journeyvision

Macey Lakes Sange De Christo Wilderness 6.30- 7.1 2012

Ok so its been a while since I got a good macro shot like this one but I think its awesome! Look the fly is sticking his tounge out.

With wicked wildfires and smokey air tapering off in Colorado Springs I wanted to get out of town for some more backpacking in my favorite area the Sangre de Christo wilderness. This time exploring a different set of alpine lakes called the Macey Lakes. There were more people on this hike vs. the previous weekend, probably because its close the the 4th of July. Anyways the hike and camping were amazing.

I found a quick lil side trail off of the Rainbow Trail and camped for the night. I was only maybe 2 miles into a 7 mile hike. This picture is of the small creek nearby.

Rainbow trail heading to the Macey Lakes trail.

Macey Trailhead

Start of the Macey Trail that follows Macy creek most of the way up.

Old Cabin

This be the wilderness sign

I need to keep hiking way up in there. This trip was a long distance.

Getting higher up you come across the very impressive Macey Falls. It was hard to get a good angle on this beautiful waterfall.

Lower Macey Lake. There is a higher lake on both sides of this one.

Hiking around looking for the trail to the upper lakes. Lets just say it took a little route finding. That is Colony Baldy off in the distance.

I looked everywhere up here for a camping spot by the Macey Lake that was above treeline. There were just not any to be found. So I left and headded to the other upper Macey Lake that was next to Colony Baldy Peak.

Columbines everywhere

So I got lucky and found an amazing camping spot in a clump of high alpine pines with 360 degree amazing views! I really want to come back here and fish a bit.

Almost bed time.

Hammock all ready for sleepy time

One of the best cups of coffee I have ever had.

One last viw of the lake before leaving. You really cant see it but there is a waterfall back at the lake inlet that was really cool.

Small waterfall on the outlet and I was out of here with a swift hike back to the car. That camping spot by the upper macey lake was really special. I had marmots haning out with me the whole time.

In case you missed it here is the nature video from this back country spot.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=45043598&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
Backpacking Horn Lakes in Sangre De Christo Wilderness 6.29.12 from Jaydude on Vimeo.

Waldo Canyon Fire 6.26.2012

I debated weather or not to add the waldo canyon fire to my blog since it has always had a positive theme focused on the out doors. But this was an event that will impact me for the rest of my life and will never forget. The pictures of my bike were taken inside the burn area less than a month from the fire.

Horn Lakes Sange De Christo Wilderness 6.22 – 6.24 2012

So I have always loved the Sangre De Christo Mountain Range. When I talk to people about this range most have never heard of it. Its just far enough away from Colorado Springs and Denver that people choose to go elsewhere and when I go down there it feels like I have the whole place to myself. I have been coming to this range since I was a child and would go camping with family and close friends. The first time I ever road a motorcycle was off of the 4×4 Hermit road before I could bearly ride a bike. I always had a special place in my heart for these mountains…

This is one of 2 weekends of backpacking alpine lakes on the east side of the Sangre range. The pics are good but do this area no justice. Each weekend I took a separate trail from the Horn Creek Trail Head, the first weekend was up to the Horn Lakes and the Second weekend was up Macey trail and up to the Macey lakes.

Friday, 6.22.12

I get up to the trail head about 7:30pm or so and get off to a long night hike.

Its late June so I still have about an hour left to hike with some day light.

This trip I brought my night rider and used it as a head lamp. Worked very well for lighting up the trail and scoping out the route.

Deadly tree I had to cross under. The winds were very high and this tree was about to snap!

I hiked for about 5 miles in the dark up hill to almost 12,000′ to the main Horn Lake. One of the cool things about hiking up in the dark is when you wake up the view is a suprise! This morning I woke up to this, Mt Adams lit up with alpen glow.

Trees were hard to come by and this small out cropping of ancient pines was what I despaterly needed in order to set up camp. As luxourios and comfortable my hammock is the down side is you need to trees spaced just right to hang it up. Usually this is not a problem but up at 12,000 feet trees are hard to come by.

Self portrait

Horn Lake was awesome. I would definitely come back.

Time to have lunch and start to pack up camp to get ready to hike to the next lake. Oh, look who shows, up some friendly visitors. The marmots were every where and used to people. Later there was a grumpy old marmot that chased this one off.

On my way out, one last look back to the lake before it goes out of view.

It took me a while to find the next camp spot. I hiked for about a mile or two trying to find the trail that was on my map but later found there was no more trail (map is old) and had to bush wack my way around the side of the mountain to find it. There it is off in the distance. This was a highlight of the trip when I finally found this hidden lake!

See no trail…

Probably one of the most pristine lakes I have been to.

Rare view inside my hammock with my feet hanging out the entrance.

Hennessy hammock with tarp and under quilt.

The awesome wooden spoon I made since I forgot my plastic one.

I hiked up the side of the mountain and got a good shot of the area I was staying in.

This was a really good camp spot. Seating every where and a nice fire ring. No fires alowed on this trip due to national forest fire restrictions.

