Tucker and I just got back from his second backpacking trip in Colorado.   I had to make a trip out to Denver for work last Thursday.   Tucker has really wanted to make another trip out to Colorado, so I opted to drive out instead of having my work fly me out.   We drove out on Thursday and I spent that Friday working in our Denver office.    We stayed just outside of downtown Denver in a rather gaudy Bed and Breakfast that allowed kids and dogs.

The rooms, while kind of girly (as most B&Bs are), were nice enough, and the staff was friendly.   They even left some kids movies by the TV for Tucker. However, the neighborhood was kind of seedy.    Just the same, it was only a few minutes to our downtown office from our room, and the parking was free.   We had a scare at 2:00 AM on our last night in the B&B, when a guy walked into our room (he was evidently drunk) and said “Hey!”.   I think I was having a nightmare already at the time, and I woke up and screamed.   He said he was sorry and ran out the room.   Evidently I did not have the door completely latched.   At any rate, I got up and locked the door (considered dragging some furniture in front of it), and laid there awake the rest of the night thinking about how the B&B could have some sadistic owners similar to the plot in many horror movies.

The next morning we got up early, loaded our packs into the Subaru, had breakfast, and took I70 west into the mountains.   Our trailhead was about 100 miles west of Denver just outside of Minturn, Colorado.    Cross Creek Trail in the Holy Cross Wilderness is supposed to be one of the most remote wilderness experiences in Colorado and I was expecting us to have it nearly to ourselves.    Thus I was surprised to see several vehicles at the trailhead.   It is still crowded Colorado, so that is to be expected.    We hit the trail around 10:30 Saturday morning and it was already getting hot (80s, which is hot for the high country).

The trail seemed to be in good condition and easy to follow.   We encountered several people along the first couple of miles, but they were all day hikers spending the weekend in the high country to escape the heat in Denver.    Within a couple of miles of the trailhead we arrived at a creek crossing.   The problem was that the bridge was washed out and the creek was far to swift and deep to safely wade.   Fortunately, we found a tree that had fallen across the creek and were able to cross the creek there.   Its was more difficult than it might look because I was carrying a 50 pound external frame pack.

The washed out bridge seems to have dissuaded most day hikers and backpackers from continuing any further because we only encountered one other party from there on and for the next 3 days had the entire place to ourselves.    The hike up cross creek was quite strenuous with a lot of elevation gain.   The trail was also difficult to follow at times.    The trail usually took us several hundred feet above the creek, and there were very few opportunities to get good water.    It was a very pretty hike though with lots of aspen groves and huge spruce trees.   We finally made it to our camping spot around 3:30 that afternoon.   It was a very picturesque meadow with access to Cross Creek, a large beaver pond, and great views of Mount Holy Cross and Middle Mountain.

We found a good campsite between on a hill above the beaver pond and creek, and we setup camp.    I noticed that trout were rising down in the beaver pond, so we tied a rooster tail on our fishing poles and made our way down to the meadow.    The trout were so thick in the beaver pond that on my first cast I snagged one. Within a couple of hours we had already caught and released several dozen fish.     We kept a few for dinner and dinned on trout and rice that night.

The next morning we made our way down to the creek and spent the day fishing.   We probably caught another 100 fish or so on spoons.

We kept some more for lunch that day.

We noticed bear tracks all over the valley and by the creek.   However, we did not see any bears and in fact the only animals we did encounter other than birds and squirrels was a fox that followed us into camp.   That night my stove failed and we had to cook everything over a fire.   We had planned on spending a week in the backcountry, but the stove failing was a big problem as virtually all of our food other than trail mix required boiling water.    The next day much of our food and all of Carter’s dog food was raided by a bear.   We followed some bear tracks in the mud and found some of the empty food bags a few hundred feet from camp.   Normally I hang a bear bag with all our food in it, but I was lazy that day and didn’t (probably because I had to cook everything including boiling water over a fire because the st0ve was not working).   It was more than a little bit worrisome that the bear was bold enough to raid our food so close to our tent.

At any rate, with much of our food now gone, and all of Carter’s dog food gone we had to end our backpacking trip after 3 days.   We did some more fishing that day, packed up and started the long hike out of the backcountry.   We finally made it back to our car just moments before a thunderstorm hit.   Even though we had to cut the trip short, it still was a great trip due to the fishing alone.   I think Tucker is sick of the high country for a now, and he wants our next big trip to be to the north woods in Minnesota.

Zhen Zhen and Tucker at the Trailhead

We went down to Arkansas for Thanksgiving week.   Tucker has been wanting to climb Arkansas’ tallest mountain for a while now so I decided it would be a good opportunity for Zhen Zhen’s first backpacking trip.    Since it was Zhen Zhen’s first backpacking trip, and for that matter her first camping trip, we just did an overnighter (instead of the near expedition level trips Tucker usually wants to take).    We found a camping spot on the trail at the northern foot of the mountain.   Zhen Zhen loved cooking outside and spending the night in the tent.  We had nice sunny weather the afternoon we hit the trail, but a cold front came in that night and brought with it over cast skies and temperatures down into the lower 40s the next morning.

