Notes
It was a bit of a relief to wake up to no rain and a dry interior of the tent. We packed up, ate the last pop tarts, and Lucas almost immediately asked me if the summer sausage was around and I had to let him down. A couple came by just in time to see me finish being in my boxers and long sleeve. We were almost done packing up when Indiana came by and offered us a ride to Denver. Wow. That got us really moving and we started hiking shortly after. We had what felt like less than a mile before our left turn to start climbing to Hope Pass. Ted and I wanted to take a sip to drink but Lucas took off and I felt like he was a little anxious about the climb. Last night he said he would take it at 1mile/hr which to me seemed like nonsense. It was very steep immediately and after about 2 minutes I was breathing at least as hard as I had been at any other time on the loop, except it lasted a full mile. We stopped for another drink of water and I felt a little dumb for not drinking anything this morning until we got to the base of the climb. There were no switchbacks for at least a mile which struck me as stupid and funny. Who decided that the hardest climb in the area didn’t need switches? For a while Ted and I were gaining on Lucas but then it became clear that he was pushing and we weren’t gaining at all. We passed a couple of women not too long after we left the trees and shortly after that two trail runners came by us. It felt a little rude for them to just blow by so we didn’t really get out of their way. The climb actually got more gradual as we went which was a relief, and the last 3-5 minutes got easier and once again I felt like these passes were a little over-hyped. The view from the top was nice but I think Lake Ann Pass took the cake on views. We saw the same couple that passed up earlier in the morning and it turned out they were Londoners hiking the CDT NOBO with no particular timeline. What a way to live. We chatted with them for a few minutes but we were getting cold so we started our descent before long, which once again included some snow but it was easier than Lake Ann’s. On the way down we saw a couple hikers, including one preceded by her pack-wearing doodle who seemed full of joi-de-vivre and rolled around when her hiker got close. The descent was relatively steep but not uncomfortable for the most part. About 20 minutes past the pass it started hailing and it continued for close to a half hour, dropping about half-pea sized pellets that turned to rain at lower elevation. The descent felt like it took a really long time but our spirits were high and we were excited to be almost done. During our descent we saw lots of tired-looking hikers and based on how long it took us, it must have been pretty rough going up. We saw two men hoping to do both passes in one day as they started the loop, which sounded pretty bad to us. Our grind started once we were along the lakes and the last hour, or hour and a half, since my sense of time was terrible at this point, felt like half a day. We were a bit warm, a bit hungry, and just wishing for the finish to be around every corner. Lots of day-hikers, bikers, and their dogs slowed us a little and it was difficult to have the energy and patience to pleasantly greet or yield to all of them. Finally we were within sight of the parking lot and Ted ran about 40m of the final 100 as he was threatening to for the last hour or so. Ted and Lucas took off their packs and sat at the trailhead for a few minutes but I couldn’t delay soaking my legs in a small inlet of the lake. I met a lady and her golden retriever, who in her words “should have been a fish.” He was chasing the waves he made while swimming and was very slow to leave the water even after she was out of sight and walking toward the parking lot. Not long after I walked barefoot back to the trailhead and the boys were apparently about to head my way. I texted Mom, Dad, and Liz after learning my check-ins hadn’t gone through since Tuesday. Luckily none of them seemed super panicked but maybe next time I do something like this I’ll bring a dedicated GPS device. We walked across where I had soaked to get to the body of the lake and get a real swim in, although it ended up being cold enough for all of us to basically just want to walk in, dunk, and walk out. We walked back to the trailhead and were mostly dry after the end of the 5 minute walk. There we waited about a half hour for Indiana to show up and we then walked a couple minutes to his rental car. We learned he had been planning to do part of Skurka’s Wind River high route in Wyoming but he was a little burned out on hiking so he was headed to New Mexico instead to explore the state a bit. He said he was still happy to drive us to Denver since he had a couple weeks until he had to get back to his job (middle school social studies) and had just gained a week from aborting his Wyoming plan. We stopped at a gas station in Leadville for coffee and snacks before hitting the highway and it was a very pleasant ride talking hiking and work with Indiana. When we got to the Bergs’ place we thanked Indiana again and I offered to help or house him if he was ever in the northeast to hike or for whatever reason so he gave me his phone number and I shot him a text message. Inside we took turns showering and laying out our hiking gear in the backyard. Just before Lucas hopped in the shower we placed an order for Indian food at a place around the corner and Ted and I went to pick it up. The food was great and we all came out of the gates hot but still ate almost all of it. After we headed to the basement to watch Scott Pilgrim vs the World but couldn’t find it on a streaming service we had. Instead we ended up playing Super AutoPets for 3 hours like the phone-deprived degenerates we were. Around 11:something we called it a night and to it felt like a long time since we were hiking.