My boy and I, along with another dad and son duo set out to climb a 14er in southern CO over Labor Day weekend. This was a tightly scheduled trip, with all-day drives sandwiching the actual camping/backpacking/climbing adventure.
We finally settled on Uncompahgre Peak as our destination, as it's a less technical and strenuous climb than many of CO's 14ers, suitable for first-time climbers, as our sons were.
This was my son's and my first real opportunity to put our new hammock setups to the test. Our friends were somewhat skeptical, and offered to supply us with a tent, if needed. But we were good to go.
As is usually the case, the drive helped set the tone for the trip. With three drivers, none of us became worn out from driving. We brought along Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, on tape, which provided fodder for lots of interesting conversation. The time passed quickly.
We made the lower trailhead at about dusk, and set up camp just off the 4WD road that leads to the upper trail head. As is to be expected with a new setup, it seemed to take forever to get things set up and tweaked in. But once settled in, we enjoyed a campfire prepared, foil-wrapped stew that was mighty tasty.
After a restful night's sleep, with no aches or pains, we woke up early and struck camp to tackle the 2100ft. elevation gain, 4 mi. hike to the upper trailhead. Not yet acclimated to the high elevation, we struggled a bit with lugging our heavy packs up the mountain. My son also experienced some blisters, so he and I were thankful when a couple of ATVers happened by and offered a lift to our destination. The look on our friends' faces was priceless as we passed them in relative comfort!
We found a good campsite just beyond the trailhead, and set up camp. For our second night, my son and I pitched our hammocks from the same trees, sharing a single tarp. Using our treking poles as spreader bars, this turned into a good arrangement. That left the afternoon free to enjoy our immediate surroundings and to mentally prepare for the climb to the peak the next morning. We had a small herd of deer come into our camp, including a couple of 4-point bucks. They proceeded to graze and frolic for quite awhile while we quietly observed.
Lows that night got down into the mid-40s, but we stayed comfortable. My alarm went off at 5:30, and we were on the trail just after 6:00, while it was just getting light enough to follow the trail without a flashlight. The views of Uncompahgre and surrounding peaks as the sun rose were spectacular, well worth the effort. The boys hiked well for their first foray into the upper elevations, though my son reflected that he had no idea how difficult the climb would be (some things you just have to experience for yourself). Now he believes me. We reached my son's goal of hitting the ridge just below the summit at ~13,000 ft., where we turned back and waited for our friends to complete their ascent. They summited and reported to us their experience getting there. Of course, summiting was exhiliarating for them, the views unbelievable.
The hike back to camp went quickly, and it gave us opportunity for a short siesta before packing up and heading down to our car at the lower trailhead. After a full day of hiking, it felt good to get back to the car, take off our hiking boots, and enjoy a large Gatorade that was waiting for us. I don't think I've had a better tasting burger than the one we had later that night as we headed to Lathrop State Park for our last night.
Arriving at Lathrop State Park at midnight, we found little accommodation for hammocks, as the vegetation was mostly scrub, so erected our tarp as a ground shelter. Even though we were on the ground, we had a pretty good night's sleep.
We were on the road by 6:00 that morning, headed back to Dallas. The ride back was just as enjoyable as the ride out, reminiscing about the just completed climb, as well as finishing off Into the Wild, and we arrived home just in time for dinner!
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