Tripping Through Life

Today we hiked this trail in Avon, CO starting at 12:20 p.m.  We couldn’t find any information on it, but saw the trail on a Trails Illustrated Map (™). It was close by so we thought we would try it.  It is off of I-70, exit 167, to Buck Creek Rd and just a little bit up the road (north) is a small parking lot on the right side of the road.  We were surprised to see participants of a race coming down the trail, they were doing the Transrockies Run, a 5-day race covering 20-25 miles a day over the Rockies from Buena Vista to Avon.  We were impressed to see them still going strong on the last day and near the end of the race.  We only encountered a few runners as most had past this area earlier in the morning.  This hike was a steady uphill climb and by 1.5 miles in, we had an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. The trail has several creek or stream crossings to keep things fun.  The trail itself was very narrow and in many places was almost rutted, I wonder if mountain bikers use it, and if that is contributing to the condition of the trail.  It had loose dirt and small, loose rocks along the path, so you have to be careful as you hike.  We hiked up to a meadow area where we crossed another trail, we took it to the east for a short distance until we could see the mountains near Vail side.  The trail was pretty shady, which was nice.  It gave us many good spots to stop and catch our breath as we climbed the trail!  After we got back, we found out that the trail we crossed and took east for a short distance was the Nottingham Ridge Trail, and while we were on that, a guy on a dirt bike (with motor) went by.  It was a very pleasant outing, but no big mountain tops to be seen.

We hiked this trail on Aug 26th, it is east of Vail, at exit 180 off I-70.  About halfway up the trail, you can see the falls, and that’s as far as we made it.  It seemed like a lot of uphill the whole way, and I was tuckered out by the time we got to the falls.  It was a very nice, shady spot to stop and have a snack and watch the cute little chipmunk run around looking for food.  The trail brings you out to the top of the main falls, and you can’t see them very well, but there are some smaller falls  that you can see.  It is a very pleasant spot.  We heard that it is an easy hike, but I don’t think I would say that, especially if you aren’t from Colorado and if you aren’t young!  We also heard that it is a tough hike to go all the way to the lake, and that I can believe!  Most people on the trail only went to the falls, and some didn’t even make it that far.

One of the most interesting things about this hike was that it was a nice day, but a few clouds came over the mountains and it hailed on us twice with hail about the size of peas. I was glad that I had a hat on, as a few of them were bigger and could have hurt!  We also had light rain twice, but it wasn’t too bad. You just never know what to expect on a hike in the mountains!

We went to check out the town of Vail today while we give our legs a rest before another hike tomorrow.  I was surprised by Vail, first because of how small the “town center” is, and second because of how beautiful it is.  It looks like an alpine village.  I loved looking at all the buildings, and all the flowers were overflowing their pots and baskets and were so colorful–and they had flowers everywhere.  We walked west to the LionsHead area where the Eagle Bahn Gondola is.   We may go up in that later in the week and hike down the mountain–maybe!  LionsHead is also very European looking and I walked around gazing at all the buildings–beautiful!  I’m not sure what the vacationers here do to keep busy in the summer, though, if they aren’t a hiker.  But it is beautiful…

We thought we might never make it to the trailhead!  It’s not very far from Vail as the crow flies, but on the winding, mountainous, dirt forest service road that you have to take to get to the trail, it seems like forever, and in fact, takes about 50 minutes to go 10 or 15 miles. I was worried that our car might loose something important as we bumped over the rocks and roughness of the road! But we finally made it to the parking area near the Piney Lake Ranch. We headed out through the meadow with beautiful views of Piney Lake and the meandering river that feeds it. As we gained elevation on the trail, we had to stop several times for our pounding hearts and labored breathing to slow.  Walking through the Aspen trees was a wonderland, and then up a little higher into the fir and spruce.  As we went on, we crossed some creeks flowing down the hill over rocks and downed trees, then we were hiking beside the river as it came down the mountain crashing over the rocks–what a wonderful sound.  As we crossed a good-sized stream that fed into the river, the trail became harder to see and follow.  It was pretty obvious that not too many people hike up that far.  We went up a steep hill with loose dirt and then up over some rocks.  I was worried about getting down that area on the way back!  At the top of that area, we had a good view of the river below us and we stopped to eat lunch. We decided to check the map to see how far we had to go to reach Upper Piney Lake.  We thought it was 2 miles to the lake, but we had already gone 4 miles, and still no lake.  Looking at the map, we had only gone about half way to the lake, and it was another 1,000 feet higher than we were!  We decided to turn around and head back as it was almost 3 p.m. and I didn’t want to be out late and encounter any wild animals!  On the way back, Dean decided to take a different path, and wow, was it exciting–lots of water and muddy areas to get through, downed trees to climb over, and weeds to wade through!  It gave us a better work out than just walking, and turned out to be shorter than the original trail. We went almost 8 miles in all, and saw some beautiful sights.  Coming back to the ranch and Piney Lake, we saw 3 large moose at the far end of the lake, eating the plants in the water.  It was an awesome sight, and I am so glad that we were able to see it. The ranch had cabins right on the lake that you can rent.  It looked like a great place to really get away from it all–and no cell phone reception either.  I decided I really like hiking poles after using them on this hike.  They were a lot of help especially on the steep hill with loose dirt. I think that without the poles, I’d have been sliding down that hill on my derriere!

We had to change our plans due to car worries, and drove straight from Missouri through Kansas to Avon, CO, and so not having a few days to work our way to the higher elevations and let our bodies adapt to it gradually.  I could really feel the effects of the altitude change while driving over the Continental Divide on I-70.  I guess the effects are enhanced because you are traveling so fast on the freeway.  Our poor 9-year-old car did very well going up the mountains!  When we arrived at the condo in Avon, we could still feel the effects of the high altitude:  dizziness, headache, nausea, muscle aches, joint pain, and tiredness; although all of these were only slightly felt. We were worried about being able to go hiking very soon, but the next day we felt quite a bit better, and took a walk around Avon and down along the Eagle River. After 2 nights of good sleep, we decided we could tackle some hiking and headed out to the Upper Piney Lake Trail, north of Vail, CO.