Square Top Mountain

 I'd done a fair amount of hiking since moving back to Colorado in May, but no HIKING.  Enter college buddy Tim Wells, who couldn't get together for more than a month because he had camping trips planned every weekend.  That should have been my first clue as to what was in store...

He suggested Square Top Mountain, and after a quick peek at AllTrails I agreed.  Seven miles roundtrip, couple thousand feet of elevation gain -- piece of cake.

Fun fact about hiking to the summit of Square Top Mountain -- most of the elevation gain comes in a mile and a half stretch.  The first couple of miles are very gentle -- practically flat, with a fair amount of downhill into a creek valley.  I didn't want to carry two camera bodies, so I shot all scenery with my iPhone.

Here's Tim right before we started the real ascent...

...and here's Tim at the summit, lying about how much fun the climb was.  Seriously, that steep mile and a half were an absolute slog.  I only honestly contemplated giving up once -- on the stretch to the last false summit.  Once I made it  there, the final quarter mile or so to the real summit was pretty easy.

As always, the views from any Colorado summit pretty much justify the effort.  Silver Dollar Lake and the two Square Top Lakes are visible.

Not much wildlife to speak of, which made me regret lugging my 80-400 zoom lens along.  One marmot in mid-chew was the most noticeable sighting, along with a lone mountain goat a good distance away.

Descending was not a quick exercise, for fear of slipping on the loose gravel.

We did the trek to the 13,794' summit and back -- roughly seven miles and 2,454 feet of elevation gain -- in a respectable 5 1/2 hours.  Unlike other summit hikes, I saw no 8-year-olds nor 80-year-olds on the trail.  That made me feel a bit better about my struggles!