This one hurt.
I read a few blogs describing this run, but reading accounts from others never really does the hard stuff any justice. This is another one of those endeavors you have to experience first hand to truly appreciate the difficulty.
After an abrupt four hours of sleep, my alarm went off at 3:30 am. It was too dark to be awake. I managed to put on my smelly running clothes (they've reached the point of no return- that is- they will never smell normal again), grabbed the bag of gear I packed much too late the night before, and walked out the door (still half asleep).
I met up with Brian at the base of Boulder canyon and we made our way up the curvy road to the pay station at Brainard (and as an aside, it's now $9 for a pass!). Anyway, we parked at the Long Lake TH and got out of the car. It was a very beautiful morning and the sun was already lighting the mountain ridges high above us.
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| Audubon TH |
We hit the trail (or road actually at this point) at 5:45 am. Our plan was to run a short stretch of road over to the Mitchel Lake TH so we could do a counter-clockwise loop for the day. Running this direction was going to be more difficult since it meant we'd have to do Pawnee pass at the end of the day, and it's higher than Buchanan. But, I figured we could just consider the first half of the run a warm-up for Pawnee <-- brilliant.
We started up the base of Mt. Audubon. I've run this mountain before in my younger years, and I must say that it is a great peak for those interested in trying out a big mountain (a good beginner peak) at 13 thousand some odd feet high and nothing too incredibly technical.
After some switchbacks, we came upon a sign marking the juncture that lead us down toward Coney Flats. Good thing Brian was on top of this turn (like usual) because I was thinking it was higher up. This section was a bomber downhill, and before we knew it, we were at the junction of Coney Flats. We took a quick picture by the stream, while the sun made it's official debut for the day.
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| Brian soaking up the early morning rays. |
The climb up Buchanan was immediately upon us. Steady, gradual climbing greeted us like a cold slap in the face- or maybe that was just the gale force winds. No kidding- the wind was literally 30-40 mph, and was taking our breath away (as if it isn't already hard enough to find oxygen at 11 thousand feet). Several times it swept across the barren tundra, nearly knocking our bodies over.
At this point I was experiencing a weird feeling (which I thought was altitude sickness). I've never had altitude sickness, so I was racking my brain trying to figure out what was going on as I trudged along. I realized I was drinking more-than-a-week-old Perpetuem, and after making Brian aware of my situation, he was certain that I should pour it out and switch over to straight water.
After we topped Buchanan pass we quickly got moving down the backside, as the winds were even stronger on the summit. As we dropped down, we spooked two huge bull elk in the meadow below us and they bolted across the grass to seek shelter below tree-line. I've never seen an elk run (they're always standing around in RMNP or eating grass like cattle on the golf course in Estes Park). It was an amazing sight to behold, much like all the scenery on the backside of the Continental Divide (which we had just crossed).
I stopped to filter some water (bringing my Katedyne was the smartest thing I did in preparation for this run), and within minutes of guzzling down some fresh water, my system was back on track.
The run from that point on was amazing. We were truly in wild country, seeing only a handful of backpackers (I think no more than 5) from Buchanan pass all the way to Pawnee. The trail was pretty fast, minus a few downed trees that we were forced to maneuver over, around, or through. It was a long and steady downhill all the way to the next junction at Cascade Creek.
The Cascade Creek junction marked the beginning of the most difficult section, which was unquestionably the climb up to, and over Pawnee pass. It was a daunting trek of continuous uphill, that got steeper and steeper the closer we got to the pass. Near the beginning of the true climb up the pass, we exited the woods and stepped into a large, open, rocky bowl enclosed by the sharp peaks above us. It was quite the sight. The trail was nearly impossible to decipher from below, as it made tight switchbacks up the huge boulder field.
Here's a vid of us starting Pawnee Pass.
The section up the switchbacks was very slow going. After what seemed like hours, even days of hiking, the top of the pass was within sight, and I found a new energy in my legs. The incline faded a bit at the top and the summit of the pass became a wide grassy mound from which we could see all the surrounding Indian Peaks. It was amazing to again be standing atop the Divide! Long Lake was in view below us and we could almost see the parking lot.
Nearly 6 hours had passed since our departure, and all we had left was a bomber four mile(ish) decent to the parking lot. Too bad the temperature was now pushing into the high 80s (maybe even low 90s?), and the wind had ceased. Brian and I stopped for a fast bathroom break to discover we were both quickly heading toward dehydration. I immediately forced down a half-liter of water and nipped that one in the bud. The lower we got, the more the reality of re-entering civilization began to sink in. The trail began to get more populated, and before long we found ourselves in tourist central.
With about a mile or two to go I sucked on the mouthpiece of my Camelback only to discover that I was out of water. Not wanting to stop and filter again, we pressed on, hoping the trailhead would be around the next turn, then the next, then the next. It was the longest last mile ever.
Just when we felt like we were going to collapse, finally, the parking lot.
What a day!
I'm not sure what the stats are, but they're available somewhere. I do know it was around 26 miles, and that there was a lot of climbing. And we clocked in somewhere around 6 hours 45 minutes of run time.
I will end with this: Whether you're considering running this loop in a day, or you're considering an over-nighter, this trail is AWESOME (and every bit worth the effort)!
I plan to return in the fall, just so I can see the change of colors/ foliage.
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| My legs after the beating. Four days later I did Arapahoe Pass and my ankles were STILL unbelievably sore from getting thrashed on the technical! Worth every ache though. |
