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from left to right: Bald Mt., Clover (which I have actually climbed,
when much younger! it's just under 13,000') and Aetna
(NOTE: this photo is from our second hike) |
Last time I showed you some of the views we had on our Colorado hikes last month, and I promised more positive images this time. So here we go!
The first hike we took was a very familiar one, along the Monarch Crest Trail southward from the pass. At the beginning, as you can see here, there was considerable evidence of tree-culling...
...but there were also long stretches of healthier-looking forests, as well as a considerable amount of residual snow, reminders of our
surprise September storm:
As I showed you last time, many of the normally amazing distant views from this trail were obscured by smoke, but the sights nearer at hand were beautifully visible. Like Mt. Peck, which Henry probably briefly considered climbing; I've done it once before, though, and knew I was much too out-of-shape to handle it this time. It's not even close to a 14-er (it's just over 12,000) but that's an atmosphere that's still too thin for flat-lander old ladies!
And of course there's the Crest gondola, not working because of both covid and the fact that we were past its normal closing date. But it's still a handy landmark that makes it east to orient yourself, no matter where you are on the neighboring trails...
In fact, we were able to triangulate in on it throughout our second hike, too. And although it covered familiar terrain, it was a completely new hike for us. Hard to believe that we hadn't ever walked it, in all the years that we've been coming up here!
Anyway, on the right is a shot of the gondola, through the trees, from the north side. We decided to try a different way to get from Old Monarch Pass to the new one this time, to make a loop instead of just going back and forth along the Pacific drainage side of the Divide. (One of my nephews, when young, always wanted to know if the trail they were starting out on was a "yoop" or not, so I'm always tempted to use that pronunciation when describing a loop trail. It
is an important distinction that he picked up on very early!)
Walking along the Continental Divide is always a truly awesome experience, if you stop to consider where any spit (or other bodily fluid) will eventually end up—Atlantic or Pacific—depending on which way you aim.
Our "new" trail is one that starts just a bit down the Atlantic side from the pass and winds through some very nice scenery on its way to the new pass, not much over a mile away. From this side of the "yoop" there are wonderful views of our local group of mountains (see the photo at the top of the post, too). Here you can see Mts. Aetna and Taylor; the latter is right across the highway from our cabin...
The higher ones further to the right we think might be 14-ers Tabeguache and Shavano. (I am related to people who have climbed Shavano, a feat I'm okay knowing I'll never be able to match.)
There was still plenty of snow here, too, even making the trail a little muddy in spots...
Unfortunately, though a lot of this forest looked pretty healthy, there were still reminders that all is not well with these spruces (another cute kid-pronunciation, this one from our oldest granddaughter, who is quite fond of "boo pooce" trees
)...
I hear that beetle-infested lumber actually makes beautiful paneling (google it). I guess that could count as a silver lining to this plague, but I can't believe it's worth all this damage to the forests.
As we got closer to the new pass, more culling became impossible to ignore. But here's an interesting, new (to us) view of the
Monarch Crest gift shop, home of scrumptious fudge, as well as other treats, clothing, and supplies.
It's also where, in non-covid summers, you get your gondola tickets...
We didn't stop in this time (having already bought our fudge after the first hike), but just "yooped" around and headed back along the Pacific drainage side of our loop. Here's highway 50 wiggling away down the western side of the pass:
From this side, you can (on non-smoky days) see much further. Most of these views I've
already showed you. But here's a nice shot of Mt. Ouray, an
almost 14-er that people I'm related to have also climbed (but I'm okay saying I never will)...
The biggest, and most inconvenient, patch of snow we encountered was just before we got back to the car at the old pass...
Fortunately, we were wearing hiking boots! What a great hike this was! Next time the kids are with us, we'll be sure to take them on it. It's a testament to how wonderful our little piece of the Rockies is, that after all these years there are still new paths to discover. I'm sure there are more...maybe we'll go on another new hike next year.
