Rejoin the Colorado Mountain Club (and actually do some trips with them!)

this week, but I still need to get out on some trips- I only went on one in that last year of membership!

I don’t think I have anything planned for next Saturday, maybe I’ll try to find one then.

Part of the problem is that I start work at 6 AM and get up between 4:30 and 5 every day, so it’s really hard to motivate myself to get up early on Saturday!

3 weeks ago I finally got out for my first trip with the CMC in a couple of years.

I chose this trip for a couple of reasons. First, I had never been to Chicago Lakes before, even though the trailhead is only about an hour from Denver.

I also thought that it would be a fairly easy trip. One problem I often had with the CMC trips was that they tend to go at a fairly quick pace- definitely too fast for me to really enjoy. I can understand the need to hurry at times, but when there isn’t any good reason for it, I’d rather take my time and enjoy the trip. This hike was listed as 9 miles roundtrip with 2000’ of elevation gain- well within my abilities.

What I hadn’t expected was how much the altitude would affect me. Although I did a difficult hike to nearly 12,800’ in July, I hadn’t done anything at altitude since then. This trip started at 10,600’- probably the highest that I had been since July. The upper lake is a little above 12,000’. The leader set a pretty quick pace and although I wasn’t at the tail of the group, it was fast enough to push me much of the time. I could tell that it was the altitude that was the problem (not just being out of shape) because when we headed back down, I had no trouble keeping up with the people in the front of the group.

Overall, I really enjoyed the hike. There was some snow but only near the end was there enough to make the hiking difficult. More challenging were the icy conditions in places, but for the most part the trail was still in good shape for so late in the season. A short section of the trail was along a gravel road, but other than that it was very scenic, and part of the hike was in the Mount Evans Wilderness Area. The total time for the hike was 8 hours and 20 minutes, including about a half hour at the upper lake for lunch.

Attached is a photo looking south towards Mt. Evans, nearing the lower lake.

seems to be jinxed!

My hike tomorrow was just cancelled- the leader has the flu :(

3 months since I rejoined and I haven’t made a CMC trip yet!

The good news is that I should have a new entry for this goal tomorrow- I went ahead and signed up for that work trip in the upper Clear Creek valley that I mentioned a few days ago..

for my first trip in a couple of years, on this Saturday. Nebraska Hill 11,534’ 5 miles roundtrip with 2300’ of elevation gain. It’s a short hike, but steep. Not a very high peak for Colorado but it looks like it should have some good views of the Continental Divide. I’ve been hiking in the area before but I’ve never climbed this peak.

I was considering a work trip in the upper Clear Creek valley but I’ve done so little outdoors since I got back from vacation almost a month ago that I just want to get out & do a hike!

had some cash a few weeks ago and joined again. Now I just have to find some time and some trips that I want to go on and get going!

Probably not until at least the middle of August, tho- things are just too busy right now :(

the Colorado Mountain Club within a few months of moving to Colorado, over 22 years ago.

I was very active for several years, probably averaging 3 trips a month with them in the summer and 1 or 2 a month in the winter. I took several schools with them and even was an assistant instructor for their Basic Mountaineering School one year.

Then, my son was born, 19 years ago. I still did some stuff with the CMC but cut back quite a bit. There were several years when I only did a few trips a year.

A few years ago I became more active and did fairly regular trips for a couple of years. But then my depression set in a couple of years ago and I cut way back again. When my membership came up for renewal last summer, I didn’t renew.

I think that it’s time to sign up again and start doing some trips. Gas is forecasted to peak near $4/gallon this summer, and carpooling for trips is becoming more and more appealing. Plus the CMC has an incredible range of trips. On an average summer weekend day, there are probably at least a half-dozen hikes at various levels of difficulty, a couple of backpack trips, a couple of rock climbs, a bike trip or two, and a couple of other miscellaneous activities. And that’s just the Denver group- the largest one, but definitely not the only one. They even have a singles section ;)

No offense to any of you, but some time doing things outdoors instead of spending all of my spare time in front of the computer would probably be good for me.