BLACK DIAMOND
We woke to light rain
the next morning. Eventually it eased
up, just long enough for me to cook breakfast.
The sky cleared briefly, long enough to reveal a view of Longs Peak with
a fresh layer of snow. Unfortunately the
cold rain resumed while we were breaking camp.
Still, we managed to get everything in the car without getting
completely soaked.
The weather forecast
looked reasonable, so we decided to go ahead with our original plan for Monday. Initially we had considered either a dayhike
to Estes Cone or Chasm Lake (hint – it is fun saying “or chasm lake” out loud,
but only if you pronounce it correctly).
Ultimately we picked Chasm Lake, an alpine gem at the base of the
diamond face of Longs Peak. Chasm Lake
is a little higher than Sky Pond, but we had all handled the altitude the
previous day without much difficulty. We
could only hope that the weather would clear off enough to allow us to enjoy
our hike.
We drove to Estes
Park so J Bob could check a couple of stores for rain gear. While we were there we had a little
competition to see how many jokes we could make about the name “Estes”. I wonder how often the rival high school adds
a “T” to the beginning of the Estes Park High School sign?
J Bob’s shopping was
unsuccessful. From there we drove over
to the Longs Peak Ranger Station. The
rain stopped a few minutes after leaving Estes Park. We met Billy’s co-worker Brad at the ranger
station. Brad was memorable because he
looks just like John Denver. While we
were there, J Bob bought a cheap poncho.
He figured it would be adequate in an emergency. The clouds had cleared somewhat, but we
couldn’t be certain that we wouldn’t catch any additional foul weather.
The weather led to a
late start. We finally hit the trail
around 11am. We tackled a steady,
uneventful climb through a uniform forest of lodgepole pine. This eventually segued into the Goblin’s
Forest, which was more exciting. The
old, gnarled trunks and branches surrounded the trail. From there, we continued to a footbridge over
Alpine Stream. We took a short break
there before climbing above tree line.
From there, we
strolled through an alpine wonderland.
We were treated to views in every direction, from the black clouds boiling
around the Twin Sisters, to the brilliant aspens on Estes Cone, to the colorful
shrubs carpeting the slopes leading up towards Longs Peak and the Continental
Divide. All of the scenery was
beautiful, but Longs Peak beckoned. The
towering peak drew us on, despite the dark clouds surrounding us.
We climbed to a
junction near a couple of toilets. The
trail to Chasm Lake leaves the route to Longs Peak here. We took a short break there, as J Bob wasn’t
feeling well. I was concerned that the
altitude was getting to him. Chasm Lake
was only a short distance ahead though, and he was confident that he could make
it.
We continued ahead,
following a ridge high above the Roaring Fork valley. Peacock Pool was nestled in a secluded basin
far below. We followed the edge of sheer
drop off. Columbine Falls roared in the
distance, and a lovely grove of aspens below us added color. I made a sketchy descent to a rock outcrop to
get photos of the aspens and the waterfall.
J Bob clearly thought I was crazy, not for the first time. Bob J had summit fever, so he continued ahead
towards Chasm Lake.
J Bob and I
eventually resumed the hike. We
continued ahead to another toilet. There
were some waste bags here too, for use by climbers. There was a rather amusing sign by the bags
that said, “Please do not put down toilet”.
Apparently the toilet is very sensitive and is prone to having its
feelings hurt. I was feeling a little
mean though, so I called it stinky before we resumed the hike.
A short but steep
scramble was the only thing between us and Chasm Lake. J Bob ran out of gas about half way up. He was looking pretty rough and was suffering
from a headache and nausea. Those are
the classic symptoms of altitude sickness.
I urged him to head back down, but he wasn’t having it. He was determined to finish the hike. He decided to rest there a bit before making
one final push. I continued ahead in an
attempt to catch up with Bob J.
I found Bob J
relaxing by Chasm Lake. Chasm Lake is an
alpine beauty nestled at the foot of Longs Peak (14,259’). Luck was with us, as the black clouds
surrounding the mountain cleared just before we arrived. Bob J had already been there 30 minutes, so I
sent him back down the trail to check on J Bob.
I had a quick lunch there, as I was completely out of energy. I was just finishing when both of the Bob’s
arrived. J Bob was still
struggling. He had choked down a snack
while he was resting, which gave him enough energy to finish the hike. He was still feeling the altitude though, so
we didn’t loiter long.
This was a good
move. Shortly after we left, black
clouds closed back in around Longs Peak.
We followed the same
route back down. The return hike
featured every conceivable type of weather.
We had rain, sleet, hail, and snow.
We also had some sunshine, and were treated to a rainbow. This variety of weather meant that this was
one of those hikes where we had to change clothes multiple times.
The trail was fairly
busy on the way down, with more dayhikers,
backpackers, and climbers. Fortunately,
J Bob started feeling better once we got down around tree line.
Originally we planned
to camp on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. However, our late start, slow pace, and J
Bob’s altitude sickness meant that we finished the hike much later than we had
planned. Because of the late hour, we
decided to go back to Moraine Park for the evening. This was a little annoying, since we broke
camp that morning. There wasn’t anything
we could do about that though. We ended
up back in the same two campsites since they were vacant. I cooked a jambalaya dinner for everyone and
finished off the Moose Drool before heading to bed.
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