchanan Creek trails intersect.
http://youtu.be/1HmwS00hLF4
The amount of flora in bloom sure added to the picturesque views of the landscape. Huge mushrooms. Lots of these spotted type, pretty, but deadly I'm sure.
I forget the times we made it to each junction and camp, but I bet Ken could tell you, that's why Ed calls him Minuteman.
We make it to the trailhead for Red Deer lake, our first nights camp, 10,300 feet, it takes an hour to get there. **** had told us that there's a joggle in the trail that we could cut out by bushwhacking cross country. It was probably only 50 yards across to pick up the trail again, but the terrain didn't make it an easy trek to find. I took a compass bearing beforehand to where it should be but the terrain forced me off track so much, we stumbled around, getting separated from each other, each searching for the trail on their own. Ken finally found it and called out to us so we could zero in on him. We were tired for sure, but it would have been faster and simpler to just follow that short section of trail.
I asked the guys "You think Dicks ears are burning right about now"?.....As we were all saying, "Sure, just take this short little bushwhack across....NOT! Todays mileage, 7.8.
http://youtu.be/UPTTBkhcCIE
After making camp and eating some supper, we all went down and tried some fishing. There were risers all over the lake, should have been some good fishing, but we didn't do any good. It was a clear night, lots of stars.
http://youtu.be/0aHzBayyhWg
I don't know why the youtube links aren't imbedding. If anyone can figure it out I'm all ears.
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