Colorado Tour
Getting In
The idea for this trip started when I discovered in September 2018 that I could get a round-trip flight from Washington DC to Denver from Frontier Airlines for only $130. That is ridiculously cheap! During this time, I was extremely restless. I had in fact just returned from a week-long beach vacation with the family earlier that month. So, one would argue I should have been relaxed. However, as the patriarch of a family leading a group of 10 immediate and extended family members, I found myself stressed arranging everyone’s food, transportation, and other needs. Family vacations, I’ve discovered, become more about others’ enjoyment rather than your own as you get older. So, I was still searching for solace for myself as the fall rolled around.
Before this trip, I had not done any mountains in the west. I figured I would start with the tallest of the 14ers, Mt Elbert. Though the tallest, it’s among the easier of the Colorado 14ers. It had a relatively gentle grade throughout and easy access. I knew that I would have to spend some time acclimatizing. I had to commit to at least 4 days to make the most of my time there. I quickly threw together a trip and went. I got in late on September 7th and got my rental car, this time through a carsharing service called Turo.
As a quick aside, I will say my Turo experience was fine. The only downside is that you have to coordinate pickup and drop-off at precise times since the cars have real owners with their own lives and schedules. Of course, trips commonly get off schedule and I felt bad inconveniencing the car’s owner in the small hours of the morning. The owner was cordial throughout despite my strange schedule.
My hotel for the night was in south Denver. I make my way over to the La Quinta where I had booked a room and go to bed pretty quickly.
Day 1 – Acclimatization
My plan for the day was to get supplies and acclimatize. I would purchase supplies in Denver and then drive to the Mt Evans Auto Road, which features one of the highest paved roads in the world that goes all the way to the summit at over 14,000 ft. I figured a drive up and down the road would be enough to get my body used to the thinner air. My first time in Colorado, about 7 years prior, gave me no altitude problems Everything was fine I thought… until it wasn’t.
After buying supplies, I start the drive to Mt Evans. As the elevation gradually climbed from the ~5200 ft in Denver towards the ~10,000 ft elevation at the base of Mt Evans, I started to feel light-headed. I tried to brush it off but as I drove higher I started to feel like I was about the black out. It’s obvious that I underestimated the time needed to feel comfortable at 10,000ft.
I was driving windy mountain roads and I desperately searched for a place to pull over and collect myself. To my delight, I found that I had reached Echo Lake at the base of the Mt Evans auto road just when I felt the most nauseated. I find a place to park, put the windows down, turned off the engine and simply sat with my eyes closed breathing deeply for about an hour.
After a while, I start to feel okay again and set off up the road.
The drive was followed by an acclimatization hike past Echo Lake going downhill. I wasn’t sure where I was going. I eventually reach a gravel road with what appeared to be religious settlements along it. I finish the hike by jogging back uphill to Echo Lake and my car. I was glad to see that I had acclimatized enough to perform athletically at this altitude. I would need to get up to 14,400ft the next day.
I then make my way to Leadville, CO. It takes a couple hours to get there. On the way there, I saw a Bugatti Veryron driving next to me, which was truly memorable since it’s a rare find. Leadville sitsabove 10,000ft in elevation. I decide to spend the night here to acclimatize further. I stay in an interesting Air BNB known as the Happy Hippie House. It was a comfortable stay, with the only uncomfortable part of the stay being the high elevation giving me headaches.
One of my favorite things about travel is occasionally finding something unexpected and wonderful. I look around town for food options as is the norm on the travels and find a pizza place a few blocks away. I did not expect to have the best pizza of my life that day. However, it was truly the best pizza I had ever had in my life – a margherita from High Mountain Pies.
Day 2 – Mt Elbert
After a quick breakfast and latte in town, I make my way to the San Isabel National Forest and the Mt Elbert trailhead. Even though I felt acclimatized, it was still a struggle to climb up past 10,000 ft and towards the end of the treeline. I take many breaks huffing and puffing for the first couple hours of the climb. I frequently stop for sips of water. Many people pass me.
After an hour and a half, though, I start to hit a stride. I make it above treeline and the sight of the open sky filled me with energy. This particular climb, I remember, had a lot of scree. I had to jump up sections to avoid sliding back down.
