Climbed Humboldt Peak 6/11/00 with Jake. We drove down to the South Colony Lakes trailhead the day before, and parked in the 2-wheel drive lot way down on the plains. I believe my guidebook meant for passenger cars to drive up a bit farther to some parking higher up, but this sure looked like the place to me. Maybe the road has become rougher, or the land owner higher up doesn't want people parking on his property.

Anyway, I had a 45lb pack and Jake was carrying about 6lbs of his food and water in his doggie pack. He didn't complain at all about wearing the pack this trip. I still have to repair the holes he chewed in the pack last year... The road starts out by crossing a cattle gate, which I lifted Jake over. I found it was easiest to grab the front and rear ends of his pack and lift him straight up. The road was dry and dusty for a long way, and gradually worked its way up the valley. It's a pretty rough road - I think you need a real 4X4, and preferably something small like a Jeep. There were a lot of fallen trees in the road, and I made a mental note to bring my chainsaw when I go 4-wheeling with my Jeep, once I get it. A couple groups driving up past us asked where we were headed, and what kind of dog Jake is. He always gets lots of compliments...

We had been hiking about 2-1/2 hours and I thought we must be getting close, but we were still well below treeline. A group of guys driving up in a Jeep asked if I wanted a lift, but I turned them down, saying "It can't be much farther". They thought it was probably about 3 more miles, but I wanted to tough it out. After another hour I was really slowing down, but at least the annoying flies were gone. I could tell this trail was going to be more than five miles, which I inferred from one of my guidebooks (14 miles from the trailhead to Humboldt and back, 4 miles from the lakes to Humboldt and back = 5 miles one way on the road, right?). I think it was more like 7 miles one way, because the 2WD trailhead might have been lower than that in the book, and because I missed the cutoff trail that went straight up to the lakes instead of curving around to the south below Broken Hand Peak. Oh well... After more of the "Bataan Death March" all the 4X4s were pulling over due to a tree across the road. I ran into the same group who offered me a ride and talked for a bit. Again I told them "It can't be much farther" and they laughed. I left them to assemble their gear and continued up the road, ran into a gate, and a log bridge across the river. I walked across the logs while Jake waded across at the Jeep crossing. We rested on the other side, and the same guys caught up to us. They were moving fast, fresh from not hiking 5 miles with packs... it turns out one of the guys is also from Illinois, and went to U of I a few years before I did. Small world.

We were moving slowly up the road, and it looked like it was going to deadend at an old mine, but then I saw the side trail heading off to the north and the lakes. Jake was cruising all up and down the sides of the hills, chasing marmots. He showed no sign of tiring, but I was beat. I learned not to pack so much in my bag for a simple overnight, and not to pack extra boots. I bought some La Sportiva Makalus last spring and this would be the 2nd meaningful hike with them. I wanted to continue breaking them in on the climb up to Humboldt, but I knew they would trash my feet if I used them on the backpack. There was an extra 4-1/2 lbs I didn't need to bring... it all adds up. I also packed my 4-season tent - a North Face Mountain tent, mostly to see if it was necessary at treeline in June. I didn't think it would be, but I intended this to be a shakedown trip, where I decided what kind of gear I would need for summer backpacks in the mountains. Next time I'm going to cut the pack weight down to 35 lbs at the most...

After 5 grueling hours we finally arrived in the basin that held Lower South Colony Lake. Even though I was exhausted, I was thrilled to be there: this has got to be the most fantastic place I've seen in Colorado. Crestone Needle rears up to the southwest, an imposing 2000' rock wall that tops out at the summit. Humboldt to the north, not much more than a lump, but covered in a nice soft green. It looked comfortable and inviting, like an English meadow. I wanted to find the nearest campsite and get settled in, but it was also important to find a spot with a nice view. We crossed the exit stream from the lake and wandered around a small rise, checking out the campsites. We picked one near the stream, for easy access to water and the nice soothing sound, and with a view of Humboldt and the Needle. The campsites were very nice, clean of debris with fire rings and a couple log stools. As far as I could tell, there were only a few other campers in the area, so mid-June is a good time to go. I set up the tent and debated whether to use the rainfly, since it didn't look like rain and the tent body itself is fully protected if the doors are closed. I left the rainfly off but handy in case of a storm. I used my MSR water filter for the first time, it worked great. Made Jamaican BBQ chicken from a ziplock bag - just add boiling water, close the bag, and wait ten minutes. It was pretty good, and I shared a little with Jake to supplement his crunchies. After dinner we went in the tent and rested, maybe slept for a little while. Then we ventured out and explored the area - I found a nice high rocky area between the lakes and looked around. Incredible. We returned to camp and went to bed. I slept well, waking up a few times but I was very comfortable, and it never rained.

I woke up around 05:00 but didn't feel like motivating yet, so I waited until 06:00 to crawl out of the bag. Gave Jake his breakfast, made some more water, and cooked some instant oatmeal - brown sugar and cinnamon mixed with some bizarre fake blueberry, since those were the last two packets I had at home. It looked gross but tasted good in the chill air. I threw my rain gear and fleece jacket in my day pack with some Cliff bars and Jake treats, one quart of water, and we hit the trail at 6:30. As we neared the steep part leading up to Humboldt's saddle, I heard a noise and looked behind us to see a mountain goat lounging on a rock. As we started up the excellent, switchbacked trail, I looked down again and noticed two guys packing up camp, right below the rock where they were watched by the goat. I wondered if they knew the goat was only about 10 feet away and 10 feet above them. As we continued up, the goat left the rock and approached the men, getting maybe 3-5 feet away from them as the packed their tents. The goat rubbed his long face on the grass, and I thought about those people who claim that humans and their dogs disturb the wildlife by climbing 14ers. I don't know, but that goat didn't seem to mind, and even though Jake spent a lot of time harassing the marmots, they just squealed and ducked under the rocks, as if - imagine this - they can handle threats from predators. I don't think they suffer any long-term trauma from dogs sticking their noses in their burrows; I'd sure hate to see Jake catch one, though...

