Yesterday, I did a monster dayhike: about 16 miles and about 3,500 ft of elevation gained and lost. It was along Lime Mesa for about 3 miles, and then 5 miles of glorious off-trail travel along the precipice of Mountain View Crest. The high point of the ridge is Overlook Point at 12,998 ft. (Let's just call it 13,000.) My feet are complaining today, but it was spectacular.
Mountain View Crest is an amazing transition between worlds, where the gentle rolling tundra to the south of the crest meets the extremely steep and rugged terrain of the Needle Creek drainage to the north. Next week, I will backpack to (among other places), the headwaters of Needle Creek, called Chicago Basin. Chicago Basin is one of the legendary places in the Colorado backcountry, surrounded by 14ers. During the summer, it tends to be "crowded" with climbers.
 |
The gentle south side of Mountain View Crest
|
 |
First view of the Needles
|
 |
Ruby Lake
|
 |
| Pearl Lake and Webb Lake |
|
|
|
 |
The west end of Mountain View Crest, a "peninsula in the sky."
|
 |
Looking back at the route (over those "bumps").
|
 |
Looking north and (way) down to the Animas River
|
 |
Chicago Basin peaks
|
If you want to read way more details about the hike, and see some really spectacular photos, have a look at this blog post, which is how I learned about the route.
No comments:
Post a Comment