Clear Creek Road, CO Segment 12  Clear Creek Rd to North Cottonwood Creek

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” John Muir

July 30, 2004 This is another long segment and we decided to backpack it. The entourage for this segment includes Charlie, Carol, Steven L, Tim, Jill, and Chevy. We take off work early and head out for the long drive to the trail heads. We stop in Leadville to eat an early dinner at Wild Bills Hamburger joint. This way there will be no cooking tonight. The burgers are juicy and filling. We arrive at the trail head on Clear Creek Road to begin our hike at 5:05 P.M. The first 7 tenths of a mile goes through private property. We are appreciative and thankful of the owners who allow this access to the trail and national forest beyond. We have no more gotten started when a mean looking storm heads our way down the valley from the west. It soon starts to rain and we all scramble to put our rain gear on. After Steven put his poncho on, he went to mess around by the nearby creek and proceeded to fall. He didn’t go in the creek but was like a turtle on his shell. Of course being the wonderful parents we are, we helped him up without any ridicule or that’s how we remember it. Less than ten minutes and a few large drops later, it of course stops raining and the clouds clear on out. Once again the anti-rain gear has worked. We clear the private property and begin our climb out of the valley. We see some Ute trees. These ponderosa trees had their outer bark scraped off to be used by the Utes for medicinal and other purposes. The scars from this are clearly visible. When we reach the top of the first ridge, we come to a clearing that was surrounded by Aspen trees. We enter the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area and continue our steady ascent to a point where you can look east to Highway 24 and the mountains beyond. We continue on and start to look for a place to camp. We find a spot on an east-facing ridge by the edge of an Aspen forest. It is 7:20 P.M. We are at 10,400 feet and started at 8,960 feet. We have traveled 3.91 miles with a moving average of 3.0 miles per hour and an overall average of 1.7. The total ascent for the day was 1,669 feet and the high point was 10,488 feet. We do the usual setting up camp chores. Clean out the area for the tent, set up the tent, and find some trees to hang our food and toiletries in. No bears in our camp, or at least we hope not.

Moon Rise Over the Rockies

We than have a snack, as the daylight fades and the moon starts to rise. And what a beautiful moon it is. It is a full orange moonrise accentuating the trees and ridges around us. After admiring the moon and enjoying some conversation we zip into our tent for the night. Good night.