A record of the fact we survived moving in (or at least we are mostly there at this point), our first 3 day trip, our first 14-er and most importantly, a reminder of just how much gratitude and joy I'm feeling about pretty much everything right now!
Wednesday afternoon, we set of in the over-packed 4-runner. Carb-loading in Leadville was part of the plan and as it turns out we timed our stop there to coincide with some crazy dangerous thunder and lightening storm complete with flash flood warning! It took a while to exit the car but not long after that we found ourselves in a bar type place with food and live music. Quite nice, if I do say so myself.
The road to the Huron Peak Trailhead is rough (as you might remember from last year's blog post). We pitched tent and inflated camp mattresses with the aid of 4-runner headlights in the forest not far from the TH and set alarms for 4:30am in order to secure a parking spot there tomorrow.
Coffee, breakfast and go! We had 3400' to climb and a 7 mile roundtrip to do it in. Ambitious but worth it, I'd say.
Huron is one of my favorites.
By late afternoon we had summitted, bumped back down Cty Rd 390 and were headed over Independence Pass toward Aspen... where good food, great people and a hot shower awaited!
Greg and Chris were our hosts and what a treat it was to stay in Chris' amazing riverfront condo downtown. To eat, drink and be merry before a hot-tub soak and an early-ish night.
The next morning we wandered the river, had breakfast together downtown and biked to the outskirts of Aspen and back. Scott and I ventured into a basement bar called Buck and devoured the elk chili as the clouds moved in. Cozy!
Does an evening get much better than high-end crepes, tasty beverages and Rumikub with friends? NOPE!
And just like that, it was over. With Aspen Farmer's Market kettlecorn in hand (thanks Greg!) we motored out of town...
A quick stop to meander the continental divide atop Independence Pass then homeward bound. We had Spamalot tix at Denver Center for Performing Arts tonight and a really nice steak dinner with friends ahead of that. Time was ticking... This gal still needed a good hair-washing and face-improving before throwing on some "nice clothes and heels" for a night out with her man in Denver!
(Side Note: Gratitude for the guy who has slept in 5 different places with me this week and woken up happy every single morning! Life will get less hectic and more relaxing soon... I promise.)
This was an ambitious but very fun plan that didn't really come together... but you know, the universe provides and things turn out the way they were supposed to. In the end, there was no shortage of joy!
A month or so ago, I secured a parking permit/entry permit for Mt Blue Sky's Summit Lake trailhead. This 14-er is one of just a couple that had a road to the top, but for Scott and I, the adventure was going to be parking a few miles back down and hiking to the top. Extra special perhaps because the road and trailhead had been closed since 2024 - under construction - getting a little facelift, so I had not ticked it off last year.
The permit was for 5-7am entry on June 25th. The plan was to arrive at Echo Lake early on the 24th, hike to Chicago Lakes, disperse camp overnight and hit Mt Blue Sky the next morning.
Chicago Lakes Hike
Perfect! We packed and left on time at crack'o'dawn and were on the trail by about 7:15am. It was quiet. Only 3 cars parked. Only a couple of people on the trail and none appeared to be going all the way up.
Check it out; Beautiful weather, wildflowers, this here hare, a very friendly marmot and changing scenery all the way to the top. Its a moderately hard hike.
A bit up and down (mostly up) and a wee bit on the cool gusty side at the summit where we picnicked behind a large wind-stopping rock.
We had company... a hungry little companion with a craving for granola bars and trail mix. His little monkey paws and twinkly eyes made me go "Awww!"
He was soon upstaged by the arrival of the goat gang. They were shedding and they had babies in tow so that's kinda hard to compete with when you are a common ground squirrel with few actual tricks in your playbook.
The way back down was easier of course and even with stops for "meese" (yes!) it was quicker too. The last push uphill to Echo Lake was nowhere near as bad as I remembered it from 2025.
Dispersed Camping:
Along Hefferman Gulch Rd there are a handful of stunning campsites in the forest. We pitched the tent, blew up the mattress and marveled at our good fortune to be all alone there. It was time for burgers and fries in Idaho Springs. Mmm... pretty darn yummy!
By 7:30pm there was a game of Phase Ten going back at camp. Did I win? I don't remember, but probably not. LOL
And at 8:30pm, snuggled up in the tent, the pitter patter of rain sounded wonderful.
Hmmm. Pitter-patter was a fleeting description. Torrential is what superseded it. All. Night. Long.
I guess we were alone because all the other campers checked the forecast?!
At 5:30am, when the alarm went off, in the mostly dry tent, we both felt the most relaxing course of action was to stay in bed - the slightly deflated airbed was becoming hilarious and kept us off the ground only if both remained firmly on it, so unanimous commitment to the cause was required.
Mt Blue Sky would be there next time and there was no urgent need to hike in the rain for a view of nothing but clouds.
At 8:30am, we used a slight slow down in precipitation to quickly dress and take down camp. All the wet things got thrown into the truck and the new plan was a meandering trip home via Evergreen while eating banana bread and drinking milk.
And here is where the universe rewarded our relaxed attitudes and rolling with the weather; 10 minutes into the drive, low and beyold, mama moose and her teeny baby on the side of the road at a very convenient pull-out! Camera-candy for this gal! Scott was, as usual, so patient as I took my mandatory 100 pictures of wildlife before we could move along. Mama moose was super-chilled as cars and cameras came and went along the road. Ahhhhh... bliss.
The best laid plans should often be upstaged/replaced by funny incidents, surprise weather, wildlife encounters and scenic drives with your favorite person, IMHO.
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