Central Colorado Continental Divide Hike

Introduction

The previous year's hike ended at I-70 on the east side of Loveland Pass.  Rather than hike over Grays and Torreys (both over 14,000'), we opted to start at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on the west side of Loveland Pass. The route we took to Tennessee Pass stays fairly close to or on the Divide.  This segment hike started on July 18, 1981.  We started earlier this year because of low snowpack and were worried dry conditions might limit some of our water sources in the Cochetopa Hills.
 

Day 1 - 7/18/81 (Arapahoe Basin to Sheep Mountain Camp - 16.0 miles)

The plan for 1981 was to start hiking at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, about 1 mile west of Grizzly Peak on the Divide. Diane dropped us off at 7:30 a.m. on Highway 6 near a maintenance garage (11,000'). We hiked up a jeep road called Argentine North Fork Trail on the map for about two miles until we reached a bend in the road (12,100'). At this point we took a gully (the Dercum's Gulch ski run) to the south which brought us to the top of the ski area. There were a few small snow banks still in the gulch and that was about all the snow left at the ski area. We hit the Lenawee Trail just above the ski lift and below Lenawee Mountain (12,752').  We stopped for a short break on the ridge where Jeff found a rock hammer, which was painted in bright orange, probably so the owner would not loose it. Jeff added the treasure to his already full pack. The trail followed the terrain with a gentle down grade. When we got into the trees the trail became steeper having many switchbacks at first, but went straight across the hillside once we got into the aspens. We met two other parties hiking up the trail as we made our decent. The road that this trail met was a good dirt road open to passenger cars. We took our first rest break at this spot (10:05-10:20). As soon as we crossed Peru Creek, we went left on to a jeep road to get away from the passing cars and to maintain our elevation on our way to the town of Montezuma. We stopped at the southern edge of town by the Snake River to eat our lunch (11:15-12:00).

As we started to eat we had three dogs visit us: a female German Shepherd, a large male Newfoundland, and a small female German Shepherd mix. Ed told the boys to ignore the dogs but Bill decided to throw a grape to the dogs anyway. The small shepherd mix came to join us. As we started to hike south up the valley on the road along Deer Creek, all three dogs began to follow us. They would run into the woods and then back to us. As we passed below Radical Hill the two larger dogs took off for home. But the smaller dog continued along with us. Along our climb towards the Divide, we noted several jeep trails to the south and west not shown on our topo maps. In fact our planned cross-country route coincided with one of the jeep roads which led us south over a 12,624' peak on the Divide. We counted 15 jeeps driving on the surrounding roads.

After we passed over the 12,624' peak, we came to a fork in the road and followed the southwest road above the Middle Fork Swan River.  We followed this road a short ways and then descended cross-country towards the Middle Fork Swan River. Along the way down we passed a small old cabin before reaching the creek. At the creek, we took a jeep road a shorts ways up to a great camping site at 11,800' (4:20). The site was located below Sheep Mountain and Whale Peak. Jeff and Bill set up the tent while Ed cooked supper. We split up the main course and the dessert four ways so the dog that was still with us would not go hungry. As we ate we watched a motorcycle and a jeep trying to go up the side of a hill opposite us. We were sad to see them tearing up the landscape. Since we were all very tired from getting up so early and hiking 16 miles, we went to bed at 7:30.
 

Day 2 - 7/19/81 (Sheep Mountain Camp to Boreas Ditch - 12.8 miles)

We got up at 5:30 a.m. to a light rain. After cooking in the rain we decided to take down the wet tent and start hiking (6:40). As we hiked to the pass between Whale and Sheep Mountains the sun came out. We then hiked cross-country along the CD to the top of Glacier Peak (12,853'). Since we could not see the jeep road shown on the map below the peak that led to Georgia Pass, we continued along the CD for about 3 miles until we met the road near the pass (9:30). We then followed a car road south that was not shown on our map for another 3 miles until we intersected French Creek where we had lunch (11:10-12:30). While eating lunch we met two couples that were camping there. They gave us two eggs and about a pound of cheese for the dog who we were now calling Poochie. After the campers left, another couple arrived. They gave us hamburger meat and rolls for Poochie. Poochie was now eating better than we were!
 