Word, time to head back down.

Saw lots of interesting things on the way down..

Cascade Drop 6.16.12

Usually I am not an advocate of a shuttle ride and prefer to “earn” my down hill,… whatever.

Kristian, Keith, and I loaded up k-mans hybrid Civic and effortlessly ascended to the Cascade Drop TH. The start to the trail is immediately in your face steep, loose and fast, and that over the years have learned to hang on and ride it out. Since no effort was spent climbing. It was really nice to have all my strength for the awesome downhill ahead.

This dude was superfast. Even with use using a shuttle he climbed his way up and passed us on the Waldo section of this route.

Rampart Range Road always has the best views

WTF is this!!!!!!!

And we make it to the top.

Kristian smiling under his full face

Rock on brutha Keith

LIVE ACTION!

Time for a break, mmmm cookies thanks Kristian guess who forgot to pack food???

Jaydude approves of this trail!

Angry clouds, lets get to riding.

Kristian on his Knolly

Keith on his Transition

I heart Williams Canyon! Back in the day I used to hike many of the cave systems in this rare Colorado limestone canyon.

witchway??? We did get rained on for just a bit.

Williams is sooo much FUN!

Keith dropped a chain so I had some time to be artsy……

Sweet little video to finish the post. Better when you click full screen.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=109786

So do I regret taking a shuttle? Nah not really.

12 Hours of Mesa Verde 5.12.2012

The start of a very fun race. 12 Hours of Mesa Verde is located outside of Cortez Colorado at a trail system called Phils World. Phils world is a mountain bikers paradise consisting of twisty, incredibly flowy single track. There were amazing roller coaster type sections of trail that would drop you almost weightlessly from one end of the gully and up the next with a huge fast berm to turn you right back into the gully to do it again. You never had to touch your breaks or pedal, brilliant trail design there!

Catching air off of one of the roller coaster sections

Wow what a great time! This race was much tougher than expected and the course was a blast. All in all Mike and I rode over 100 miles and came in about 27th out of 40 teams in our bracket. I take that as a huge improvement over our last endurance race (Rage in the Sage) where our team came in last.

Mike did a great writeup of the race on his blog here

Buffalo Creek 4.11.12

It was a good weekend to spend in Buffalo Creek. I dusted off the camping gear, headed out a night early, relaxed with a nights sleep in the hammock, and met Mike the next day for some sweet 30+ miles of single track.

There is a cool little hideaway camp spot right off of the colorado trail that I know about. This tree is the biggest one in the area and has a wicked knot on the bottom from it pushing against a boulder.

A welcome crossing at the top of Gas House. From here you can hit Charles cutoff and sandy wash that combine to what seems like 7 miles of fun flowy buff singletrack awesomeness.

common resting spot at the intersection of Shinglemill and Morrison Creek

Weather was excellent

29ers Rule!

Colorado Trail all the way back to the car. This section of CT is one of the best for MTB.

March Madness

March was a great month full of riding. Some of the warmest temps of all time. Many days of 70 degree weather.

Sooooo here is a big photo dump of all the great riding!

Jeremy and Luis ripping jacks after a fresh spring snow!

Miguel

two white hecklers??????

best bike eva!

Keith and I rode “upper williams” and it was epic!

Keith stoked about the new sign!

Bee Rrrripppp

Jay Woods

Thursday Monument ride!

So Yeah March 2012 kicked ass and it had nothing to do with NCAA basketball!

Snowshoeing the Crags 2.4.12

I have been on the fence for awhile about snow shoes. It looked like there is
potential for some fun but wasn’t sure it would be worth getting a pair. I had a chance to try a couple different sets and was able to get a good idea of what I wanted in a snow shoe.

I ended up with a set of Atlas 1230s that had a floating binding, suspension, and lots of traction. They are long too! I think it was worth it especially after going on that adventure last night. Even with a dry winter like this year, these shoes could get a good bit of use.

I have only used snow shoes in Monument, but wanted to give the Crags a try after a decent snow storm hit the area.

On they way up the pass there was not much snow and was wondering how conditions would be. When I got up to the trail head there was at least 2- 3 feet of fresh snow!

So after a little adjustment, the new snow shoes were working perfectly and was was making some ground. I started late in the day and only ran into other people on my way up but nobody on the way down. It was a perfectly clear day. Probably about 15 deg so the air was cool and crisp.

The snow was very deep and going off trail was very difficult. So it was a blast to stay in the “rut” so to say.

The Crags

So I took a break, melted some snow in my jetboil and made some hot coco while I ate a turkey sandwich. The sun had gone down and it was getting dark. I could not believe how quiet and peaceful it was…

So the moon came out and it was time to put the lights on.

Back to the car and about a 45 minute drive home. I am really looking forward to taking out the snow shoes again. Great way to enjoy the trails in the dead of winter.

New York New York 1.16.12

Great 3 night stay in New York City with Seth. Great way to see the city in a short amount of time. We had a great deal on an awsome hotel in a great part of NYC.