Episode 2: to the park
So, after turning on this ,ighty car, we drove towards the mountain.
Some navigation mistakes... Grr it's really hard to find a way with all these roads. We have a stop at subway for a big sub... The hispanic cashier thought we were German...
So, we're driving more to the West, and it doesnt look good: big dark clouds are hanging over the mountains...
We get to the National Park headquarters, where rangers welcome us witheir legendary smiles and happier than ever mood :-) These people really enjoy their job...
After almost an hour of discussions, we decide that our original plans are too ambitious because of the huge amount of snow and risk of avalanches. We won't summit a 4000+m mountain this time. When we get out of the rangers house, it's all dark outside... and pissing rain... Not very encouraging for those starting a multi day backpacking hike...
We still need to buy fuel for the stove Richard lent us, and a bear-proof box. Bear population has been in constant augmentation in the past year, so this kind of black plastic cylinder is almost compulsory...
After rearranging the content of our backpacks, we still need to drive a few minutes to bear Lake (end of the road) and start the hike. It's almost 6pm and the rain has turned to thin snow.
A ranger is quite surprised to see us here, checks our permit and says good luck. We then start the hike to our isolated backcountry camp for the night. We're at around 2800m and it's hard to breathe as it's the first real physical effort since we left NYC.
The hike is a bit longer than expected, it takes us almost 2h to reach the campsite, but at least it has stopped raining/snowing. We're completely alone in the wilderness...
Seting up the tent, matresses, sleeping bags... Usual stuff. The water I take from the river is really redish. There might be a lot of iron... But we'll have to drink it.
I'm not mastering the stove yet. Actually losing a lot of time with it. As a consequence we have a grimmy warmish dinner. It's very cold outside, around O°C...
The sun has finally set, so it's time to put all food in the boxes installed at the camp and there off to bed.
http://jnster.free.fr/colorado
Some navigation mistakes... Grr it's really hard to find a way with all these roads. We have a stop at subway for a big sub... The hispanic cashier thought we were German...
So, we're driving more to the West, and it doesnt look good: big dark clouds are hanging over the mountains...
We get to the National Park headquarters, where rangers welcome us witheir legendary smiles and happier than ever mood :-) These people really enjoy their job...
After almost an hour of discussions, we decide that our original plans are too ambitious because of the huge amount of snow and risk of avalanches. We won't summit a 4000+m mountain this time. When we get out of the rangers house, it's all dark outside... and pissing rain... Not very encouraging for those starting a multi day backpacking hike...
We still need to buy fuel for the stove Richard lent us, and a bear-proof box. Bear population has been in constant augmentation in the past year, so this kind of black plastic cylinder is almost compulsory...
After rearranging the content of our backpacks, we still need to drive a few minutes to bear Lake (end of the road) and start the hike. It's almost 6pm and the rain has turned to thin snow.
A ranger is quite surprised to see us here, checks our permit and says good luck. We then start the hike to our isolated backcountry camp for the night. We're at around 2800m and it's hard to breathe as it's the first real physical effort since we left NYC.
The hike is a bit longer than expected, it takes us almost 2h to reach the campsite, but at least it has stopped raining/snowing. We're completely alone in the wilderness...
Seting up the tent, matresses, sleeping bags... Usual stuff. The water I take from the river is really redish. There might be a lot of iron... But we'll have to drink it.
I'm not mastering the stove yet. Actually losing a lot of time with it. As a consequence we have a grimmy warmish dinner. It's very cold outside, around O°C...
The sun has finally set, so it's time to put all food in the boxes installed at the camp and there off to bed.
http://jnster.free.fr/colorado
posted by Jn at
10:21 PM
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