We left the car road after lunch and followed a jeep road (not shown on the map) up the French Creek drainage. The jeep road meandered a bit, but eventually turned west along the creek with a slight grade. At the first fork in the road (11,000') we went right and at the second fork went left. The road was in poor condition having many trees across it. After the road fizzled out (11,200'), we continued bushwhacking west towards Black Powder Pass at 12,159'. When we came to a boulder field we went over it. This was a mistake since we had to come down again on the other side. We found a trickle of water as we started up the ravine towards the pass and had a good drink. Then we went up the ridge to the south of the ravine that turned out to be another bad choice since it was so steep. We concluded that we should have gone directly up the ravine to the pass. After crossing the Divide between Bald Mountain and Boreas Mountain at Black Powder Pass (2:40), we followed a dry creek bed down towards Boreas Pass. At about 11,900' we found a spring and decided to fill up all of our water bottles. We then walked down about 10 minutes to camp at 11,600' (3:20) where there was little water in the creek. Since the weather was perfect, we all washed and then lay in the sun. Poochie got a lot to eat: a cheese sandwich and our leftovers. Jeff went to fish in a nearby beaver pond before supper but did not catch anything. Jeff and Bill were so tired they went to bed at 7:15 while Poochie continued to sack out in the sun. Ed went to bed shortly thereafter as a hard hike over Hoosier Ridge to Wheeler Lake was waiting for us tomorrow.
 

Day 3 - 7/20/81 (Boreas Ditch to Wheeler Lake - 14.2 miles)

Once again we got up early. We ate granola that had a gasoline flavor and left camp at 6:30 a.m. The hike started down Boreas Ditch No. 2 to Boreas Pass (11,481'). After taking some pictures of the old railroad related buildings, we hiked west on the CD via a road. The road soon stopped and we decided to go around the first small mound to a saddle. We then contoured around the next small mountain (12,331') to another saddle at 11,700' where large power lines crossed over us and a jeep road appeared (8:00). There was a large flock of sheep being tended by a herder and a dog in a nearby camping site. We decided it would be a good idea to tie a rope around Poochie's neck, as we did not know what she would do about the sheep. The first hill up to Hoosier Ridge on the road was the toughest. This road petered out after ½ mile. We then tried to stay exactly on the CD skirting only the highest peak (13,352') at 13,100'. Bill was always looking for a short cut instead of following the CD as Ed wanted to. Since we were very hungry from such a small, foul tasting breakfast, we stopped on a small peak (13,201') just before the ridge turns from south to west to have an early lunch (10:35-11:15).

After lunch we hiked about 3-1/2 miles along the CD to Hoosier Pass and State Highway 9 (12:45-1:10). The first people we saw were two overweight people on a blanket next to their fancy Volvo sedan just starting to eat their foot long sub sandwiches. Ed asked if they could spare a little of their sandwich for Poochie. They immediately refused. Ed then asked a family that was parked with their camper in the parking lot whether they had any food to spare for our tag along dog. They immediately said yes and gave us potato salad, ham, hot dogs, bread and crackers for Poochie. It looked so good but we did not eat any ourselves. Poochie got to eat all of it. Since we were familiar with this area, we followed the road at 11,700' to a mining site. We then bushwhacked down, passing the remains of an old aerial mining tram, to a jeep road heading west from Montgomery Reservoir. We hiked hurriedly on the road around the base of Mount Lincoln towards Wheeler Lake in search of water. At a fork in the road about 1 mile from the lake we took a right turn arriving at the lake at 3:40. Ed took a bath while Jeff and Bill fished, but they didn't even get a bite. As usual, we went to bed early.
 

Day 4 - 7/21/81 (Wheeler Lake to E. Tennessee Creek - 11.6 miles)

Arising at 5:30 a.m., we had to cook freeze-dried cheese omelet for our breakfast. We added our luncheon squeeze cheese that made it taste great. Leaving camp at 8:00, we hiked cross-country non-stop to the saddle (13,600') between McNamee Peak and Traver Peak in 1 hour and 20 minutes. To keep our weight down we had decided we would hike without water as we knew we would get plenty at Fremont Pass. Looking down the steep slope (2000 feet/mile) towards the Climax mines operated by AMAX made us nervous. We started straight down a gully towards the valley but soon decided that this was much too dangerous because of the steepness and loose gravel. So we decided to cut diagonally across the slope to where there were more boulders. Ed led the way with Jeff bringing up the rear. Jeff was being very cautious while Ed was going much too fast and almost fell a couple of times. Bill took a tumble but fortunately regained his balance before tumbling down the hill. Finally after 2/3 of the way down we came to a gully with water in it coming down from McNamee Peak. We felt it would have been safer to take this gully down from the peak. As the slope lessened we headed due west towards some railroad tracks. After reaching the tracks we started following them towards the AMAX Visitor's Office. However, Poochie was in the middle of the tracks with a train coming straight at her. Fortunately the train was going slow enough for us to get her to safety. We arrived at the visitor's office on State Highway 91 (Freemont Pass - 11,300') at 10:45 and were very thirsty after hiking almost 4 hours without water.

