So we headed up to Berthoud Pass to take the Continental Divide trail over to Stanley mountain at the ass crack of dawn (i got up at 3:15am). Eddy was late and i got a 30min "nap" at the parking lot waiting for him. we headed up the trail at 6:30am.  for me this trail was "easy" and a good one for people wanting a summit close to denver. there is one "hard" section of switch backs and that's really it, other wise its a 7ish mile RT hike with a summit at 12,521ft and around a 1600 elevation gain. we reached the summit in 2hrs then hung out for a LONG while and then headed back, it was a 5hr hike for us and no real rush, i was back in Denver by 12:30pm still plenty of day left! ok on to some pictures.


looking back at the parking lot on the pass.


the start of the trail, goes off to the left.


section of switchbacks


snow is good....


snow break


eddy with his boys


trail over to the summit


odd summit finds


summit


look at all the fur coming off!!!!


summit


ridik


jack on the summit


sierra


whats for lunch dad....


active mine


eddy and his mom


waiting to fall


headed back


something good under there!




last snow break


till our next adventure.....

I'm jealous there's still snow! What is the temp like when you do a summit like that this time of year?

I love the pic of Sierra with her face in the snow. Made me laugh!

Sara,
i think when we were heading back it was mid to high 60's at like 11am. it can get warm when you get closer to the start of the hike, its the main reason we start SOOOOO early, to beat the heat, working dogs even in 70 degree temps "stop working". to give you an idea i hike in pants all season, like to keep my legs from getting scratched up, and to keep the sun off them and the wind can be a bitch on summits. i dress in 3 layers in summer up top. tank, tee, and long sleeve with a wind breaker in my pack just in case, sun is a huge concern for me and i rather keep a LS shirt on then worry about sunscreen! i do shed layers when we head down and some times my pants get converted. there is a chance we will hit snow for most of the hiking season depending on where we go. the patches just get smaller.

Looks like you guys had fun!

I agree with alpine starts if you are going to be on snow. For the dogs, not getting overheated and for me, not post holing.

I miss Eddy on here. He had lots of great hiking with dogs posts.

Nice pics... I wish to have places like that around here... and has been soooo many years without seeing/touching snow that I almost forgot what it is/feel like ... sure you and your pack had a great time

jalepeno wrote:

I miss Eddy on here. He had lots of great hiking with dogs posts.

i know im no Eddy when it comes to posting about the hikes but you will still see a lot of him in my hiking post since we hike together!

the snow was So soft when we came back down, it was packed enough we did not fall to deep in, like the trek we tried a few weeks ago!

Perfect day for a hike and looks like it was loads of fun!