Zhen Zhen has a fear of bears (I guess too much Discovery Channel), and was always worried about one eating us.   Luckily she did not notice the rather large Bear Country sign at the summit trailhead.

At any rate, we had no contact with bears at all, and saw no signs of them.   The trail to the top of Mount Magazine is about 3 miles long and gains about 1800 feet in altitude.   The footing on the trail was very precarious at times, so it took us a little more than two hours to make it to the top.  Zhen Zhen had a hard time keeping her balance in a few places and really could have used a good pair of hiking boots instead of just the running shoes she had on.   She was a trooper just the same – despite the fact that we had no way of really conveying to her where we were going or what we were doing walking out in the middle of the woods.   We encountered lots of cool rock formations on the way up, and a couple of small waterfalls.

Zhen Zhen posing in front of a small trailside waterfall.

Zhen Zhen had a hard time with the last leg of the hike up due of the steepness of it.   Because of the thick woods all the way up its kind of hard to know when you are close to the top, and you are basically there by the time you realize it.

Zhen Zhen and Tucker hiking up the final ascent.

We encountered dense fog and much colder temperatures at the summit (2753 feet), so unfortunately there were no big views to be had.   There is a state park on top of the mountain so we did explore it a little bit and then hiked up to a campground to warm up in shower room.

Tucker and Zhen Zhen on top of Mount Magazine at a campground.

After we warmed up we made the hike back down the mountain, broke down our camp, and drove back up the visiter center so the kids could get a souvenir. The fog lifted by the time we drove back up, so we stopped at one of the overlooks so Tucker and Zhen Zhen could see how high they had climbed earlier.

Zhen Zhen and Tucker at an overlook.

Even with the less than perfect weather we had, it still was a nice trip.   I am not sure if Zhen Zhen liked it that much or not.   She says she did, but that could just be because she thinks it is what Tucker likes doing (which it is).   It ended up being a tougher hike than I thought it would be, and was definitely harder than what I would have liked her first backpacking trip to be.    Just the same, she climbed the tallest mountain in Arkansas for her first backpacking trip, so only 49 more state high points to go.

Tiffani, Zhen Zhen, and Harper heading up the trail.

We took the kids out to the Burr Oak Woods conservation area out in Blue Springs today.  Tucker loves going because there is a large area of huge limestone outcrops and boulders to climb on.   Harper is cool with it because it only involves about a mile and a half of hiking.   Once we reached the outcrops, the kids immediately started climbing and exploring.   In fact, Harper actually engaged in what is for her an extreme sport when she jumped across rock crevices.

Extreme Sports for Harper

Tucker and Zhen Zhen definitely like the whole outdoors thing much better than Harper does, but all the kids had a great time.

Zhen Zhen and Tucker on a boulder.

When we hit the trail on Thursday morning it was about 70 degrees out and partly cloudy.

Tucker and Carter and the Missouri Lakes trailhead.

However, less than a mile into the trail a storm blew in and it started raining, then pouring, the hailing on us.   Water was pouring down the trail and despite throwing on our jackets we were still getting soaked.   Luckily, by the time we made it up to Missouri Lakes the storm was moving out so we were able to dry our gear before that night.   We found a nice camping spot overlooking upper Missouri Lake.

Tucker and Carter just after we arrived at upper Missouri Lake.

The lakes are at 11,500 feet and are right at the tree line.   There was even some snow banks left on the alpine tundra around the lakes.  After we set up camp and hung out our wet gear to dry we did some fishing in the lake.   On a side note, I have done a decent amount of wilderness backpacking and canoe trips and encountering weather like we had on the way up to Missouri lakes is exactly why I think that down sleeping bags can literally be a killer for spring and summer backpacking trips.   The reason being is that because I had to carry both of our gear, I had to lash my sleeping bag on to the outside of my pack.  As a result, it got kind of wet despite being in a compression bag.   Because its a synthetic bag, I was able to hang it up and dry it out within a couple of hours in the dry mountain air.   Had it been a down bag, it would have taken at least a day to dry, and offered no warmth at all that night because down is useless when wet.   Such a scenario could easily lead to hyperthermia when alpine temperatures dip below freezing as they did every night of our trip.

Anyway, back to the trip.  I caught one Cutthroat Trout that evening and had Tucker bury it in a small snowbank until we were ready for dinner.   That night we dinned on trout, freeze dried spaghetti, and some oatmeal cookies Tiffani made for us.  We had a ton of wind that night so we had a hard time sleeping consistently throughout the night.   Moreover, the moon was full and was so bright at that altitude that visibility outside was nearly as good as it is in the middle of the day.   We woke up around 6 am the next morning and I made Tucker some hot chocolate and me some instant coffee (its terrible but I have to have my morning coffee).  We had our breakfast of instant oatmeal and I started breaking down camp.

Tucker at our camp that morning.