At the visitors office Ed called Diane to tell her we were on schedule, and to bring dog food for Poochie and orange juice and salad that we craved when meeting us at the next restock point. Fortunately for us the food truck for the workers arrived 20 minutes later. We bought ham sandwiches, chicken, juice, milk, and fruit for us, and two hamburgers for Poochie. After eating our lunches at the picnic area and taking a lot of pictures of the mining area, we decided to stay above the Arkansas River and Highway 91 by following the 11,300' contour WSW from the pass (12:05). Our goal was to intersect the jeep road that paralleled Chalk Creek and the power lines about 2 miles away (see map). The going got pretty rough and after about a ½ mile we decided to drop down to the flat area where a natural gas line had been buried. After intersecting the jeep road near Chalk Creek, we hiked north up the steep road for about ½ mile to an elevation of 11,200'. We then started hiking cross-country due west towards the Divide 1-1/2 miles away. The hike to the CD at 12,200' seemed very long. After reaching the Divide (2:30), we followed it to a summit at 12,684' (3:00). From here we immediately started descending to find water as soon as possible. At first the drainage leading to E. Tennessee Creek was dry. But as usual, the water started to come out of the ground (11,700') and we were able to fill all of our water bottles. We hiked down to 11,300' and set up camp on a hill to be near the creek (4:00). Bill took a bath right away and then started carving a stick for his sister Donna.
 

Day 5 - 7/22/81 (E. Tennessee Creek to Busk Creek - 17.9 miles)

After a quick oatmeal breakfast we started hiking at 7:00 a.m. As we hiked through the Cooper Hill Ski Area we took advantage of the clean out houses and a chance to get Poochie some dog food (8:00-8:20). Ed noticed a small dog tied out side of a camper’s trailer. He knocked on the door and a woman in her bathrobe appeared. He asked her for some dog food and she obliged by giving him four packages of food. When we reached State Highway 24 we discovered signs for the Colorado Trail that was not on any of our maps. In fact, at that time we had never heard of the Colorado Trail. We decided to follow the new Colorado Trail that seemed to parallel the trail that we had marked on our map. After following this well marked (blue diamonds), level trail (10,400-10,500’) through the pine trees for about an hour, we reached the Wurts ditch road. Instead of following the road that was on our maps, we opted to continue following the Colorado Trail that had a sign to Longs Gulch. After going south for about ½ mile the trail turned west (9:50). After another mile the new trail merged with the old Main Range Trail (10,700’) that had yellow diamond markers. After another mile we stopped for lunch (12:00-1:00).

The trail led to a pass near an 11,764’ peak (1:35) and then descended to Galena Lake just west of Bear Lake (2:30). On the way Poochie decided to charge a young elk after which it started to run in a big circle around us. The elk’s tactic worked and the dog quickly gave up the chase. This served as a lesson to us that we needed to watch Poochie more closely. At 11,200’ the trail down to Turquoise Lake became steep with many switchbacks. This rocky trail was very hard on our feet and legs. We came out at the Timberline Lake Trail head about a mile west of the lake (4:05) and then walked up the paved road about ½ mile to the Busk Creek fishing trail. At the intersection of the Main Range Trail and the creek we found a good camping site (4:35). We were more tired than usual since this was the longest day so far (about 18 miles). Ed and Jeff took bathes and then Jeff went fishing but did not catch anything. Ed boiled eight quarts of water since we were leery of the water. Bill and Jeff went to bed at 8:00 and Ed at 9:00, the latest yet.
 

