So, I'm stuck at work, waiting for some contractors to show up and I'm bored. So I'm going to bore you all.
If you look at my banner you will see two mountains. Mt. Elbert on the left (The highest mountain in Colorado) and Mt. Massive on the right (The second highest). I've never been on top of Massive, but I've tried three times. Twice I got turned back by weather, and once we were going a different route and missed the stone cairn that marked where we were supposed to take a right to get to the top of the mountain. Ended up being a beautiful hike though. The flatter part on the right is the peak, and we made it to the area between that and the shorter peak that's just to the left of it. Beautiful big field filled with mountain wild flowers and about five ponds. We probably wouldn't have made it to the top anyway, since after lunch we ended up running down the mountain trying to beat the hail storm that was chasing us.
I've been on top of Elbert twice and turned away three times. One time we made it to the top and the clouds came in below us while we were eating lunch. Craziest thing walking down INTO a rain storm. Surreal. Anyway one of the times I got turned back was a trip I made with my brother. Every year in late February, early March we would pack up three days worth of provisions, pick a mountain, grab our snowshoes and go! We'd bug out of work a little early and then drive as far as we could to the trail head and camp there. Next morning we'd hike up to tree line and camp, then summit and come back the last day. He just sent me a picture of this trip (That's why it's on my mind).
We wake up after camping at tree line and it looks like the perfect day. Blue skies and just a bit of wind. The wind started to pick up a bit, so we sheltered in a rock out-cropping for our second breakfast. After a little while we noticed clouds coming around the peak and it started snowing. Grrr... we kept going. Elbert is a pretty damn steep climb, so it was pretty slow going. Here's an elevation map so you have an idea. Treeline is around 11,500 ft.
As we keep pushing up the hill, the snow starts to get worse. My brother's wife had recently given birth to twins, and he starts shouting at me that he wants to turn back. Something about "To much to live for!" or some such nonsense. I'm pretending that I don't hear him over the wind and keep going. Then it starts to get a LOT worse. The wind starts picking up stronger, and the snow begins to get blinding. I finally turn around to talk to him about it. We were ONLY had a 1/4 mile as the crow flies, but with the switchbacks it was probably a good mile and some to the peak. As I turn around to yell this fact at him he snaps the pic he just sent me. That look on my face as I'm pointing to the peak is "Holy sheet! The storm is coming from BEHIND us!" and it was a bad one. You rarely see winter storm with black clouds, so this one was very ominous.
Oof, sorry for the size of that pic. Anyway, I finally relent, and it was a damn good thing. Not five minutes after we turned back the storm hit us like a horde of screaming banshees. Couldn't hear our yells unless we were right next to each other, and we were mostly only able to see 10- 30 feet in front of us, with an occasional break where we could see about 100 feet. Couldn't see any kind of trail, either, so we were just hoping that we were going the right direction. We seemed to be hiking for a lot longer than we should have been without seeing any recognizable landmarks, and we were both getting very nervous, until finally we got a break in the wind and saw the rock out-cropping where we ate earlier! What a relief. I don't know if anybody else has a similar experience, but I remember being 3 years old or so and hiding from my mom in a department store. Thought it was funny until I realized she was gone. I ran around that store so scared, and when I finally found her it was the exact same kind of relief I felt when we saw those rocks! They disappeared right away, but we knew that we would make it off the mountain that day. Right around tree line the snow started clearing up a bit. We packed up our tents and cooking gear and hauled ass down that mountain. Didn't stop once. Got to the car and hightailed it out of there. The top of the mountain was now entirely obscured by this dark cloud. As we were driving through Leadville we saw a coffee shop that also sold Guiness, so we stopped in for a well deserved breakfast pint. NEVER let a barista that has obviously never had a Guiness pour you one. LOL! I think she must have dumped out three pints trying to get rid of the foam.
Anyway, that's my boring story for the day. Back to work!