Trip Report: Mt. Sherman

Date: July 19, 2015

Ryan and I only have a few more 14ers left that are within a 2 hour drive of home. Mt. Sherman is one of the easier 14ers, so we decided to finally summit it. Since one of us (ahem, Ryan) isn't a morning person, we decided to drive up and camp Saturday night, rather than waking up super early to drive to the trailhead. We also convinced our friends Liz and Ashley to join us!

The road up to Sherman goes through a lot of private land, but we were still able to find an amazing camping spot. And yes-  we TENT camped!!

After sleeping in until 7AM, we hit the 4WD drive road that heads up Sherman. This time, all of our watches died, so we really aren't sure how high we started or how long the route was.

The first part of the trail went past some really interesting abandoned mines. It is amazing how much work it must have been to mine this high- and how much of the sites are just left here, in the middle of the mountain!

The views back down the valley were really pretty in the morning- we had just a bit of sunlight to enjoy

The trail itself was pretty easy for the first half. It got more rocky as we climbed higher, but the grade was really gradual the entire way.

Once you get to the top of the climb, the rest of the trail is mostly a ridgline until the summit. It doesn't feel as exposed as other ridge lines, but that may be because there was virtually no wind while we were climbing.

There was still a lot of snow on the trail- I couldn't believe that it hadn't melted- it's almost August!

We had a really nice, relaxed pace headed to the summit. For once, I almost felt like I could breath!

Just as we made it to the summit, the clouds really rolled in, making for a rather unremarkable summit shot. However- we did manage to get all the people AND the dogs into one frame, so I call that a win!

The trail was only slightly technical, but the grade was so gradual that it was perfect to run down. As we were flying by all of the other hikers, we overheard a comment from a group that was headed down while we were still 500feet from the summit 'They must've turned around…'. Heh. nope- we just fly like the wind down the side of the mountain!

Another perfect day in Colorado.

Trip Report: Mt. Princeton

Date: July 12, 2015

The snow has finally melted in the high country- it's time for some 14ers!! This is a late start for us this summer, but June was a super busy month for us. The previous day, we hiked up/ran down Mt. Massive with a few friends, so our legs were a bit pounded from 7 miles of downhill running.

The drive up to the Mt. Princeton trailhead was much scarier than I expected- it is a very narrow 1 lane road, with a sheer drop on one side. The road is in pretty rough shape- I was a little worried that my 4Runner would bottom out on a few sections.

We parked slightly lower than the actual parking lot because we were sick of driving. The first part of the hike is to continue up past the parking lot on this 4WD road. The views are pretty, but it's still about a mile of road hiking.

The actual trail that heads up the mountain comes up on your right and is easy to miss. There are a few steps that come down from the side of the road- and that's the trail. Luckily someone was coming down as we were at that point so we didn't miss it!

The trail goes up for a bit on a dirt path through the meadow. Shortly thereafter, the boulder hopping begins, and continues all the way up the summit! The boulder hopping was all quite easy, but if you aren't feeling very balanced, it could be a challenge.

The only other tricky thing about getting to the summit is that the trail you are on for the first part of the hike doesn't actually head to the summit- it goes to a mine. You have to find a trail that heads up a switch back part on your left. I would tell you the elevation and mileage, but my Garmin Fenix2 has decided to completely die :( That part of the trail goes up fairly quickly, where you get to the first ridge line with amazing views

Overall, Princeton was harder than I expected it to be. It may have been the beating my legs took the day before, but I felt like we really earned the summit of Princeton- there were a lot of times I was using my hands to make it up. It was fun!!

There was only one small patch of snow left on the mountain, and obviously, Cody found it! Without this patch of snow, there was no other water on the trail for dogs. I actually had Cody drink from my hydration pack twice- on most other 14ers she can usually find water. So- bring lots of water for this one- it was hot!

This was Cody's 26th 14er, and as usual, she killed it!

Despite the fact that the route was very bouldery/rocky, we still did our best to run down as best we could!

Our overall time was probably about 4 hours, but we don't have any idea because we actually ran watchless (probably like the first time, ever)!

If you are prone to falling, I would recommend trekking poles on this route. Also be sure to have your stickiest/most stable shoes- lots of lose rock and gravel. 