Day 6 - 7/22/81 (Busk Creek to Frypan Lakes - 13.5 miles)

We were up at 5:45 a.m. and had a quick breakfast of granola that did not have any gasoline odor this time. The first part of the planned hike involved walking up a jeep road about 7 miles to Hagerman Pass. Instead of going on the road the entire way we decided to go cross-country from our camping site (10,000’) to a sharp bend in the road at 11,350’ to save 5 miles of hiking. After starting to hike at 7:00 we reached a ridge at 11,000’ and followed it to the bend in the road (8:10). It took another hour to reach Hagerman Pass (11,925’) via the road. We continued to follow the road another ½ mile and then went cross-country to the Hagerman Tunnel (9:35) which had the entrance permanently closed. Since there was a large number of sheep in the area and due to the fact that Poochie had run after an elk, we decided to tie her to a cord. Bill was in charge of the dog but lost his grip on the cord. Poochie started to run after the sheep and disappeared out of site. Ed scolded Bill loudly and then we all hiked rapidly down the road looking for the dog. We were afraid that the cord would either get snagged on something or the dog would attack a sheep. A short ways up the road we found the dog and a sheep with the cord rapped around the two of them. We untangled the cord and the sheep ran safely away. Not wanting to meet a sheepherder at this point, we hiked nonstop to Frying Pan River (11:00) via Lily Pad Lake (10:15). The trail down to the river had a lot of switchbacks due to steepness of the slope. Finally near the end we went cross-country to the river and then waded the river to the west. We found the trail right away and hiked another mile up the river before stopping for lunch (12:05-1:00).

After lunch we crossed the river to the east at 10,400’ to follow the trail. When we arrived at Fryingpan Lakes (2:30) we had to spend a lot of time to scout out a good camping site. We finally found a good site at the south end of the lakes. Ed and Jeff found some good water coming down the side of the mountain. Bill and Jeff went fishing while Ed searched for tomorrows trail. He found a weak trail on the west side of the river as indicated on the map. Bill and Jeff returned with three cutthroat trout (10-12”). Bill caught the biggest one! We gave the smallest fish to Poochie but she would not eat it.

Day 7 - 7/23/81 (Frypan Lakes to South Fork Lake Creek - 13.5 miles)

We got up early (5:30 a.m.) since we had to meet Diane on State Highway 82 near Independence Pass. As we started hiking (6:50) we found another trail on the east side of the lake instead of on the west as indicated on the map. It was also a weak trail but it was well marked with cairns most of the way to the pass on the Divide. We reached the pass (12,450’) at 8:30. As we descended down the trail to the southwest we encountered two dangerous gullies with loose gravel. We went around the first and then right through the other. When we reached another trail at 12,100’ we lost the trail that led down into the valley. We went down the ridge and then bush whacked to find the trail. Once we found the trail it was an easy hike down to the parking lot at the hairpin turn on Highway 82 (10:30). Ed took a bath since Diane was not due to arrive until 11:00.

Diane did not arrive from Boulder until 12:30 since the drive took longer than she had estimated. She first transported Bill and Jeff and their gear to the South Fork Creek road about 5 miles south on Highway 82. Then she returned to transport Ed, Donna, and Poochie. We all ate lunch and then started to repack our backpacks with the new supplies. Jeff discovered that five of our breakfasts were missing. He made up two breakfasts from some extra supplies but Diane had to go to Granite to buy supplies for the other three meals. She brought back some cream of wheat, raisins, crackers, and hot chocolate. At 4:10 Ed drove Bill and Jeff and our equipment about 3 miles southwest on the jeep road with the Volvo station wagon. There were several places where the road was very rough making the driving difficult. When Ed returned to Diane he decided that it was not a good idea for her to drive Ed up this road. We had decided that we had had enough of Poochie and Diane agreed to return her to Montezuma. Since she had our Golden Retriever, Jesse, in the car, Ed had to tie Poochie securely in the back of the station wagon since she tried to attack Jesse. Ed walked and jogged along the jeep road to rendezvous with Jeff and Bill (5:00-5:15). We then hiked about 4 miles from 10,700’ to 11,500’ to set up camp near the creek (6:30). After eating we went to bed right away since it started to rain.

When Diane arrived in Montezuma she asked the first person she saw if they knew who owned the dog in the back our station wagon. The person saw our dog Jesse and said he knew who owned the dog. Diane said she meant the shepherd mix in tied in the back. Diane wound up tying the dog to the house of a potential owner.