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| Dinky pack day 1: Gotta love that ultralight style! |
Rob picked me up nice and early-ish and we were down in Denver picking up Adam by around 9AM. A quick coffee stop and we were on our way!
We parked at one of the lots in the Copper Ski area proper. Looking at the guidebook, we could have added a mile or two by parking right off of I-70, but the addition of two miles hiking across a ski area didn't seem like it would be a valuable addition to the trip. Final preparations were made and we were on our way!
That is to say....as soon as we figured out how to get out of the base area and up to the hike proper. For those starting out of Copper, the directions are a bit off....they seem like you should follow the dirt road along the base for a while. Don't...take the first uphill road you find, through the gate and you will see the nifty stone pictured on the left. Your hike begins.
Once clear of the resort, the trail goes up this lovely stream valley. Past numerous beaver ponds as you wind your way up toward Searle Pass. Intermittent rain had us in our rain suits (umbrella deployed) as we neared the 10th Mountain Hut at the head of the valley.
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Heading over Searle Pass
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| Our Hero |
As we neared the pass, the rain caught us and Rob spotted some ground strikes (lightning) on the far ridge. We moved quickly over the pass and below the ridge, ready to descend further if the weather caught us. Luckily the weather was moving perpendicular to us and the lightning stayed far away as we hiked from Searle to Kokomo Pass. I did get to try out my fab new rain gear though as it was cold and wet hiking!
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| Great windbreak just below Kokomo |
We stopped for an early dinner just shy of Kokomo Pass. I got to use my alcohol stove/titanium pot system for the first time in the wild. Lentils and rice never tasted so good!! As we ate and reflected on the hike thus far we were impressed by how many miles we had already covered! The initial plan was to make it to Searle Pass day 1, then carry over to Camp Hale day 2. Here we were at 3:30PM already just shy of Kokomo Pass! We congratulated ourselves on hiking so far and were feeling pretty good about ourselves until a tiny little trail running woman with nothing more than a few water bottles blew past us on her way back to Copper. All in a day's work for hardcore Colorado women!!!
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| Lovely views of the tailings ponds... |
After "dinner" we hiked on over Kokomo Pass and down the next drainage looking for a campsite. I was feeling pretty tired by this point...Not only from the mileage, but from singing the Beach Boys "Kokomo" all day. That song stuck in my head all week. Curse you Rob =)
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| Kokomo Pass! |
Home sweet home night one was a few miles down below the pass. I had terrible indigestion setting up camp and wished I had some Tums in the first-aid kit. I blame the eating and then hiking.This day was the only day I ended up eating dinner before reaching camp. After some major bear-hang shenanigans (Lesson learned: Do not use a mesh sack as your bear hang tosser. It velcroes to tree bark and is incredibly difficult to use!!!) we turned in to the sound of the creek flowing near our campsite. Trail bliss!
Other Pics of the Day:
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| Heading up to Searle Pass. Note raingear |
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| Beautiful stretch from Searle to Kokomo. |
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