A group of about twelve horsemen, many in full cowboy regalia, passed me early in this segment. I like seeing horses out on the trail.
Twisted aspens around mile 4.
The first glimpse of the Twin Lakes reservoir -- Arrg, matey, 'thar be pizza ahead!
Sagebrush is a novelty, after days of thick forest. Mile 6.5
The little town of Twin Lakes, where hummingbirds outnumber humans about a hundred to one. This is pretty much the whole town. Really.
Early in this segment, I met Jesus. Yep. It was about mile 0.4, where the marker for the CT had been stolen -- there's a post, but no sign, no arrows, no blazes, no white triangles. Both trails were about equally well-traveled. One sloped slightly downhill, the other seemed to head up, but it's hard to say where either ultimately went, as the forest was quite thick. Which way was the right way?
Just then, I heard the sound of running feet, and from the right-hand trail descended a man in perhaps the best physical shape I have ever seen. He was evenly and darkly tanned, and sported both a luxurious and wavy blond-brown beard and washboard abs. He wore nothing but bright blue running shorts, new white tennis shoes, and an empty one-pint water bottle at his belt, lime green. He resembled all the pictures and sculptures of Jesus I could remember seeing. "Are you looking for the Colorado Trail?" he asked, pausing just briefly. His voice was a light tenor -- very Jesus-y. "It's up that way." He gestured to the right, back the way he'd come, then ran on. I had to thank his retreating back.
Turns out, other people saw him too -- he was no mirage. Several other hikers ahead of me took a day off to summit Mount Elbert, the second-tallest peak in the continental US. I caught up with them later, at Twin Lakes. "So," asked one of the hikers, "did you see Jesus out on the trail, too?"
"See him? He showed me the way!" Their sighting was up at the top of Mount Elbert. The hikers were picking their way up the loose talus, when they heard a sound from behind, turned, and found Jesus. He was running -- running! -- up the twenty-degree slope, across the treacherous stones, and swiftly passed the astonished hikers. He reached the pinnacle, at 14,440 feet, and paused a moment. Then he turned around, and started running back down. The hikers even managed to snap a photo.
Did I mention that Jesus was carrying only a single pint of water? And that the distance between where I saw him and the peak is 4500 vertical feet and over four miles? Darn.
I hope Jesus isn't entering the Leadville 100. Somehow just doesn't seem sporting.
Our Savior of the Mountains, who shows the way. Photo courtesy of Hellbender, brave and noble hiker.
The famous underpass, at 7.2
Long views across the lake.
Trail markers often get stolen on heavily traveled portions of the trail... apparently in effort to combat this, some markers have been purposefully, erm, defaced.
While hiking, I often heard an odd, subtle snorting sound, as if from a horse. Turns out, this is a mule deer alarm call. If you stop and look around when you hear the snort, you can often spot some wildlife.
The long, lovely descent into the Clear Creek valley. The views almost make up for the nagging knowledge that you're going to have to pay for this downhill section with uphill trail, just across the creek.
Guidebook update suggestions:
0.0
Walk out to the road, cross the creek on a big culvert to your left. The trail is just afterward, off to your right.
0.4
A trail goes left, to another trailhead. The CT goes right/straight. The trailmarker here was stolen when I passed.
0.5
The guidebook says there is water here; there is NOT. The closest water is Box Creek, up a steep incline.
1.3
The Elbert trail goes right/straight; the CT goes left. This was poorly marked, evidently because someone stole the sign. Or set it on fire. Hard to be sure.
4.8
There are campsites here, but it seems the area gets a little... ah. Raucous, from time to time. The trailhead sign actually had been set alight -- a few charred posts still stood, near replacement parts yet to be assembled -- and there were broken beer bottles in the firepits. Camping would be tough for the next 1.5 miles.
6.5
This is a somewhat confusing intersection. The left trail goes directly to the campground... at the far end from where you have to pay. The right trail is the CT; it skirts immediately along the south side of the campground and you can easily walk up a hillside to the camp at 6.7. Though there are bathrooms and water at the Lakeview, the place isn't really hiker friendly -- there are only a few sites you can camp without prior reservations, and you'll have to walk a good half mile east in order to pay, and then walk back again. On the other hand, a nice clean site near the potties is just fifteen bucks. So.
7.2
Town is actually about 1.3 miles away -- the extra few hundred yards does make a difference when every breeze bears the faint whiff of pizza and your belly won't quit growling. Oh yes, there's a pizza joint in Twin Lakes now, and they're open till eight -- go past the fancy inn with skis bolted to the outside, past the convenience store, and it'll be on your right. The pizza/cafe place also has tiny cabins in back, which look like they might be cheaper places to stay. Otherwise, the fancy inn is quite pricey, around $80.
7-11
Don't underestimate how hot and dry these four miles really are at midday. There is plenty of water from the lake, but it smells fishy and will clog a filter in nothing flat.
11.1
The guidebook says to watch for cars as you cross this bridge over the river; it is now closed to vehicle traffic and is quite safe. Getting down to the river/lake-spillway for water would be difficult.
11.3
Plenty of vehicles were parked south of the lake. Both the guide and databooks tell you to hook right, along the lake's edge, through a marshy area. THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE. The trail has been rerouted to higher ground to the left; you will rejoin the lake for a little while in a mile or so. Until then, keep a very sharp eye out for trail markers.
11.4
Pass through a FS gate at a small parking area. Continue heading uphill. Watch carefully for markers off to your right.
11.5
Leave the road to your right on a footpath. The intersection is marked, but not very well. This is the turnoff several hikers missed. Then they got lost. Don't miss the trail.
~12
Meet up with the old CT route. Turn left, parallel the waterline.
15
The fork to the left here could be (and has been) overlooked, as there is no post or sign. Watch carefully for the trail markers.
15.9
There are actually three streams here, at 15.9, 16.3, and 16.7. The last one was flowing; the other two were mud puddles. So if you get to the first stream and find nothing, don't panic too much. (On the other hand, it's four more hot and steep miles to *really* reliable water, so maybe you can panic a little.)
18.6
Oh, except. There was also water flowing right over the trail here, a mile or so past the construction equipment -- possibly the stream is only reliable if there has been rain in the past few days.
The elevation profile for this segment appears roughly correct.
---> Onward, to segment 12!
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