Wednesday, August 13, 2008

CT Day 22: Fishing at Harvard Lake

Another LONG day with another BIG CLIMB!

We spent most of the morning leapfrogging with April and Thatch, but they finally passed us up when we reached Harvard Lake and Dave wanted to give fishing 1 last shot before mailing his fishing gear home.
Harvard Lake actually consists of two lakes. Lower Harvard Lake is far more picturesque than the mud pit constituting the upper lake. Consequently that's where I spent most of my time. Dave divided his time between the two for a couple of hours, and managed to make his biggest number of catches for the trip. Unfortunately, they were all far too small to bother frying up.

So we kept going, descending 2000 feet into the valley of North Cottonwood Creek, and then ascending another 4000 feet up the slopes of Mt. Yale. By the time we re-entered the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area, we were exhausted. Climbing a 4500 feet after doing 12 miles that morning is NOT RECOMMENDED. We made a short descent along the Southern slopes of Mt. Yale before camping out with a view of Mt. Princeton.
Tomorrow we would roll into Buena Vista, our next resupply point. My ankle was continuing to bother me but it certainly wasn't slowing us down. Another 15 mile day, this one also with a big climb near the end. I hope it heals up a bit while we're in Buena Vista.

CT Day 23: Rolled into Buena Vista


The Colorado Trail Story

No comments: