2006
Colorado Trip (4)
Day 11: We all head down to scout the lower sections of Clear Creek and after a good look, Scott and I decide to give it a go. Kyle and Tracy depart and head back to BV. Seems their luck had changed and a raft bus driver had found their gear and turned it in to the Sheriff's office. But wait, the bad luck had to go somewhere didn't it?
Seems that Scott caught the carnage bug of bad luck, or maybe it was the jitters from looking at Rigormortis. He proceeded to sideswipe a roadsign with his rear fender as he was backing out of the turnout. After a few choice words, we ate lunch and launched at the top of the Black Rock section of Clear Creek. First up was the section's namesake rapid. A busy entrance led to a boof over a hole, then punch another and finally avoid the bad undercut on the left bank.
Scott and Lance in Black Rock Rapid.
Scott preparing to punch a hole as John looks on. Photos by Lara Jones
We continue on down through the Narrows and are feeling pretty good, but we both decide not to temp the carnage bug at Rigormortis. We saw the line and had plenty of safety support, but we also saw the reality of losing our gear if we swam, being the only two boats on the river at the time. So we continued on down the Lower section for some more fun class IV action.
After a quick rest, we all headed to Golden to test out the whitewater park until the dark storm clouds started moving in. Scott, Renee and John headed to the South Platte to find camp while Lara and I grabbed dinner in town. On the way to meet them afterward, Kyle calls and says a few folks were planning a trip to a place I really wanted to go the next day. We turn around and head West. The next morning Kyle calls and says the trip fell through, but it is on for Thursday.
After a little contemplation on what to do, we decide to go visit Glenwood Canyon and meet Kyle at the river the next day. First stop was the parking lot for the Hanging Lake trailhead. I've always wanted to check this place out, but never had the time until now.
The signs said to expect a rugged trail, so we changed from our sandals to some real shoes and head down the bike path along the Colorado River toward the trailhead. Upon reaching it, we were greeted by a hungry critter who mistook my shoelace for lunch.
We shoed the little rascal off and took a look at the trail, sure enough it was rough, uneven and steep. Only 1.2 miles up to the lake with a 1000-ft elevation gain. So off we went up the trail as it paralleled a small creek cascading down the gorge.
Water pouring through the rock at one of the cascaded (above) and scenery on the way up (below)
We finally made it to the top and were rewarded with a beautiful setting. The small lake is fed by a spout waterfall leading to the wide curtain cascade. The minerals in the water provided a brilliant blue color to the clear water.
This is also only one of two locations that the Oil Shale Columbine grows, and they happened to be in full bloom during our visit.
Unfortunately, the little critter at the bottom of the trail wasn't the only wildlife we spotted...
Some cool but brief rain showers cooled us off on the way down as we continued to enjoy the wonderful scenery in this gorge.
I followed the hike with a quick run down the Shoshone section of the Colorado. Now I could finally say that I've officially paddled on the Colorado River.
Then was into town for dinner followed by a drive upstream to get a full nights sleep and prepare for run that I've wanted for several years...
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