Adventures in the Outdoors and Such
A few days late because I was in the mountains!
1 week until the Colorado backpacking!!
Stoked the Colorado backpacking trip is only 2 weeks away, so here’s a pic from one of those great trips!
As the Colorado backpacking trip approaches it’s always nice to get in a little high-altitude training, so we headed up to Flagstaff to hike Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona.
We left Phoenix just after 6am, making it to the Snowbowl parking lot around 9. The I-17 75 mph speed limit helps make the miles pass by.
We pulled into the trail-head parking lot at Arizona Snowbowl and got ready for the stroll. The Forest Service has a pop-up set up with a couple of rangers there to advise people on the trail and strenuous nature of the hike, a nice service.
Here’s the Arizona Snowbowl Webcam to give you a good view of the mountain!
We hit the trail and across the first ski run and into the trees we went. There were a number of people we started off with who we would end up yo-yoing past for most of the hike. The first half of the hike is in a beautiful pine forest, you just have step over lots of roots and rocks. After just a bit you pass the sign marking the start of the wilderness area.
About 1/3 of the way through the trees we started to run into some patches of snow, they were a little slippery but are easily crossed with the help of the trekking poles!
The steepness increases as you get closer to Agassiz Saddle, between Humphreys and Agassiz Peaks, but I love to get above treeline. It really feels like you’re in the big mountains once you get out of the trees. As long as I can remember I’ve always just trudged through the part of a hike in the trees but really get the stoke going once I’m up high!
We stopped at the saddle for lunch and a good rest break before heading up the ridge towards the summit. One thing about Humphreys is, never believe your looking at the summit until you’re standing on the top. My friend Bill was calling it Mt Liar because of all the false summits!
We hung out on top for a bit, talking with some other people up there. We all got a pic with the sign and headed out for the trek back to the truck. We saw quite a few people starting out in the later afternoon, still in the trees asking how far to the peak. I told them it was far.
It was a fun day in the mountains, unfortunately my Garmin said unsupported file format when I tried to upload, so no maps or cool data to pass along. I really wish if that was going to happen it would be on a short run around my house, not on a cool mountain adventure that took 8 hours! Overall, awesome day but it’s a haul up and back from Phoenix all in one day. Left my house at 5:30 AM, got back at 9:45 PM.
While I think we all know that no picture of an amazing outdoor scene truly does it justice, you can still capture some great shots. I think I’ve gotten some cool shots for some guy snapping pictures with his phone’s camera while hiking around, so here’s some of my favorites.
All pics taken with various models of iPhone and some have been instagramed.
I’ve been taking a backpacking trip to Colorado every summer for the past 3 years, it is not hard to find some beautiful views,
Last year was my first time hiking Grand Canyon and it was awesome, so awesome I’m going again this September! If you took a picture of every amazing view you’d never get to the bottom,
And there’s always more pics on the ol’ Instagram.
Been slacking off on the blogging so trying to catch up a little bit, so here’s an overview of last summer’s Colorado backpacking adventure!
In late July we hit up 2 spots in South Central Colorado, the Blue Lakes and Ice Lake. They are both amazing alpine lakes, they do get some traffic, so during the week is the way to go!
The Blue Lakes of Colorado are near Ridgeway and Telluride. We drove up from Phoenix and made it to the Alta Lakes campground near Telluride. Cruised around Telluride a little the next day, picked up some supplies and off into the hills we went.
It’s 3 miles to Lower Blue Lake from the trailhead, feels pretty tough with a full pack and coming from the lowland of Phoenix doesn’t help. Found nice campsite and moved in. The past few years our backpacking as featured a lot of rain and this year was no exception!
The next morning after enjoying some coffee and waiting for the rain to stop, we head up to hike to the Upper Blue Lakes and I wanted to give Mt Sneffels a shot, the local 14er’. It was a nice hike up to and over the pass into Yankee Boy Basin, I made it about 2/3 of the way up the Lavender Couloir, before an approaching storm made me turn around. By the time I made it back to camp it was a full on thunderstorm. Hooray for smart choices in the mountains!
After hiking out from The Blue Lakes we drove over the huge Red Mountain Pass and into Silverton. After a quick resupply we headed off to the Ice Lake Traihead.
After a rainy, tough, but cool hike in we found ourselves a nice campsite, set up, got some dry clothes on and relaxed. Which is easy to do with views like these!
The hike to Upper Ice Lake is short but super steep! It is an amazing high alpine area once you get up there. We hung out up there hiking around and enjoying the area.
After 5 days in the tents it was time to head back to Phoenix, there’s nothing like these mountain escapes, so good for the mental state! The simplicity of backpacking and living out of a tent in an amazing place can’t be beat. Get out and Go!
Going Down The Trail 