Achilles heel

I spoke too soon when I said that my Achilles tendon was mostly better. The hike to Lion lakes (or at least the downhill slog) caused it to swell and become sore. So for now I'm on a hiatus from hiking, as I need to allow this injury to heal before I take off for the Grand Canyon in 6 weeks. Unfortunately tendons heal very slowly...

Lion lakes

This may be the first time I've hiked to Lion lakes, which are in the Wild Basin region of RMNP. Previously I've hiked to nearby Thunder lake. The trail starts at the Wild Basin ranger station, following N St Vrain creek west up a gentle grade. At 1.8 miles the trail crosses Cony creek at Calypso Cascades, then at 2.6 miles it crosses Ouzel creek just below Ouzel falls. This 40' waterfall (sorry, no pix) is a popular day hike/picnic destination.

Early in the hike a chipmunk stopped by to say hello. He was so sociable that I had to shoo him away. I suspect that he was after my chocolate brownie Clif bar.

After the Lion lake/Thunder lake junction the trail gets steeper and passes through a spruce forest. The trail is well marked and easy to follow, so I really didn't need the teeter totter cairns.

Below Lion lake the trail levels off as it winds through a marshy meadow. All the vegetation was lush and green, with a few wildflowers and even one big mushroom near the trail.

Lion lake #1 is nearly 7 miles from the trailhead, and when I arrived the waters were calm and crystal clear. Postcard quality mountain peaks frame the lake. The orientation of these photos is: south (Tanima peak?), west (Mt Alice), north (Chiefs Head peak), and down (H2O).

A faint trail continues along the eastern side of  Lion lake #1, leading to Lion lake #2. Here the cairns were genuinely useful as there are several paths to the lake. Below the lake are some rivulets, a small sheltered snowbank, and the world's most relaxed marmot.

To reach Lion lake #2 I needed to bushwhack through some willows, but it was well worth the effort. The lake looks like a gemstone, and the south slope of Chiefs Head peak boasts many striking rock spires.

Heading back to the trailhead I saw a rather shy mule deer, who hid behind a tree before ambling away.

Even with the bushwhacking this was a moderate hike, 14.5 miles RT with 2900' elevation gain. Once again I wore trail running shoes, which worked out pretty well though they're marginal on rocky sections.

Never the same hike twice

I've hiked the Mesa trail more than a dozen times this year, but the experience is always a little different. For today's hike

• By arriving early I scored a coveted parking space in the hikers lot at Chautauqua.
• The foothills were wrapped in low clouds, with the top of the Flatirons peeking out.
• Squirrels were busy gathering pine cones, and chattered noisily when I passed.
• A trail runner with a running blade artificial leg powered his way uphill.
• BTW female trail runners seem to outnumber male runners two to one.
• Near S Mesa trailhead a guy was flying a large drone quadcopter. His dog barked at it.
• For the first time I took the Upper Big Bluestem trail, which has great views of the foothills including S Boulder Peak and striking rock spires.
• Mesa is never a difficult trip, but man -- after hiking Pikes peak it's super easy.
• Elapsed time for 13-mile round trip hike: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Did you know that trail runners post the "fastest known time" for popular trails? FKT for the Mesa trail round trip is 1 hour, 34 minutes.

Easy hike

Because my stoopid Achilles tendon is not yet 100% I did an easy hike today, just the Mesa trail from Chautauqua to the south trailhead and back. The weather was mild and overcast, so a good day to hike a lower elevation trail. No wildlife sightings today, just a boatload of trail runners.

I blame the tendon injury on two things: First overuse from hiking Pikes peak and Bear peak back to back. This caused the tendon to swell. Then further aggravation due to my fairly new Oboz Sawtooth hiking shoes. The back of the shoe is higher and stiffer than I'm used to, and it rubs the tendon when I'm hiking downhill. So for now I'm hiking in Saucony trail runners.

