Backpacking The High Mountains

The high mountains of Colorado still had a lot of snow in mid June (2008). As a result, the Arkansas river was close to flooding here in Canon City, despite there being no rain in a long time. Just the snow melt was enough to raise it to its highest level in many years. Still, despite the snow, my friend Mike and I were still hoping to go backpacking and possibly summiting a mountain or two.

At 9,000 feet a couple weeks earlier we saw just one snowbank, but driving home we could see that though there was a lot of snow in the high peaks of the northern Sangre De Christo mountains. It was in patches, though, and there were large areas without snow, even above 13,000 feet - or so it appeared. Time to give it a try.

We agreed on a two night trip to Bushnell Lakes and possibly to the top of Bushnell Peak (13,105 feet) if there was a decent route (we had no equipment for snow). I received a phone call a day before we left. A visitor to my backpacking website wanted to know if there was too much snow. He was calling from Texas, wondering about the conditions in the Sangre De Christos.

"Do you think it' still too deep up there?"

"I sure hope not," I told him, "since me and a friend are headed up there tomorrow." The forest service rangers for an area south of where we would be had told him everything was still snowed in above 10,000 feet. He planned for a week in that area, starting a few days after us. He wondered if they might be exaggerating, and we agreed that they probably were being overly cautious.

High Mountains In Early Summer

It must have been over 80 degrees when we started, soaking me in sweat even with only 13 pounds on my back (I like to go light when I backpack). At the split in the trail we decided to go to the Stout Lakes instead of Bushnell Lake, near the Twin Sisters Peaks - the next valley over from Bushnell Lakes, and a shorter hike according to the map. In a trail register we noted that only a couple people had been up there this year, and one had left this entry on the way down: "Lost the trail in the snow at 10,800 feet." The date? Three days earlier.

Less than an hour later we started to hear the roaring stream the trail follows much of the way up. Soon afterwards we saw the first small patches of snow before we crossed the stream at about 9,600 feet. Before much longer we were hiking on a trail that doubled as a stream itself, complete with small waterfalls - and the snow patches were more frequent. We walked over the stream/path on a snow bridge at one point before realizing that it would have been a three-foot fall into the water below if it had broken through.

Then, a few hours into the hike, there was no trail to be seen; it was somewhere under several feet of snow. Since it's hard to get too lost following a stream up a valley, we kicked steps into the hard snow and continued up. We found the trail again at times, and even had long dry stretches here and there. Snow melts in very irregular patterns in the woods. I have a photo of Mike standing on dry grass next to a seven-foot high wall of snow, and in another, I'm trying to climb a twenty-foot snow-cliff, standing on several feet of snow and ice under which a stream was running.

We came to the first lake and it was frozen, even though there was dry ground around half of it. At that point we headed back down to a small pond that was only partially covered in ice, and had dry grass next to it to camp on. I set two our water in a snow bank so we could have a cool drink after a hot day of backpacking in deep snow. As we set up the tarp on the grass marmots came near to investigate us.

The following day we hiked up past the first and second lakes, both above tree line, and followed a stream up a steep hill and into a meadow full of wildflowers at about 12,000 feet. We sat there taking in the view of the frozen lakes below and the flowers around us. A 13,012-foot mountain waited above, past rocky climbs and slippery fields of snow and ice. An hour later we were on top, and it was the highest Mike had ever climbed. We signed the register and looked out over the mountains in all directions, some of them more than 60 miles away.

When we made it back to the camp, I realized I was sick, and that I hadn't anticipated the effect of the harsh sunlight. We had hats and sunglasses, but the sunlight reflects at you from all sides when you cross snow. This wasn't just a sunburn, but sun-sickness - a first for me. I alternated between feeling on fire and having chills run through my body all night, and Mike got the chills the following day. Keeping that in mind, here are some tips for backpacking in the high mountains:

1. Why not call the forest service before you go? They can tell you what the conditions are where you plan to hike, so you can bring the proper equipment. clothing and water.

2. Bring a good map and know how to use it. Obviously important in early summer, when you might lose the trail in the snow.

3. Using sun block is just a start. You should also wear a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve shirt (I had a t-shirt on all day climbing the mountain).

4. Use your GPS to mark your car. If you bring a GPS, use it. Mark your car in case you lose the trail.

5. Look at the trailhead register. People backpacking before you may have stopped on the way out to note that a bridge is washed out, fallen trees have covered the trail, or something else you should know before you finalize your plans.

6. Go high early in the day. In summer, afternoon thunderstorms are common in many high mountain ranges. When going to the summits and high ridges, it's best to do it early and then get lower before noon or one o'clock.

Have meadows and valleys to yourself is wonderful. It's one of the advantages of backpacking in the high mountains early in the season (only two people had signed the register on top of the mountain in the eight months before we did). But always be ready for a wide variety of hiking conditions.

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