Navigation 101 With Mike

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Colorado Hut-to-Hut Adventure – Day 7 – 9/14/12 – Peak12313, St. Kevin Lake & Bear Lake – 5 Miles
Tried a night of natural sleep (no Tylenol PM and no earplugs) that resulted in some restlessness but no headache.  Ah, progress. The everyday world at home tried to creep in, listing things I needto do as soon as I get back.  I thoughtabout the amount of time we spent last night just watching the daylight fade.  At home I would have spent that time goofingoff on the computer.  What have I learned?
Uncle Bud’s Hut was very cold when we got up thismorning.  Jeff prepared for anotherpeak- bagging day (Galena Mountain) while the rest of us brought our sleepingbags downstairs to the window seats to relax and read while waiting for the dayto warm up.  My book was Wisdom ForThe Ages by Wayne Dyer, a collection of 60 short essays by Dyer based onwritings by poets, philosophers, authors and spiritual leaders.  Each essay is about four pages long on topicssuch as forgiveness, beauty, humor, grief, etc. An excellent book for an adventurer contemplating the universe andhis/her place in it.
We left the hut at about 10:15 a.m. for a day of roamingwith Mike in charge, starting out at 40 degrees with a strong sun.  Mike’s vague itinerary included backtrackingpart of yesterday’s route to climb up a peak that we skirted around.  The peak has no name, just an elevation of12,313 feet on the map. 
Backtrack- ing up the old jeep road, snowy peaks in thedistance.  We took a left turn into thewoods to shortcut over to the CDT.  Thisshould have been my first clue that today was going to be a clueless day.
There is no trail going up 12313, so we meandered until wewere above the tree line and then Mike made his own switch- backs.  Just because a pile of rocks goes straight updoesn’t mean you have to walk straight up it. I brought up the rear, moving in my slow and deliberate style, keepingmy breathing in check, enjoying that familiar-but-always-new expansive feelingof being in the wide open outdoors. 
The summit of 12313 is a big old pile of rocks – like the ATin New Hampshire but with less oxygen.  Fornew reasons, I was glad that I had the opportunity to hike in the WhiteMountains with Judy in August:  goodtraining for Colorado.
On top of Peak 12313. Looking due west, we could see Galena Mountain up close where Jeff washiking today.  Looking in the far distancedue northeast we could see Pearl Peak and the small mountain that Jackal Hutsits upon.  And here, looking due south, are snow-covered Mount Elbert and Mount Massive.  Wow.
Where to next?  Let’sgo look at the lake, which I thought meant Bear Lake, not far below Uncle Bud’sHut.  But…rather than retracing oursteps, we began a descent down the back side of 12313, a great deal steeper,carefully choosing our steps around boulders, loose rocks and fir trees. 
Looking back up at the rock pile summit
Looking back one more time



Although Bear Lake was down in the valley and to the left,Mike kept trending to the right.  Ifinally asked what his plan was and he said he wanted to show us St. KevinLake, a high elevation snow melt lake.  Ifelt frustration rising up in me because…did I want to go to St. KevinLake?  I had no choice.  At this point there was no trail, no optionfor me to go a different way solo.  I wasshort-tempered with Mike, and he allowed that maybe it was too much of a surprisebut that I really would like St. Kevin Lake. 
And of course Mike was right.  He definitely pushes me beyond my comfortlevel but the result is always worth the push, if for no other reason than agood story of overcoming adversity.  Toreach St. Kevin Lake required more climbing, my main reason for not wanting tomake the effort in the first place.  Anotherquarter-mile of cross-country and we intersected with a faint trail ascendingto the lake.  And it was spectacular.
St.  Kevin Lake –Cathy and I are tiny dots on the rock in the bottom center of the photo
The most perfect lunch stop of all time
St. Kevin Lake is stocked with trout and therefore a popularfishing spot.  Today there were threefishermen departing as we arrived, and one came along while we were hangingout.  As we ate lunch at the water’s edgethree speckled trout swam nearby.  I don’tthink I’ve ever seen fish in a pond like this before. 
Naturally Mike wanted to hike out a different way and he wasdetermined to teach us some navigation skills. After some time studying the NatGeo map (#126) we identified somelandmarks and chose a creek flowing down into the valley. 
Keeping the creek on our right side (called the “handrail”) andthe semi-circle of mountains at our back (the “backstop”) we followed thedrainage all the way until it intersected with the CDT.  Turning right onto the CDT, we followed it tothe side trail to Bear Lake.
Bear Lake
Grasses in the lake
Somewhere over that ridge is Uncle Bud’s Hut




Ah, but the lesson is not over, Grasshopper.  From here Mike challenged me to find our wayback to the hut using map and compass skills. It was getting late, I was tired, and I reluctantly took hisinstruction.  I knew it was uphill(again) to the hut and not the way I wanted to end my day.  After a bad start, Mike showed me how to geta bearing using my shadow and then how to take the path of least resistance upa sparsely wooded steep slope, meaning to zig-zag back and forth a lot,correcting with the shadow trick.  I wasso intent on my shadow that Cathy spotted the hut and we were home free.  My mantra was true again:  the only thing better than the beginning of ahike is the end of a hike. 
During our trip we had been discussing what to do on ourlast day in Colorado.  The original planwas to drive a really long way and climb Pike’s Peak because, well, it’s Pike’sPeak.  But all week long we had beenlooking at the awesome mountain range that included Mount Elbert, the tallestpeak in Colorado and coincidentally the second highest peak in the lower 48states.  (Remember how I summited MountWhitney a year ago, the first highest peak?) And although Jeff had already climbed Mount Elbert, well, good old MountMassive, the third highest peak, was right beside it.  Looks like we’ll be staying in theneighborhood.
Outhouse view of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive
Jeff checking out the log books at Uncle Bud’s



Aren’t you curious about what we had for dinner on our lastnight in the huts?  Creamy wild rice soupto which we added fresh mushrooms and leftover tortellini, leftover shreddedparm cheese and pepperoni, plus crackers that Cathy had carried around for 4days without crushing.  Tomorrow we hikeout to civilization, retrieve cars and enjoy our first showers in 8 days!
Bonus photo:  Jeff’s viewof St. Kevin Lake from atop Galena Mountain.  Peak 12313 is in the center foreground.
“His sight is turned inside himselfTo try and understandThe serenity of a clear blue mountain lake.”~ John Denver