The pre-dawn, peach colored light, silhouettes the high ridges to the east as I lay snuggly in my hammock at the edge of the lower Twin Lakes south of Leadville Colorado. I am mad at myself for forgetting my camera in the car in my haste to get to my camp last night. I know the sunrise will be fantastic. I had escaped the craziness of Denver after work Friday afternoon, endured the traffic like everyone else trying to make their escape. and reached the trailhead just as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. I knew I had at least another hour of good light. The 14,000' plus peaks around here take up a good portion of the sky so that even with the sun behind them it would still be some time before it got dark. This portion of the Colorado trail follows the edge of Twin Lakes for a while. It is relatively flat so for the out of shape guy like myself it was a nice walk in the woods. After a mile or so I found what I was looking for...two trees away from the trail overlooking the lake with few obstructions overhead. There was little chance for rain for the next few days so I wanted to keep the tarp in the pack and just sleep under the stars.
I knew I couldn't lolly-gag too long in my hammock this morning because 1: when the sun crests the ridge to the east I will have no shade and the down quilts will be entirely too warm, 2:I have a bit of a headache. I think it may be from the elevation or maybe I didn't drink enough water or both,and 3:my real destination for this weekend is Browns Creek. I could just hike the Colorado Trail down there but the out of shape guy isn't ready for that...yet. So I pack up camp and wonder why I needed to bring so much stuff with me for just an overnighter by the lake. The answer is probably "because I have it". I will probably learn in the future. I shoulder my ULA pack, that is not so ultra light, (We both need to go on a diet) and start back to the car so I can drive the 40 or so miles south to Browns Creek.
Being the first one on the trail this morning I get the privilege of hacking my way through all the spider webs that were constructed overnight. I was starting to feel like Frodo when the giant spider was chasing him. I look over my shoulder a couple of times...just to be sure. All the folks that hiked the trail later that day should thank me for doing such a wonderful job of clearing the way.
The air is already hot when I reach the Browns Creek trailhead. This is a concern for me because I have about the same melting point as a Hershey candy bar.
From a trip report I had read; the trail gains most of its altitude in the first mile and a half then it flattens out. This is the kind of trail I liked when I had my horses. The steepness right off the start would take some of the starch out of them and they would settle down for the test of the ride. However those days are gone and I am now the pack horse...karma...The trail is well used so it is easy to follow. You can also just follow the puddles of sweat dripping off me. Thankfully God strategically placed some trees along the trail for me to get a little shade and slow my huffing and puffing while I watch all the day hikers pass me by with their itty bitty day packs. As I am going up I meet a slightly more age-challenged gentleman than myself, coming down the trail. We stop and chat for a quick minute. I am sure he looked at all my plunder stuffed in and tied to my pack and asks if I was Through Hiking. "No" I reply, "Just going up to the falls for an overnighter" "Where did you start from" I question. "The Mexican border" he says. He is trying to Through Hike the Continental Divide Trail but has been running into too much snow in a lot of places so he has to detour a bit here and there. I am amazed, his pack isn't much bigger than mine. I wish him the best in his travels, but I forgot to ask him his name. Maybe I will see him in a You tube video some day.
I stop at the first creek crossing to try to replenish some of the sweat I lost coming up the hill and am passed by all modes of transportation. Hikers, Mountain bikers and horse back riders. Yup, pretty popular trail.
The trail start to level out now and is quite sandy in spots... still haven't bought my new hiking boots. the sand finds its way through the holes in my wore out tennis shoes. (they call them cross-trainers, but I still call them tennis shoes) Nice vistas of Mount Antero and Mount White.
A bit more huffing, puffing, and dripping and I arrive at the nice camping spot spoke of in the trails report I mentioned earlier. Luckily most everybody that passed me by are day hikers and will be going back down the mountain after their view and photo op at the falls. This trail is so popular that the Forest Service puts a lot of effort in keeping the trail passible by clearing brush and building bridges.
Wish I would have had a couple like this last weekend.
I go the rest of the way up to the falls and am not disappointed. The roar of the water crashing on the rocks and the cool mist blowing by is wonderful.
After cooling off a bit at the falls, I go back down and set up camp. Its a real nice spot right next to the stream. The white noise of the splashing water next to the hammock is like a lullaby and an afternoon nap is in order.
I spend my awake time reading my copy of The Ultimate Hang and watching a seemingly endless parade of day hikers going back down the trail. Dinner tonight is Chicken Teriyaki. it is pretty good but it isn't as good as my wife's. But the dinning atmosphere is superb. I am disappointed that I can't listen to Prairie home companion this evening. My transistor radio did not respond when I put new batteries in it at the car so I left it behind. (one of the few things I didn't pack up here.)
I slept like a baby through the night. It is pretty cool how well the reflective guy lines work that I installed on my Superfly Tarp.( nothing new to most of you probably but cool anyway) I decide to try my hand at shooting a little bit of video so I start filming at camp and walk up to the falls. it should be just a few minutes walk. However, about 3/4 of the way there the camera informs me that its batteries are exhausted... I have had that feeling before. So I go back to camp, replenish the batteries and... Take Two... I haven't done much with video before so I don't feel like narrating as I go. I want more of a natural walk through the woods to the falls. However I find out later as I replayed the video that it has a pretty good microphone, It picks up what sounds like an obscene phone call with a heavy breather on the line. This even over the roar of the stream and waterfall. I haven't figured out how to add video to this trip report yet but when I do, I will attach it so that all can see it. Still pictures are nice, video is maybe more exciting but being there in person is obviously the best. So I recommend this short 3 mile hike in to the falls. You can do it as a day hike as most do but I would highly recommend staying the night and probably exploring more sights nearby, like Browns Lake that is another 3 miles up the trail.
As usual coming back down is much easier but the holes in my shoes seem to be getting bigger. Oh well, can't complain too much. Even though the shoes last longer when I wasted my weekends on the couch, it feels much better to be out in the woods again. a few more trips and I might loose some weight. ( Will be having a talk with my pack also.)
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