I imagine I must be hiking well because I start to pass the people who had passed me hours earlier. Climbing up the mountain got tricky, as many times what appeared to be the summit turned out to only be a landing towards more elevation. The only thing that bothers me is the sun. It was my first time climbing at these elevations and had to break out the floppy beach hat to keep the sun out of my eyes.
Once I summit, I pick a rock to sit on and eat my lunch. I felt perfectly fine at this point, almost like at sea level. I take some photos (which I would later accidentally erase on my memory card before downloading) before heading down. Scree was actually quite fun going down as you could easily slide down it. The bad side is that you kick down a lot of rocks doing it this way and always have to be aware of hikers below you. I feel so energetic, in fact, that I run down portions of the trail. I notice that as I go down in elevation, the extra oxygen gives me more energy and I am running practically the whole way down once I get below treeline. By 3pm, I am back in my car for a 5 hour trip total.
My next stop for the journey is Granby, CO, where I booked a room in a ski resort. Since it was September, there was no snow and no skiers and I got a huge discount on a room. The drive from Leadville to Granby is pleasant. Nothing really beats riding in a convertible on a sunny day in the mountains. The reason for this destination is that it is close to the western entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, where I planned to spend the next day climbing Long’s Peak. The majority of hikers attempt the summit as one extremely long day hike due to the length and elevation. So, I had to be in bed early in order to be at the trailhead by 4 am at the latest in order to finish the hike and make my midnight flight back home to Maryland.
That unfortunately didn’t happen. Being in the intense sun and high elevation all day gave me bad headaches and even though I was in bed and under the covers by 8pm, I could not fall asleep. Hours passed as I tried to lull myself to sleep with TV and alcohol. Once 2 am rolled around, I knew Long’s Peak wasn’t going to happen and I tried to get another plan ready for the next day so it wouldn’t go to waste. I finally fall asleep at 4 am.
Day 3 – Mt Ida & Mills Lake
I woke up around 10 and took a shower honestly not feeling that great. The altitude gave me persistent headaches and I also didn’t care for the lodging I chose. Almost everything about it sucked. The sun felt especially intense as I made my way to my car. I got out of there pretty quickly and made my way to Rocky Mountain National Park and to Milner Pass, which was the trailhead to the summit of Mt Ida, a mountain I had researched the night before. Mt Ida is a great example of a backup plan becoming the highlight of the trip. It was easily my favorite part of the trip! Mt Ida’s summit is at 12,874ft and in summary this hike was otherworldly.
While Mt. Elbert was a sun-soaked, beautiful hike in its own rite. It was also crowded and very rocky. Mt Ida was much more pleasant. The trail was smooth dirt and the constant sweeping of wind made me feel very isolated and free. I was also mostly acclimatized by this point and didn’t have any headaches. The whole path to the summit is slightly under 5 miles. About 75% of the way through, you see the summit. Mt Ida to this day remains the most beautiful summit I have ever seen. It’s located at the end of a long ridge made up almost entirely of black boulders. It’s quite intimidating, especially since the steep northern face is so prominently visible.
It’s easy to lose your bearings as you go up and across the black boulders to the summit. There are no obvious trails and I saw several other hikers lose their way at times. I was extremely glad to have my compass with me. The descent is really quick due to the gentle decline and smooth dirt trail. I’m up and down the summit in less than 4 hours. When I get back to my car it’s about 2:30pm and there is still time for me to do more before needing to be at the airport by 10pm for my flight home. I decide to do Mills Lake – a popular spot at the other end of the park.
The drive through the park was amazing. The scenery was amazing and I drove with the convertible top down at a lazy pace due to all the traffic to the Bear Lake parking area. It was almost 4:30 by the time I get there. Late in the day, parking is much easier to find. Mills Lake is at roughly 10,000ft in elevation and only 3 miles away. I take a few beers with me in my pack. Overall, it was a straightforward hike. I have to be extremely conservative with my phone’s battery and eventually run out right before I get there. In a way, I’m glad my phone died since I had Mills Lake all to myself by the time I got there a bit before 6pm. I knocked back a few beers, stay for half an hour, soak my feet in the cold water, and am back at my car by 7:30pm.
I’m still not ready to leave though and just chill at the park as night falls.
Overall, I’ll cherish this trip to Colorado. I’ll always remember the view of aspens and driving top-down through the Rockies. I’ll also remember the headaches that came when an east-coast denizen tried to climb above 10,000ft for 3 consecutive days. I’m glad I got to know this area and would be in Colorado again twice over the next year.