Photos:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1138503007/a=38054161_38054161/
Saturday 6/6:
Andrew put together a hike in the Indian Peaks. It was a full moon, so the plan was that we would hike overnight by the full moon. We would hike towards Arapahoe Glacier, and turn around whenever we wanted. On the way up, I was wondering if he had checked to make sure the road to Rainbow Lakes was open; as I know that they block it off during the winter. Figured it would likely be open by now though.
When we got up there, around 9pm, we found out that Andrew hadn't checked, and that the road was still closed. Bummer. Would add around 3 or 4 miles each way to the hike. We did last minute gear preparations, and started hiking up the road. Jen and I were carrying overnight gear. The plan was that we would hike up with the group, and then whenever we wanted to; we would find a spot to set up camp. Six of us were on the trip: Jen, Andrew, Abby, Alan, Anastasia and I.
It was a beautiful night; we didn't even need headlamps. The moonlight was so bright, it was casting shadows. When we reached the Rainbow Lakes campsite, Jen's feet were bothering her, so we decided to set up the tent near the campground. There was a nice river going through, so great water sounds for the night. It was a bummer that the gate was locked, as the road was in great shape. There was some cut up downed trees; maybe the forest service wanted to keep other folks out until they got those cleared up. Oh well. Jen stayed at the tent, and the rest of us headed up.
Not too far up the trail, we started hitting traces of snow. Then patches. Then stretches. Soon, the snow was pretty deep, and we ran out of footsteps to follow. We continued on, not quite on the trail. We finally gave up trying to find the trail, and just headed up the ridge. We had a little bushwhack, but made it to a great overlook of the Boulder Watershed surrounded by the rugged peaks. Got there around 1:15am, and stopped for a bite to eat. We then found and continued up the trail a bit more. The wind really started kicking up, so we stopped to chat. We still had a long hike out, and we were not going to have shelter again until Arapahoe pass. We decided to turn around for the evening, as we likely would lose the trail again and have another bushwhack to get out.
We did lose the trail again, and had a fun little bushwhack out through snow and forest. Got back to the tent around 5am, as the sun was beginning to rise. The others continued on for the final 4 mile hike out to the cars; and I jumped into the tent with Jen for a couple hours of sleep. Couldn't sleep that much with the bright sun, so we soon packed up the tent and hiked out.
Hope you enjoy the pics!
A.J.
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1138503007/a=38054161_38054161/
Group Room (multiple albums): http://ajoutdoors.snapfish.com/snapfish