Sorry for the lack of posts lately, my internet has been uncooperative for the past week or so and I've had trouble getting any kind of connection.
That being said, I've had a number of adventures in my time away from the world wide web. One that stands out as a tale I should recount is the time I went for a walk that turned into an all day hike because I got a bit lost trying to get up a mountain. Yep.
There is a large mountain in Golden with a giant "M" on the side for the School of Mines. This mountain is located maybe a mile from my apartment and so I made it a goal to hike up to the "M" someday. But not this day. This day, my intention was to go for a short walk to the base of the mountain in order to locate the trail head so I could ascend some other time. It was already 10:30 by the time I started walking, which is way too late to try to hike and expect to get back at a reasonable time. So I grabbed my half-full water bottle and headed out, pretty sure the whole excursion wouldn't take more than 30 minutes to an hour. Hah.
So I walked along the creek for a while toward the mountain, trying to figure out how to get to the trail marked on my map. I crossed the river going left with the mountain on my right and walked for a while with an interstate between me and the mountain, watching for a place to cross. Eventually I had walked the length of the mountain and it was now behind me and I thought, "well that's not right." So I turned around and back tracked across the length of the mountain again and tried continuing up along the creek with the mountain now on my left looking for a way up on the other side.
Eventually the mountain was, again, behind me and I thought, "well that's not right either!" So I wandered around the creek bed until I found a small bridge that looked like it had a trail on the other side that went straight up the mountain. Perfect!
Or so I thought.
The trail turned out to be for climbers--in other words people with fancy things like ropes and gear and upper body strength. Hmm.
Once I'd gotten as high as I could I looked around and spotted what almost looked like an animal trail off to the left. I was pretty sure it wouldn't go anywhere but at this point I'd already been at it for about 2 hours trying to achieve my goal of locating a trail head. I couldn't just give up without finding
something. So on I went.
I walked for about 10 minutes on this trail when, suddenly, I was walking on the top of a concrete wall. I mean, one second it's dirt and rocks and grass, and the next step I'm standing on the rim of a very tall wall with a sheer drop to the left.
There was a kind of gully I could have walked along to the right to stay off of the edge of this slightly precarious path, but it looked pretty likely to hide snakes and muddy patches. So I took my chances on the wall. It was about two and a half feet wide and there was no wind on this side of the mountain, so I felt pretty safe...though I was not very sure that I was allowed to be there.
So I strolled along the crest of this (increasingly tall) barricade for about a quarter of an hour as it wrapped back around the front of the mountain. The awareness that I had now walked the length of the front side of this mountain three times did not escape me. If anything I was more determined to figure out where the legitimate path was so I could get home.
Eventually the wall ended as abruptly as it began and I was again on a dirt path. This one appeared to be made of wheel ruts, reinforcing my belief that I was in some sort of construction or service road area and I hastily made my way. Trespassing was not something on my list of things to do within my first couple of weeks here.
The path I was on intersected another coming up from the left and
suddenly people! Everywhere!
From where I stood, the mountain top looked to be maybe only another 20-30 minute hike to the summit. And since I'd come so far and spent so much of my day already, I figured I might as well go see the "M" and check that off my list. I needed to use the bathroom but because there were SO many people I couldn't find a private spot off the trail. I'd heard there was a bathroom at the top anyway and figured I could hold it, so off I went.
Well, it took a little longer than I thought as the trail deceptively curved off to the left and around a valley. So a little over an hour and many switchbacks later, I finally made it to the top. The view was beautiful!
Windy Saddle overlook (at least that's what I have deduced it is called from various maps)
The picturesque scenery was, sadly, marred by a
terrible stench. Apparently a maintenance crew had started cleaning the one and only port-a-potty right as I got there. At this point I was in desperate need of a latrine. And to top it all off, the trail to go see the giant "M" was blocked! :( I was so sad, after all that had been the whole point of this expedition. The sign said it was closed for re-vegetation, meaning that it could be years before they open it to the public again. Sad day!
While standing there taking pictures, someone nearby told me that if I continued on up the trail to the left I would get to the top of lookout mountain where the nature center stood, complete with plumbing! This sounded like a great plan, and the top of the mountain really did not look far at all. I could see the roof of the nature center from where I stood. It couldn't have been more than 500 feet higher than where I was currently standing. I guesstimated 15 minutes if I hustled. So off I went.
Based on how this hike had gone so far I should've known better than to be so optimistic.
The trail up to Lookout Mountain from the saddle between the two summits.
45 minutes, what seemed like a hundred switchbacks, and a random guitar & amp toting hippie in flip flops later (a story for another day), I
finally saw the nature center parking lot. At this point I was just shy of a dead sprint to the bathroom. I should also mention that it was now around 2:30.
Urgent business taken care of, I asked the woman at the desk if there was a faster way down on foot. She shook her head to the negative. Ugh. It had taken me 4 hours to get up here, so I knew it would take at least half that to get back. I was feeling a bit light headed and went to go sit outside for a bit, afraid I had a touch of altitude sickness from not having enough water on what had turned into a relatively strenuous hike. I looked despondently at my empty water bottle as I ate a tiny granola bar I had found crammed in the bottom of my day pack. I waited for my stomach to settle and definitely did not feel up to the long walk ahead of me.
I eventually accepted the fact that I would have to start the long trek back before it got even later and steeled myself for a tiring journey. Upon exiting the nature center I came across a group of retirees trying to get a group photo. I offered to help and as I did so we got to talking. It turned out they were a bunch of retired teachers having a reunion. They had all been first year teachers together in JeffCo, the district Golden is in. I told them I had also been a teacher and they asked about what I was doing in Golden. Eventually they found out that I was about to hike back to the city from the top of Lookout Mountain and they offered to drive me back. Needless to say, I was happy to accept!
We made a few stops down the mountain for more pictures and scenic overlooks and it still took only a fraction of the time it would've taken me to walk all that way back. Good thing I like hiking, otherwise that reality would've struck me as frustrating. They had some gluten-free crackers they let me snack on and were even nice enough to drop me off at my apartment! I am so grateful I met them up there and hope they had a good reunion week. Apparently one of them used to work at a middle school that is now the Mountaineering museum. It's only a block from my apartment and I need to check it out sometime, the building looks very historic and interesting from the outside.
If all of that was too long for you to read, enjoy this hastily drawn visual representation of what happened:
Half mile ruler only applicable to path, not mountain doodle height...also it's just a guess, but you get the idea. ;)
Moral of the story: If you live around mountains, just expect that every walk will turn into a hike and bring a full water bottle. Always.
Other moral of the story: Teachers are awesome.
Thanks to Jane Corkern for sending the pictures!
