CT Denver to Breckenridge

South bound seems the preferred direction for hiking the Colorado Trail. But once it joins the Continental Divide Trail at Georgia Pass, the north bound traffic greatly increases. Wherever the trail goes near a convenient access point, many hikers join. But in between, one can see that there are not too many through hikers, maybe 20-40 a day.

It took me 6 days to cover the 104 miles Denver to Breckenridge. It starts at the relative low altitude of about 6000ft and tops at 11875 over the pass. Along the way the mountains are mostly forested and green. It rained every day in the beginning, but there was enough time to dry up.

380 miles to go.

Watching the distant mountain range

The trail

Going through an Aspen Grove near Kenosha pass

The morning after the rain

Georgia pass

Columbine, Colorado state flower

Home for the night

Evolution Loop August 10-15, 2018

Highway 168 from Bishop CA splits in 3 and each side ends in a lake side trailhead to the high Sierras: Sabrina Lake in the center, North Lake in the north and not surprisingly South Lake in the south. Starting at the North Lake trailhead one can cross the Sierra Crest at Piute Pass, pick up the John Muir trail at the junction near the South Fork of the San Jose River, head south climbing through the Evolution Valley and then the Evolution Basin, over Muir Pass, cross the Sierra Crest again at Bishop Pass and finish at the South Lake trailhead. This 58 mile loop is the North Lake to South Lake Loop. The highlight of this trip is the Evolution Basin with it’s amazing scenery, but the rest of the trip is nothing to look down at. I like the scenery from McClure Meadows in the Evolution valley, Helen Lake and LeConte Canyon, the rapids along the San Joaquin, the far vistas from the 3 mountain passes and the view of the Palisades from Dusy Basin, to name a few.

Crossing Piute Creek

Piute Creek

South Fork San Joaquin River

McClure Meadow

Evolution Lake and The Hermit

Evolution Lake

Evolution Lake

Evolution Lake

Milky Way

Me and the Hut at Muir Pass

Buck

Crossing the bridge over Dusy Branch

Pack team at Dusy Basin

North Palisade and Dusy Basin

Bishop Pass

Bishop Pass Trail

On a moonless night, the sky seen from the mountains is extremely dark. It makes for a perfect sight of the Milky Way.

March 11, 2018 – Last Day of Grand Canyon Beamer and The Escalante Trip

New Hance Trail

In retrospect, the view from our camping spot below the redwall on the New Hance trail was the best of all the other options we had. Higher up the trail enters a narrow gully and the field of view is significantly narrower.

View from Camp

It rained at night. A steady moderate rain that got the dirt soaked really well. We waited for it to ease off before breaking camp and continuing up trail to the rim road 3500 ft. above.

Rain Rain

March 10, 2018 – Day 4 of Grand Canyon Beamer and The Escalante Trip

Escalante Creek to New Hance Trail

Continuing along the Colorado River the trail first follows the rim of the Seventyfive Mile Creek and then drops in to return to the river. Seventyfive Mile Creek creates a fantastic slot canyon, cutting through striped layers of sedimentary rock.

Seventyfive Mile Creek

Kai at Seventyfive Mile Creek

Next Is Papago Creek. There is another steep cliff area along the river requiring climbing high up to get around it. There is a short class 3 climb made interesting when carrying a heavy pack. The last beach along the river is at Hance Rapid.

View from Hance Beach

We filled up with  Water for the night and made our way up the New Hance trail. We found a nice camping spot about 1500 ft up from the river.

March 9, 2018 – Day 3 of Grand Canyon Beamer and The Escalante Trip

Palisade Creek to Escalante Creek.

The hike down river from Palisade Creek is somewhat uneventful until one hits Cardenas Creek, but views of the river are fantastic. From there the trail climbs steeply bypassing an area where the river is protected by sheer cliffs and drops back to the river at Escalante Creek.

Kai

 

Me

The Colorado River from the ridge north of Escalante Creek

March 8, 2018 – Day 2 of Grand Canyon Beamer and The Escalante Trip

Beamer Trail to the confluence and back.

