Sunday, June 21, 2009

McCullough Gulch, Part I

My Father's Day treat was to get out for a hike. I tried to convince Zak to come with me -- and probably should have tried even harder -- but he politely declined. So I headed off to McCullough Gulch by myself.
The altitude was evident right off the bat. At 11,000 feet, there was still snow at the trailhead and I was huffing and puffing pretty quickly.
An abandoned mining site. Instead of investing in No Trespassing signs, whoever this belongs to should invest in cleaning up their junk.
The trail more or less followed this creek. The few times I lost track of the trail, I just headed back toward the sound of the rushing water.
I loved how vivid all the colors were looking up here.
This was NOT one of the places where the trail was hard to follow. Some pretty extensive chainsaw work had gone into a few stretches.
However, after crossing this rock field I meandered around a little bit before catching sight of another hiker.
The view back to the east near the end of the trail. Despite my late (1:30 p.m.) start, the weather so far was holding up nicely.

The imposing presence of Quandary Peak was a constant reminder of what I hope to get to in July and August -- some 14ers!

People who make cairns to mark the trail in rocky areas are doing God's work, and I love them for it.

The glacial lake at the end of the trail was breathtaking. Other hikers had the good sense not to mar the snow field with footprints, so the view was pretty unspoiled.

After a short break to munch down a Peanut Butter Gatorade Nutrition bar (awful, by the way), thickening clouds rolling in over Quandary were my cue to head back down.

Click here for Part II

1 comment:

Orontes said...

Beautiful pics, Steve. It doesn't hurt that the weather was perfect. I'm curious what camera you hike with. As always, keep up the great work.