We trekked up 4.5 miles to our destination for the evening at Sand Beach Lake, which is at approximately 10,000 ft. Upon arrival, we immediately scouted out a cozy area for camping, pitched the tent and fixed some buffalo chicken for dinner. After hiding the bear keg 70 strides out, we headed back, watched a few episodes of Law & Order on the iPad and fell asleep.
The next morning we were a little slow going. Probably because we realized right before bedtime the night before that we forgot sugar for our coffee. Darn. David tried to improvise by chewing up M&M's and melting them into our cups. Helpful! But we weren't exactly downing the coffee. By 11:00 a.m. we had gotten fresh water filtered from the lake, torn down the tent and loaded up our bags to hit the...well, to hit the mountain. I almost said trail. But this was the portion of the trip where we planned to bushwhack our way up a mountain on the east side of Long's Peak. Below is a shot of me on our way out of Sand Beach Lake (pretty, huh?). Probably my last smile that day.
So up we went. And that is when things started to turn south. Bushwhacking, if you are wondering, is where you do not have a trail to follow. And for Colorado in the summer, that means climbing over downed trees, huge boulders and fighting brush. Not to mention we had a hoard of mosquitos covering us the second we would stop to think. All of this while carrying a 40 and 50 lb. packs. Ugh. After 30 minutes I begged to eat lunch. So there we sat on a downed tree trunk. We ate quickly, put on a second layer of Off! with Deet, and continued on our way.
For the next two and a half hours we were scrambling huge boulders. Balance was key, and my pack was throwing me off. Again, those stinkin' mosquitos were eating us alive! I told David I felt like Pigpen from Peanuts, except I had a cloud of bugs instead of stink. Well, probably both. Anyway, to give you an idea of the terrain, see below. We had trekking poles to help with some of the climb, but there were many points where we simply needed our hands and the poles would do us no good. This is a photo of the mountain we were climbing (left). Rugged, people! And all the while, we were doing the bear call just to ensure that if there were bears around, they were frightened away by people voices. Oh, and did I mention that a storm was rolling in pretty quick? Yeah...we were a couple hundred feet from treeline. Not really a great thing. So speed became even more of a necessity.
With about half a mile to go, I could no longer contain it. We were climbing back down rocks to make it to our campsite for the night. Rocks and tree limbs were scratching up my legs. The steepness of the decline was too much for my pack and my sanity. I sat down and started scooting on my butt. As David was mentioning something about the stream below being perfect for filling our water bladders, I finally stopped, dropped my head and started crying. And for the first time in our hiking career as a couple, I called uncle. I'd had enough. Visions of our vehicle back at the ranger's station danced in my head. As did the thought of a cheap motel with running water and a bed. I begged for mercy. I was done.
Thank God for a sweet hubby. And for the fact that this hike was fun for no one. David started filtering the water. And I stood there watching. And thinking. About time. It was about 2:45 p.m. at this point. We would have to make it all the way back to Sand Beach Lake, then hustle back down the trail for another 4.5 miles to the car. All before the sun went down. All possible with a will of steel and the grace of God.
And speaking of the sun...I wasn't seeing a ton of it. It had gotten a bit dark. Hmmm. Splat! Raindrops. Light, not a huge deal. And then more. On went the rain jackets. Then the sky opened. And then the thunder. And lightning. David whisked us into the trees and started rifling through his bags. Out came rope and a tarp. Three minutes later he had built us a nice little shelter. Good thing, too, because then it started to hail. The temperature dropped. More lightning. Up went the prayers. Oh, and if you think I wasn't praying this whole time at every step for Jesus to help me, you are wrong! Every step of the way. And boy, did He bless us. As soon as the thunder stopped rolling and the rain subsided, we hit the...not the trail...the rough terrain with sheer determination to make it back to the car. Needing an image of what we hacked through at this point? I snapped a photo so people would know our drama when they found our dead bodies. Oh, and to make matters worse, somehow in all the haste I lost one of David's trekking poles. We were down to three. I believe I cried again. More scrapes, shifting rocks under our feet, crevaces lurking under each step. Oh, and our constant bear calling. You don't want to stop that!!!
We finally made it back to Sand Beach Lake just a few minutes after 6:00 p.m. Our shoulders were killing us. Will of steel - I was determined to not stop here. David wisely pulled our packs off and dangled a granola bar in front of my face. We ate and then noticed a couple coming out of their tent to sit at the lake. They were both very relaxed. She looked like she had wet hair from a shower of some sort. They cozied up together on a long log and gazed at the lake together. Gag! What was wrong with these people?!
As we pulled together our last ounce of energy and shrugged those huge packs onto our sore shoulders, we hiked past them quietly. "Did you two have a nice hike?", they asked. Busted.
"Not really. It's been a rough day," David answered. "We're heading back to the car right now. A motel room is sounding really nice right now." Somehow he mustered a laugh. I was impressed, and mustered a teeny smile.
"Have you two seen any bears?", the girl asked us. After telling them no, I was curious.
"How about you two?," I asked.
"Yes, we saw one yesterday. He looked at us, we looked at him, and we all went on our own ways. No big deal." Apparently they had taken the same hike we did. But before the storm. And with adorable little daypacks. And I was certain that she had not been crying at all that day. Interesting...Why was I starting to feel like a bit of a sissy?
Crazy nice people. Seeing bears. Taking a scenery break by the pretty lake. Enjoying all that the mountains have to offer. I could take no more. We bid them farewell, and off we went! We had 4.5 miles to cover before the sun went down. Cozy bear-seeing, relaxing, adorable couples were slowing us down!
And we made it the whole way. I won't bore you with the stresses of making it right as the last bit of light escaped. The number of times David offered to stop and take a break. The urgent bear calls. I remembered what the ranger had said about mountain lions plucking people at dusk. I was focused! I would not relent! From prayers or moving my feet. When we finally got to our dump of a motel for the evening with french fries, shakes and whatnot in tow from McDonald's we discovered we had red skin from busted blood vessels where our packs rested on our shoulders. Our legs were jelly. Our stomachs were empty. And all we could say was what an awful, awful day it had been. And how amazing God was for getting us to this fabulous place.
We slept for ten hours that night.
I told David right before we went to sleep that I wanted to go home to St. Louis. Colorado had done me in for the trip. And he took me home. We rested that next day and took a drive up Trail Ridge Road to view the mountains from the comfort of our car at 12,000 feet. A little pale in our faces, but we had our smiles back.
Needless to say, I definitely got a t-shirt from the gift shop. Escaping that day with just a few scratches, aches, pains and bruises was a stinkin' achievement! And a Morgan family vacation that we will surely not forgot for years to come. Debbie, didn't you say something about vacations with drama making the best memories?
We love all of you! With a special fondness after that craziness!
Missy
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