It is 6 miles from the Palisade Creek to the confluence of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River. The trail travels up and down on cliffs with great views along the river. Except for the The Palisade Creek (at the beginning) and the Confluence (at the end), there is only one beach with access to the river about 1/4 of a mile before the Confluence. It seems to be a good place for hikers wishing to camp close to the Confluence, as there is no camping at the Confluence.

The Little Colorado River water are heavy with sediments and look turquoise compare to the blue-green water of the Colorado River. I understand that sometime the Colorado River water itself is heavy with sediments, but that is not the case today.

Little Colorado River (near), Colorado River (Beyond)

There were several a groups of rafters at the time, the rafts are visible in this image, but they are so small that it is hard to see giving an interesting scale.

March 7, 2018 – Day 1 of Grand Canyon Beamer and The Escalante Trip

The Tanner Trail, Lipan Point to Palisade Creek

Kai and I started down the Tanner trail. Finding the beginning of the trail at Lipan Point was not easy, It seems to start about 100 yards before the parking and there is no sign or anything that marks it. For the first mile or so there was significant of snow on the trail which was a challenge, but after that it was smooth going.

I stopped for lunch at the top of the red wall just before the trail turns and start a steep descent. The view was exceptional

View from the Lookout Point at the Top of the Red Wall

From Tanner Beach we continued up the Colorado river to Palisade Beach where we spent the night.

The Colorado River Between Tanner Beach and the Palisade Beach

The Colorado at Palisade Rapid

Canada

11 AUGUST 2017, 07:56 PM
High Bridge Ranger Station (PCT mile 2569) to Manning Park, BC, Canada PCT mile 2658) the end.
This concludes the entire 1001 mile backpacking trip starting from Seiad Valley California to Canada.
The monument marking the northern terminus of the PCT is right on the boarder with Canada. From here there are 2 options. Continuing into Canada for 8 miles and getting a bus at Manning Park, or returning south for 30 miles to Harts Pass and hitch hiking out. I chose the former.
It rained last night. After 50 days of sunny weather it finally rains on the last night. On the good side, the smoke is gone.
One evening a deer showed up at my site. I tried to shoo it away, but it pay no attention. It was back the next morning. By then I realized that it was expecting to be fed. It came as close as 5 feet. So I just took a picture.

photo 20170814 671163

Yoyo

05 AUGUST 2017, 06:24 AM
Stevens Pass (PCT mile 2461) to High Bridge (PCT mile 2569)
I am in a little resort town called Stehekin, picking up my last resupply package. Next stop Will be the end of the hike in Canada.
The trail makes a serious of ups and downs on this section. Starting from a low valley it climbs up a high ridge line, just to descend to the even lower valley behind, and then climb an even higher ridge. The elevation profile looks like an expending zigzag increasing in amplitude and duration as you go north. The last leg of this yoyo is still to come climbing from High Bridge 1500 ft to the next pass at 7000 ft. Needless to say there is major elevation gain and loss each day hiking this area. With careful planning I was able to avoid an 8500 ft day, but still had a couple of days with 6800 ft of climbing. You can I imagine the scenery of switching from a low lush vegetation covered valleys to high sub alpine ridges. Unfortunately, I cannot enjoy the scenery, because of the lingering smoke.
I met a couple of hikers Highway and Dash We are camped together a couple of nights and at the same time at Stehekin. Highway is continuing to Canada on the same itinerary as mine, so I will probably see him again.
The bright spot in the first image is the sun.

Heat and Smoke

02 AUGUST 2017, 06:45 AM
Snoqualmie Pass (PCT mile 2390) to Steven Pass (PCT mile 2461)
The Northern Cascades are rugged and must be beautiful. The valleys are deep and there are many lakes. The ridges are steep and allow distance views. I just wish it wasn’t as hazy.
It’s been hot the last 3 days. Temperature in Seattle were supposed to reach 100. On the trail at 4000-5000 it was on the 80’s and 90’s. On top, wild forest fires in western Washington spread smoke and haze over the area. Not exactly ideal conditions for either hiking or photography.