hike: Kennebec pass and Taylor Lake

[ilanarama]

Got out on Saturday afternoon for another hike. This one was a bit of "long approach, short thrill" as we had to drive about 18 miles on a slow Forest Service road (2WD but twisty and rutted) and then it was only about a 1.5 mile hike to the pass and a further 1.8 miles to the lake, then back the way we came. Both pass and lake are around 11,750 ft, with a lovely (although very snowy) basin separating them. Nice wildflowers, particularly glacier lilies which lined the edges of the trail. Didn't see anyone until we got to Cumberland Basin, as there's another trailhead not far from there and several people had come up from that one.



Snowstorm peak to the left and Cumberland peak to the right.



Along the trail; Kennebec Pass is out of sight just to the right of Cumberland Peak.



Still an awful lot of snow in Cumberland basin!



Our destination, the beautiful but artificial Taylor Lake. Installed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Forest Service because there weren't any lakes in this area.



Looking down La Plata Canyon.

Comments

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

Yum. As usual, I'm envious.

[sambushell.livejournal.com]

Glorious.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

That "Look! Snow! Look! No snow!" thing is something I'll never get used to. You don't, unless you're around mountains!

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Come visit me this summer and I will throw a snowball at you. :-)

[alembicresearch.livejournal.com]

I like the clouds in the first pic!

Great hike

[myschka.livejournal.com]

Makes me want to get out the boots and hit the trails. Wonder if my knee is ready (had knee surgery a couple months ago).

Re: Great hike

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Have you tried hiking with poles? A lot of people around here use them.

Depending on what kind of knee surgery you had, a couple of months might not be enough healing time to do much strenuous hiking. Check with your doctor, etc.

We had a great backpack over the long weekend - pictures soon.

Re: Great hike

[myschka.livejournal.com]

"Check with my Doctor" - Hah! My surgeon is no help at all. He's a great surgeon, but his chief advice was "do leg lifts" - and "if it bears the weight, go for it."

As for poles - when I was in Nepal I was "bipolar" :-) - And I think that trek in 2000 was the source of my knee problems. So, I own some poles and I'm willin' to use them!

I had arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus. I thought counted on six-weeks max, but it's going on 3-months because, well, I pushed things a bit.

Can't wait to hit the trails again, though.

I sense a kindred spirit - I'm also a freelance writer.

[levgem.livejournal.com]

Each summer I spend 3 weeks among ice and snow, while people suffer from heat in the city. It is great!

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

For me, it's great to live in the mountains where I can decide if I want ice and snow or green trees and warm weather simply by going uphill or downhill!

[levgem.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it is great to live in such place.

[(Anonymous)]

As a kid I grew up in SW Colorado. My Dad worked underground in Silverton, and my Granddad and Great Aunt had a coal mine in Hesperus, The Hesperus Coal Co. (right next to the little Hesperus Ski Hill where I learned to ski). We lived in Mayday from 1969 - 1971 (I was born in 1958). I rode my saddle horse all over the La Plata mountains and as much of the Needles as possible.

When we lived in the Silverton area (1971 - 1973), we lived in Howardsville. I used to ride up to the Highland Mary lakes and camp for a couple of days just fiddling around and fishing. I used to catch enough fish for an army. I never even took food with me because I knew I could get fat on the fish I caught. The best place I found to fish was the Verde Lakes. Those fish were hungry! They would bite anything. At this time there were never any other people up there. I would go for days and not see another soul.

The pictures that Ilana and Britt have posted on this site certainly bring a tear to my eye. I know most, if not all, of these places and have been to them. It's worth noting that the extent of the San Juan Mountains is enough that I don't think you could see it all in a single lifetime.

Bob Brown
624 Mannela Drive
Strawberry Plains, Tennessee 37871
865-933-9503
rsbrownjr@gmail.com