We hit the trail around 10:00 AM and started over Missouri Pass.   Lugging 55 pounds of gear over a 12,500 foot pass is quite strenuous to say the least.

Catching my breath about halfway up the pass.

This pass was not very technical and we only had to cross one small snowfield.   We had great views of the upper Missouri lakes on the way up.

Missouri Lakes from Missouri Pass

Once we got to the top we were greeted with a beautiful view of Treasure Vault lake and the Cross Creek valley.

Treasure Vault Lake from Missouri Pass

We then set out across the alpine tundra in the valley to Fancy Pass.   The tundra was carpeted with wildflowers and we had the whole place to ourselves.   Along the way we encountered several curious marmots including this pair.

Marmots

Tucker had quite an eye for them and could easily spot them among the boulders.   We had to keep a tight lead on Carter as it seemed that he thought he had found his true calling as a marmot hunter.   The way up Fancy Pass was not overly difficult aside from the steepness and the altitude.   The top of the pass was over 12,500 feet and Tucker felt like a true mountaineer on top of it.

Tucker at the summit of Fancy Pass

We were greeted with another wonderful view of the valley below from the top of the pass.

View from Fancy Pass

The route down from the pass ended up being very difficult with a couple of very hairy snow bank crossings.   Had I known how difficult it was beforehand I would have probably opted to take Tucker on a different route in the wilderness.   Just the same, we were careful, took our time and made it down safely.

Tucker descending a snowbank

Because of the amount of snow and ice we encountered on the pass I would recommend that anyone attempting it should make sure they carry crampons with them.   Fancy Lake came into view about two thirds of the way down the pass.   Fancy lake is a beautiful small lake at around 11,600 feet.

Fancy Lake

We got to the lake around 1 PM and setup camp in a small grove of sub alpine spruce.

Fancy Lake Camp

We then spent the next 2 days fishing the lake (we caught 6 more Cutthroat Trout):

Tucker Fishing on Fancy Lake

Exploring:

Mountain Vista

Climbing (Tucker thinks of himself as a seasoned mountaineer now), and dinning on trail mix and freeze dried meals (they are better than you would think they would be).

Tucker Climbing

We had good weather with sunny warm days and cold nights.    We lucked out on firewood because a previous camper had left a large pile of it near our camping spot.   Luckily I remembered to pack some marsh mellows this time.   Tucker even found a trout bag someone had left at the lake and I found a Cabelas Packable Jacket.   Evidently someone left in quite a hurry before.   Maybe the horrible weather we encountered on our way up to Missouri Lakes ran them out without even getting all their stuff.

On our final morning in the wilderness we did some more exploring, saw an elk and a mule deer, and then set off down the fancy creek trail down to our vehicle.   The trail was quite steep and meandered its way through a spruce forest.

Tucker Fancy Creek Trail

The trail down was very pretty and passed through a couple of small meadows.

Meadow

Since the forest was predominately spruce, it was largely unaffected by the pine beetle epidemic that is destroying much of Colorado’s lodgepole pine forests. Tucker tried fishing the creek down in the valley but did not have any luck.

Tucker fishing in the creek in the valley.

After a little while Tucker gave up and we started back on the 730 mile drive back home.   We had a great time in Colorado but we both missed Tiffani, Harper and Zhen Zhen and were glad to be going home.   When we got back Tiffani was baking Tucker’s favorite dinner for us, Lemon Chicken (Nigella Lawson recipe), and Zhen Zhen and Harper came running out to greet us.

Tucker and I hit the Little Missouri Trail in the Albert Pike Recreation area midday on Thursday. We spent the next two days hiking, climbing mountains (Tucker does not know if he wants to be a Mountain Climber when he grows up or a writer for In Fisherman), fishing, and exploring. This part of the Ouachitas is really pretty. The river looks like a scene out of A River Runs Through It. It’s wild, rocky, clear, and cuts a narrow gorge in the mountains there. 

The only disappointment for Tucker was seeing all the trout in the river that we could not fish for because I did not purchase a trout stamp with my 3 day fishing license. Evidently the state stocks the river every winter with thousands of hatchery trout. This is in the southern part of the state, so most of them die off in the summer. Just the same, Tucker could hardly stand seeing all those fish that he could not catch.

You can see pictures from the trip here: Eagle_Rock_Loop-March09

There may not be any mountains in the Kansas City area, but we do have lots of huge rocks. Most of these rocks are a type of limestone called Bethany Falls Limestone that erodes away from hill sides in huge slabs. They can be as much as 20 feet tall and represent one of the few rock climbing opportunities around here. Now that Tucker has climbed the wall at Dicks, he considers himself to be an expert rock climber and he had a great time climbing today.

At any rate, I was planning on leaving the Monday before Thanksgiving and returning some time on Wednesday. The problem was that we had some very torrential rains the night before, and many of the creek crossings were near flood stage. So it ended up being an in and out rather than a loop. Just the same its a really pretty area and I hope to go back at some point and do the entire loop.

You can see pictures from the trip here:  Eagle_Rock_Loop-Nov08