Colorado Running Loops: Indian Peaks Pawnee Buchanan Pass

One running loop that should be on every Colorado trail runners bucket list is the Pawnee- Buchanan loop. The views throughout the run are gorgeous, the trail is technical and challenging, and it is the perfect distance for a great, long training run.

Date Run: July 13th, 2014

The Pawnee-Buchanan loop starts at Brainard Lake recreation area. It is supposed to be 27 miles, but we managed to get a bit lost and our run ended up at 30 miles, with 7,647 feet of climbing. Since it is a loop, it can be run in either direction.

The view down to Lake Isabelle

When Ryan and I ran this loop, we started by climbing up and over Pawnee Pass first, doing the loop in a clockwise direction. However, after completing this loop I would recommend doing Buchanan pass first- so going counter-clockwise. The reason for this is that the backside of Pawnee pass was very technical and steep, and we couldn't run down it- usually we are very strong downhill runners and can make up a lot of time by flying downhill. The terrain didn't allow that, so it took a lot longer to run than we expected. We also got a bit lost going this way, so maybe if we were running the other direction, the trailhead junctions would be more obvious- maybe?

Things to note about this run:

• Remember to bring $10 in cash to park at Brainard Lake Recreation Area (or hitchhike like we did since we never remember cash). If you decide to run the way we did, going over Pawnee first, park at the Mitchell Lake trailhead and head to Long Lake, then follow the signs for Pawnee Pass. 

• A great description of both directions of the loop can be found here (bottom of the page)

• One time consuming part of this run that I didn't know about ahead of time was a very large avalanche debris field that you had to pick your way through. This involved climbing up and over a lot of very large, downed trees. 

• The trail coming down from Buchanan pass was very faint and overgrown, with a lot of bushwhacking. This is also where we got lost- apparently there is a sign for Beaver Creek trail, but we never found it and ended up looping around on some other trail- Red Deer lake- don't go on that one!

• There are plenty of lakes and rivers along the trail, so finding water wasn't an issue. We did use our Sawyer filter, but most of the water was snow run-off. Despite having ran this in mid-July, there was still a lot of snow in sections of Pawnee pass- in fact, the ranger said that we might not make it through the snowfields!

There were a few stream crossings

• Pay close attention to the elevation profile. Even though this run has 2 named passes, I didn't realize that there was one other climb that went up and over 11,000 feet. For us, this was at the end of the run, so it may have been particularly traumatic to me, since we were 4 miles over plan and out of food. And I was very, very tired.

• There were 2 major stream crossings that required getting your socks and shoes completely soaked. I recommend wool socks

• I recommend starting as early as possible. Since there are 2 major mountain passes to climb, one of which inevitably happens towards the end of the run, regardless of direction, afternoon thunderstorms are a major consideration. We hung out around treeline for a while before crossing Buchanan because we weren't entirely sure what the clouds were going to do. We got lucky and there was no rain or lightning, but there was definitely both in the area. Always be prepared with warmer clothes and pay attention to the weather!

With that being said, here are some pictures! Not pictured are the 2 bull moose that we saw- too busy running carefully away to snap a photo!

Lake Isabelle

There was a lot of snow left for Mid-July!

Pawnee Pass- the first major climb is done

The view looking down from Pawnee Pass. Yes, that is the trail.

After going down many switchbacks, we got most of the way down from Pawnee Pass, and here is a view of Pawnee Lake

Technical, steep descent

This is totally staged :)

Gorgeous winding trail through the Indian Peaks wilderness

Pawnee Lake. There were A LOT of flies. 

I guess there's a reason it's called the 'Rocky Mountains'

I wasn't miserable yet

The Avalanche debris field. Nature's amazing power- these were all full grown, normal size trees

In a meadow very similar to this, I thought to myself- wow, if I were a moose, this is where I'd hang out. When I turned my head left, 2 moose were standing 15 feet away, watching me closely. I almost crapped my pants

Trudging up Buchanan Pass, keeping our eye on the skies

Those clouds are totally un-threatening

Looking back from Buchanan pass

This marmot was this close to me. He was so completely unafraid of me, it was bizarre!

Here is our Garmin Data. Note- this was a particularly bad day for me, and we went a lot slower than I had anticipated: