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| Full Moon near Huron Peak - Colorado (Photo credit: richpalpine) |
My girlfriend, Jo, and I were looking for something
fun to do over Labor Day weekend - my only real “vacation” opportunity
for the summer. We thought we would head over Independence Pass from
Aspen to the Buena Vista, Colorado area to do a little hot springs soaking and some hiking in an area we had not explored before.
We hadn’t really planned on hiking all the way up one of Colorado’s 54 (some say 58) 14ers, but that’s what we did!
I'm sure I'm not unique, but even though I grew up in Aspen, Colorado, have
lived here for most of my life, and have found myself fairly high up in
elevation numerous times, I had never actually summited a 14er; and at
this point, climbing one was not a consideration.
Not
surprisingly, our last-minute planning would not allow us to stay at
our originally-intended destination, Mount Princeton Hot Springs lodge, but we were able to book a room at
the Lakeside Motel in Buena Vista, satisfied that we would still be able
to enjoy some hiking and hot springs soaking somewhere. The thought of attempting
a 14er still hadn’t set in.
While
we were discussing the details, however, I remembered that earlier in
the summer, we had, in fact, considered attempting to climb a 14er, but
had only gotten as far as deciding that prudence would dictate choosing
one of the “easier” ones for our first attempt.
We
thought maybe we could give it a try – even though we had only been
hiking occasionally around the Aspen area and certainly not that far or
that high
After some online investigation and having spoken with some knowledgeable Aspen hikers, we decided on
Huron Peak (about 27 miles north-west of Buena Vista) for our first
conquest – reportedly a relatively easy hike even though getting to the
trailhead would take a little extra time since we didn’t have suitable 4
wheel drive - http://www.summitpost.org/huron-peak/150477
Tracking Down Rain Pants
Since
our hiking of a 14er, like the vacation itself, was not really adequately
pre-planned, we were initially not quite prepared equipment-wise, so we
had to scramble a bit to get it all together for the trip. At least we did our homework on what we should bring and were determined to get together everything we might need - http://truesummit.blogspot.com/2009/06/essential-gear.html
All-in-all, I had to borrow hiking poles (I am sooo glad we decided to use them!) and a larger backpack from friends. I
bought a warm rain jacket and rain pants from the Aspen Thrift Shop,
and we bought a couple of extra water bottles once we got to Buena Vista.
Hiking Huron Peak
We started off as suggested - early in the morning (6:10 AM) and dressed for cool temperatures. Although
it was still dark, we ended up walking the initial 2.1 miles from the
parking lot to the trailhead with about 15 other people. A beautiful almost-full moon decided to join us.
We ascended slowly (also recommended for newbies), stopping frequently to rest and take in water and some food. After
negotiating the Ute-Trail-like switchbacks from the trailhead to tree
line, we arrived at the tundra clearing at about 9:30 AM.
It
was a little daunting, but we kept going, one step at a time, and I was
surprised that the altitude did not affect me noticeably – I guess my moderately high, moderately difficult hiking during the summer
paid off enough. The last part was a bit of a scramble and at one point thought
we might have to turn around, but we knew and were told that we were
“so close.”
We reached
the top of the upper tundra switch backs at about 10:30 AM and finally
made it to the summit at 11:45 AM – just ahead of our noon turn around
time. We had finally officially summited our first Colorado 14er (sounds
like more of an accomplishment than “bagged”)!
Here's the proof!
At the top of Huron Peak, we celebrated, taking in the overwhelming views with disbelief that we had actually done this.
After
a brief rest, we signed the summit book, took a few photos, and decided
to descend when the wind started to gust a little. We acknowledged how
lucky we had been with the perfect weather (not too hot, not too cold,
no rain), and the reassuring company of our fellow hikers who encouraged
us to “keep going” during our trek.
After
the novelty and exhilaration wore off, part of the way down, we wished
that we could “beam down” to the bottom – Star Trek-like, but of course
we could not. It’s a little difficult to enjoy the scenery when one’s
feet are begging for mercy, but at least we had enjoyed it on the way
up.
We finally made it to our car and drove back to the motel. This
is when we really realized that we no longer had any hot springs built
into the plan, and we were too tired to track down any nearby ones at
that time. We
decided that even though we would have to wait for a day, we would have
to settle for a plain old hot tub when we got home to Aspen.
Here are some photos of the entire trek:
Now
that we’ve conquered Huron Peak, we can’t wait to try more of the 14’rs
– maybe even some of the more difficult ones around Aspen itself
eventually. We will, of course, need to be more prepared for these, physically and mentally.
At some point, I’d like to find some of those hot springs too!
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