Monarch Pass

September 13th

It was kind of eerie hiking with just a headlamp through a closed-in forest. It was very cold and my breath created little clouds which the light penetrated and then I penetrated.  When I came out of the woods to a small meadow, the grass crunched underfoot. I was near Hunt Lake.  I kept turning around to watch the sunrise.  It was so cool.  There was a blanket of low clouds covering the land below.  Then, some mountain peaks poked through.  Lastly, there were clumps of clouds higher up.  All in all it created a three level sight.  My weakness as a photographer really showed at this time.

I kept climbing higher and I began to get into snow.  Between the time I left my campsite at Boss Lake Reservoir at 11,200′ and reached the apex of the trail at Bald Mountain at 12,500′, I had gone from cold to winter.  hiking above treeline in the snow was slow because the rocks are slick.  It was maybe 3″ deep, so I was only worried about falling, not sliding down the side of the mountain.  Still, I couldn’t help think of the headlines if I did my end here:  “Balding Hiker killed on Bald Mountain” or “Bald Mountain Claims One of Its Own”.

More concerning was a glance south.  My first glimpse at the San Juans.  If you have the misfortune to have read previous posts, you know the San Juans are the big deal for Southbound hikers:  get through before winter snows.  As I looked south, it was clear they had received a lot more than my 3″ of snow.  Better get moving.

I did make fairly good time.  The trail went along a ridge line and as the sun rose, the snow left.  There was even an interpretive display in the middle of nowhere.  Later, the tril went through the Monarch ski area.  Strange to think in 90 days this would be flooded with people.

I made it to the Monarch Crest Gift Shop around noon.  This place is on the trail, holds packages for hikers, and has both packaged and some “fresh” food.  When I visit a place like this I generally try to make a purchase and also charge electronics.  I did both. Of course, I did not do anything until I looked sharp with a new pair of shoes.

Hiker Tip:  At the Monarch Crest Store, lower your expectations for food.  With the exception of chili, ice cream, and fudge (not a trio to be messed with, by the way), everything is prepared as follows: remove prepared item from fridge, microwave, serve to customer.  As a result, both my egg sandwich and my hot dog had weird textures.  However, the chili dog was an upgrade.

I ran into Sampson there.  No, not the strong man.  Trail name.  He started Nobo this spring, hit snow, broke his leg and rehabbed.  Now, he was chunk hiking his way north again.  He still had a noticeable hitch in his giddy up in my opinion.  He was waiting for his resupply package to arrive, so we chatted for awhile.  Nice guy and I hope he finishes the trail in good health.

With junk like fudge, elk jerky, and Fritos,  at 3:00 I left the store at the same time as Sampson.  Almost immediately, it started snowing.  I signed the register and was surprised to see a couple names of people who were far back previously.

The weather cleared and the trail provided some great views.  It was nice to walk up high and switch between forests and open spaces.  I found some water late in the day.  Above treeline, I found a level campsite behind a clump of spruce.  The wind settled down after the sunset and I had a great evening after munching on junk food and watching the moon rise over the ridge above me.