As for the tendon, I'm continuing with rest, ice and Ibuprofen. Hike stats: 13 miles, 1600' elevation gain.

Wild raspberries

Only collateral damage from yesterday's 25-mile hike was an inflamed Achilles tendon, probably due to some combination of overuse and wearing a new pair of hiking shoes. So I popped a couple of Ibuprofen and started icing the tendon. Should be fine in a couple of days.

Today I hiked up Bear peak from Chautauqua park via Fern canyon. It was my fastest ascent up Fern, just under an hour. I even passed a trail runner on a crazy steep uphill section, though 90 minutes later she passed me back on a downhill stretch..

On the way down from Bear peak I saw some wild raspberries. Mmmm, delicious.

Along the lower part of Bear canyon vegetation has gotten very lush. I saw a couple of wild blackberry bushes, some new flowers that were popular with bees and butterflies, and a few plants I still need to Google...

Today's hike was 8 miles, 3000' elevation gain. And it's now been four months since I rolled off the couch and started hiking regularly.

Pikes Peak summit via Barr trail

I decided to attempt Pikes today despite predictions of light rain and possible afternoon T-storms. When I arrived in Manitou Springs at 2:30 am things didn't look that great. There were patches of fog as well as occasional lightning flashes from the remnants of Friday's T-storms. But the lightning seemed to be tapering off, so I got my gear ready and walked about a mile to the Barr trail lot on Hydro St. By the time I got there the lightning had stopped and a few stars were visible. So game on.

The reason for starting before dawn is that Barr is a very long trail, and I wanted to get to the summit and then back below treeline well before any afternoon T-storms. And in fact that's how the hike turned out. I started hiking at 3:15 am, using a flashlight for the first two hours. By that time I was nearing Barr camp, which is 6.5 miles from the trail head at an elevation of 10,200'. 

Although I was hiking at a good pace my legs already felt very fatigued. Not good as I still had another 6 miles and 3900' of elevation gain to go. In running or cycling this sense of running out of gas is called "bonking." Bonking occurs when you deplete your body's store of available carbs (glycogen). At Barr camp I realized that it had been many hours since I'd eaten breakfast, so I scarfed down a couple of energy bars. A half hour later I felt fine, so problem diagnosed and fixed.

In daylight the trail was quite scenic, especially near and above treeline.

But of all the sights along the Barr trail, without question the most sublime is "Butt rock"

Now... as you get closer to the summit you are treated to metal signs letting you know that you still have a long, long way to go. And because the trail gets progressively steeper and rockier  while the air is getting thinner, the last mile -- and especially the sets of switchbacks called the "16 golden stairs" -- seems to take forever.

But eventually you do reach the summit, where you can grab a donut or shop for souvenirs at the Summit House, along with all the other hardy souls who took the cog railway or drove their cars up the Pikes Peak highway.

The hike down was quick and uneventful. I did encounter dozens and dozens of trail runners getting tuned up for the Pikes Peak ascent and marathon in August. And I saw some marmots and wildflowers, including red penstemon and purple aspen daisies. The weather stayed sunny until the last 30 minutes, when big cumulus clouds provided some shade and a few drops of rain.

Let's call it 25 miles round trip with 7500' elevation gain. Ascent time was 5 hours 45 minutes; descent was 3 hours 45 minutes (not too shabby). In between I took a 30 minute coffee break at the Summit house. Coffee was so-so, next time I'll try a cappa.

Berries and bears

Followers of this blog (all three of you) have seen the Mesa trail in seasons of snow, mud, sunshine and wildflowers. But today the ever popular, ever changing Mesa trail featured berries

and bears!

Two hikers pointed out the black bear and cub, which were feasting on berries about 200' west of the Mesa trail just south of (naturally) Bear canyon. Last week I saw wild raspberries at the top of Shadow canyon, but I think the bears have established a prior claim. Stats for today: 13 miles, 1600' elevation gain.