a week for trouble..

Today I summited Mt Bierstadt, 14,060'.

It's known for being one of the easier of the 14ers, which I found to be true. Even with a late start this am, I was at the summit in just over 2 hours.

 Feeling pretty good about my accomplishment and the time left in the day, I decided to join two guys in traversing the infamous Saw Tooth Ridge, over to Mt Evans, 14,264'.

Locals that live at about 9000', these boys huffed it across the ridge. I did my best to keep up with them, but by the time we reached the trail to summit Mt Evans, I was spent.

The couple miles to cross the ridge is all scrambling and climbing. When there was a trail, it was narrow and precarious, but the boys were great guides and very patient with my weak lungs.

We had previously discussed getting "a beer and a burger" after our adventure, so when I announced my intentions to split from them and descend early (instead of summiting Mt Evans), we agreed to meet in the parking lot so we could still go grab a bite.

We said, "see you soon" and I started my descent.  In retrospect, I'm not sure that I was ever really on the trail at all. I got so lost. Hopelessly, aimlessly, lost. They told me the descent would be easy. They said, "even if you get off the trail, you basically just hike toward the parking lot". No. It was no where near that easy. There was no way to go as the crow flies, and what should have been about an hour and a half of a descent, became a terrifying and stressful 3 hour meander through boulder fields, river beds, bogs, and willows.

Please regard this chart, as I explain my wanderings..

After I separated from the boys I basically walked through the boulder fields. There was no trail or direction, but I kept my eye on the parking lot in the far off distance.  It was at this point I decided to get my compass out to orient myself.  The parking lot was due west, Bierstadt was Southwest, so I knew I didn't want to go back North to Mt Evans, or East, away from my car. I realized that I needed to get down before I got lost in those pines, so I descended into the valley.  I could not find a trail. At all. The worst part was, I kept seeing rock cairns, but I couldn't see any trails, or find more than two cairns together. After that - nothing, no direction.  I would climb up onto tall rocks, pick my route, descend, then find that I had walked the exact opposite direction. I was getting so turned around and desperate.  The whole time I could see this rushing river I knew I would have to cross, but I couldn't see the best place. From up above, that ground in the hexagon looked solid, but once I reached it, I found it to be a mushy black bog. Thanks to growing up playing in the Canadian wilderness, I was comfortable walking on the unstable vegetation, and calculated my steps.  The darker patches in the bog are willows. These are also infamous for this area. At some points the willows are over 7 feet tall, and there is no clear direction for getting through them.

It was such a tease. Most of the time, I could see my car, but there was no good route to get to it. In desperation I literally began to just plow through the willows. Every once in a while, when I was beyond visibility, I would pull out my compass only to find I was walking back East again. I'd re-orient myself then push on.  For these three hours of being lost, I could not allow myself to rest. I was so desperate to get to my car before nightfall, I couldn't stop. It was terrifying, and if I think about how bad this could've been, I could get sick. But, after 8 hours of hiking today, I finally made it to my car. There were all these smiling people standing in the parking lot taking pictures when I busted through the tall willows looking like a crazed bush-woman. A man and his wife were on vacation from Alabama. He did a once-over, noted the bog mud, bedraggled hair, exasperated look on my face, and said, "did you get lost or something?"

Gray's and Torrey's in the distance - from the middle of saw tooth ridge. 

I assume the boys descended before me and decided to leave, but I didn't mind. I was exhausted. Finally allowing myself to rest, I sat for about 20 minutes and stared at the sight of the mountains in front of me. There are so many things I probably should have done today, and I've reviewed them in my mind over and over, but it doesn't matter.. All I can say is I'm so grateful I got out of there safely. Apparently God has a plan in mind for my little life, so it was decided I wouldn't perish in the willows :)