Mt. Yale

I thought I would have been riding my new bike all weekend, however, I got a call from the bike shop saying that my bike arrived from the factory with some damage, so they had to order some new parts. Grrr! Oh well. I decided to go camping and hike a 14er instead.

My destination this time was Mount Yale in the Collegiate Peaks area. I got a fantastic campsite a mile away from the trailhead and enjoyed a brisk night by the campfire. I had planned to heat up some grub on my campstove, but the dang thing wouldn't light. So instead I used some Missourian ingenuity and poured some camp fuel on the wood to start the campfire. (My eyebrows should grow back.)

Mt Yale on the right

I started hiking at 5:15 am. Below treeline was a very pleasant 45 degrees. As I rose, the wind began picking up. Pretty soon a 40 mph headwind was accompanying the 45 degree temperatures. Very unpleasant. The worst part was I was hiking on the western slopes, so the morning sunshine was not helping me. I eagerly ascended the slopes to get in the sun's warmth.

After a steep ascent, I finally reached the ridgeline and got in the sun. Unfortunately, the wind was at its max on the ridge.

My face was so cold!! The sunshine was never so welcomed.

On top of Mount Yale. The climb was not particularly difficult, but the conditions were miserable. I need some new gloves before ski season.

Looking northward at Mount Harvard...#3 highest in Colorado.

As I descended, I saw an owner with his dog, "Crash." As I passed Crash, he started following me downward. His owner started yelling at him to come on. The dog seemed very hesitant to continue going upward. I think it is pretty neat how dogs are out hiking with their owners, but I thought this situation was not cool. The dog obviously was either tired, cold, or scared of the terrain, yet the owner kept yelling at him to keep going. After I had descended several hundred feet further, I could still hear him yelling at his dog. Grrr!

Tangent: I found it bizarre that the first deer I saw in the area were as I was driving in downtown Buena Vista.

Lately after driving to a distant location, I have been driving back a different route to see new Colorado sights. This time I went east on Highway 24, which was spectacular. The route runs through a prairie with the mountains as a backdrop. Very cool. Before reaching Colorado Springs, I headed northward towards Denver and got enjoyably lost on a dirt road that ran along the Platte River. I am getting a kayak next summer.

Mo Pics

http://picasaweb.google.com/N.Marshall.80/MtYale#