In August 2011 I went with my two boys to Colorado to hike several fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation).
On Thursday, August 11, Sam left Salt Lake on a Delta flight at 8:30 a.m. and Andrew and I left LAX on a Frontier flight at 6:30 a.m. and arrived in Denver about the same time (Sam at 9:57 a.m. and Andrew and I at 9:50 a.m.). We rented an SUV at Thrifty Car Rental and then drove to the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver for lunch where we met my nephew, Scott Jones. It was at least my third time there. We had fried alligator tail, Rocky Mountain oysters, buffalo prime rib and a corned buffalo sandwich. We were going to climb Mount Sherman, but did not have enough time. So we drove to Twin Lakes, south of Leadville, where we stayed at Ores & Mine Bed and Breakfast owned by John and Donna Cornella. We got their Dolly B room with two queen beds.
On Friday, August 12, we got up at 5:30 a.m., had a nice breakfast and drove to the Missouri Gulch Trailhead, about 9,650 feet, where we started our hike to do both Mount Belford and Mount Oxford, about 7:15 a.m. We reached the summit of 14,197 foot Mount Belford first, then continued on to the summit of Mount Oxford at 14,153 feet. On the summit of Mount Oxford I saw my first white-tailed ptarmigans. Afterwards we drove to Frisco where we stayed at the Alpine Inn and had dinner at Carolos Miguel's Mexican Bar & Grill, both places we'd stayed at and eaten the year before.
Mount Belford (Bob)
Colorado Blue Columbine (Bob)
Mountain Thistle (Bob)
Mount Oxford (Bob)
White-Tailed Ptarmigan (Bob)
Saturday, August 13, we were beat from our two peak hike the day before. We'd planned to hike Quandary Peak, but other hikers told us it would be too crowded, being a Saturday. They recommended we do Mount Sherman from the back-side, outside Leadville, which would be less crowded. We slept in until about 8:30 a.m., then drove to Leadville where we had breakfast at the Delaware Hotel. We didn't start hiking until about 11:20 a.m. Andrew decided to hunt mushrooms at the base, which was about 12,000 feet, while Sam and I hiked to the summit. We hiked 2.25 miles to reach the 14,036 foot summit at 1:13 p.m. On the way down we encountered a small brown bird that followed us part of the way. My post indicates it is a brown-capped rosy finch, but I believe it was actually a brown headed cowbird. That afternoon we drove to Littleton and checked into the Hampton Inn and Suites Denver Littleton. Then we drove to Morrison where we had reservations at The Fort, one of my very favorite places to eat. We shared lamb riblets, buffalo bone marrow and Rocky Mountain oysters made from bison testicles, to compare them with the bull testicles we at ate Buckhorn Exchange. I got lamb t-bones, Sam got the Game Plate with a buffalo filet, an elk chop and a quail and Andrew got quinoa.
Mount Sherman (Bob)
Brown-Headed Cowbird (Brown-Capped Rosy Finch) (Bob)
Lamb Ribs (Bob)
Buffalo Bone Marrow (Bob)
Sunday, August 14, we dropped off Sam for a 10:30 a.m. flight on Delta to Salt Lake and Andrew and I were going to catch a 9:25 flight to LAX on Frontier. Unfortunately, it turned out I'd signed up for a 9:25 p.m. flight, not 9:25 a.m. Fortunately, I was able to pay $75 each and get an earlier flight to LAX that left before noon.
Nine years ago--was this the last hiking trip you three had together?
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a fun trip.
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