The trail to the saddle was easy enough, but my legs were still toast from the backpack up to camp. I was a little concerned about making it back to the car later that day, but figured if I was in really bad shape I could always try to bum a ride from someone. We reached the saddle and sat on the grass soaking up the view. Wow. To reach the summit we would just follow the west ridge all the way up - simple enough. In a few places I wasn't paying enough attention to the trail and lost track of it, which forced us to do more rock climbing than was required. I didn't mind, but Jake had a hard time finding his way at times. He's a trooper, he didn't whine too much; I think he's learning that I'm not going to leave him behind. When we could find the main trail the going was pretty easy. We reached the top of the slope and I could see that we were at sort of a false summit, the actual summit was on a raised portion after a length of flat ridge.

Foto ©2000 by John C. Maki

It took us about ten minutes to reach the "summit block", which required a steep climb of 5 or 6 feet to get on top. I was hoping Jake would find an easier way, but I couldn't see one from the top, so I hopped back down and got him to put his paws up on a small ledge in the middle. A quick boost and Jake was up. There was a nice wind shelter, and we sat in there for a few minutes, had a snack, and took some pictures.

Foto ©2000 by John C. Maki

The views of Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak were phenomenal. I never hang out on the summit for long; usually clouds are moving in and I want to get off the exposed areas. This day was warm, sunny, with hardly any wind - ideal conditions to stay a while. But then I thought of the long slog back to the car after making lunch and packing up camp, followed by the 3 hour drive back to Aurora, and we went back down after 15 minutes. Jake scrambled down the same step I helped him up, and I made a big fuss. My legs had recovered somewhere on the ridge; we had made the summit in 2-1/2 hours, and half that to reach camp. The Makalus worked great, though I was glad to get out of them and back into my trusty old EMS boots. We filtered some more water, I stuck my feet in the icy stream to wake them up, and I packed up camp. My GPS said it was 5.15 miles to the car, in a straight line, so I figure it was really about 7 with all the twists and turns in the road.

We left about noon, and made excellent time down the road. I can't believe it took us 5 hours from the car to camp, and only 2-1/2 hours back down, even though my pack was almost as heavy as the day before. I only stopped to rest once an hour, and the second half of the trip I carried the GPS in my hand to give me something to think about besides walking. About 2 miles from the car my feet developed hot spots, and though I had a little moleskin left I decided not to stop and just dealt with it. About a mile from the car, I was walking like some kind of cartoon character - still making good time but being careful about where I placed my feet. It was starting to get painful, but at least it took my attention away from the pressure my pack was putting on my hips - I think backpacking requires some muscle use in that area that hiking doesn't. Jake was pooping out - he walked about 20-30 feet in front of me, not much interested in side trips, and once he found a shady spot and plopped down in the road. I told him "See what you get for chasin' all them whistle-pigs" in a Georgia redneck voice, but he just lay there and panted. It was hot and dry, about an inch of dust was on the road, and there wasn't much of a breeze. At last we could see the parking lot at the bottom of a hill, and several groups of people were making their way up the hill. I could tell right away they were Texans, out for a little walk - kinda big, wearing sneakers. I chatted with them, one lady thought Jake was cute in his doggie pack so she took a picture of us. They asked if it was worth it and I told them it was, but they had a long, rough road ahead of them. I doubt they made it a mile, and I wouldn't have blamed them. I'm not hiking up that road again...

There were some guys in a Texas pickup truck in the parking lot, and they asked me about the road and the way up to Humboldt. They were planning to drive up as far as they could the next morning, climbing Humboldt and maybe Kit Carson. I wished them luck, took off my boots, noticing the deep red spots on my socks where my big toe meets the foot, peeled off the socks, and put on Tevas for the way home. Unfortunately the straps hit my sore spots, and I just took them off after a while. The drive home was uneventful, a little rain near the Springs, Jake slept curled up in the back seat. I stopped to pick up a 6-pack of Sunday 3.2 beer (damn Colorado blue laws) in Aurora, hobbling around like a cripple in the store. After a long hike, your legs tend to stiffen up while you drive home, it's almost comical...

I was visibly exhausted the next day at work, and even Tuesday... Jake didn't do much more than sleep for two days. We both seemed to have regained our energy as of Wednesday. I broke poor Jake! I'm sure next time he'll do it again, tearing up and down all the hills chasing rodents... This weekend I'm taking it easy, brewing beer tomorrow for Donna's birthday party. Donna, Jake and I are climbing Torreys next weekend. I've already done Torreys by the Kelso Ridge, but this time we're taking the standard route. I'm taking my ice axe in the hopes of doing a little snow climbing to make it interesting. I'm trying to figure out which other 14ers to do this summer: we've scheduled in Elbert and Pikes, but I want to try some of the harder routes on the nearby 14ers, like the west ridge of Quandary. I'm getting a little tired of the Sawatch Range, but I still have many to go. Maybe we should do Huron, backpack up a few miles to give Donna a taste of backpacking, then have a nice short summit trip the next day.