So this hike followed a night of not sleeping in a tent just down the road from the start of the trail.
We still had to drive to the Trail head which was the same location as a 14er Mt. Bierstadt, so the place was packed. There is no true trail to this mountain and i had 2 options i had read about, one going around the lake on the trail of Bierstadt or driving down the road some and hitting the forest. We opted for the lake, woods make me nervous as i cant see where we are going. That call right there would start the worst hike i have had in years... I will tell the story through pictures, and since my phone died i do not have our track, I only have it on the GPS that i have not figured out yet how to save them with out needing the unit. Im glad we had the GPS as my preloaded marks saved us in the end.
What was to be a 5-7mile trip took way longer and farther.
it took us 9 hrs to go 8.75miles and we gained 3,451ft of elevation.

lets start the tail with many pictures


the lake i was told to hang a left at


into the willows they said to go...


getting stuck in the willows and what i failed to take pictures of was the marshes we ended up in, and the alpine mini lakes we had to get around with the willows...
there was much cursing, Ken was air kicking in frustration, Sierra had to be carried some and we were soaked from head to toe.


then the random things you find in the willows


I did take this pic, sorry camera was wet, you can see the lake in the far back, that is where we started, you can see the water we had to cross to finally get above the willows, it was about 2 miles through that all.  


here is the parking mess


the left is Mt evans with the class 3 saw tooth crossing over to mt Bierstadt, i have done both peaks but not the crossing.


once out of the willows with our socks rung out and our feet drenched we headed up the mountain, it looked like the GPS said to....




we were camped just below that lake






once to the top of the 3 false summits we realized at  12,959ft we were on the wrong summit!!!!!! this is looking over to where we needed to be:(


Ken descending the wrong peak to get over to the 12,888ft peak


heading over to where we needed to be, over the bump in the center was the true summit






we reached the summit almost 6hrs later at 12:25pm














they were both wiped out i felt like a bad momma, we were also carrying all their weight at this point


my summit shot


clouds were building we could not stay as long as we need to to rest.


looking at our camping lake again from the summit


summit marker


time to head back and find a new route home not through the willows


looking at the 12,888ft summit, we were aiming for the mound in the middle to get around having to go up.


looking back at were we were


Indian paint brush


we found a path below all the ridges we hiked earlier


cold water for the pups


we found a few cairen markers


sawtooth again lit up


we stayed about the willows towards the woods




looking to the road we decided to take the woods to the road instead of the wet willows. we had to go down hill and back up to get to the road.
Photos stopped here as well, we had to go over, go under down trees, cross another stream only to get to the top of the forest across from the road to learn there was a ravine between us and the road! we hiked back down till we thought it was safe to descend and cross the water and go back up the hill. we found the road thanks to the GPS where i had marked a possible parking spot on it. I left ken and the pups at the road and hiked up the road to get our car. we were toast, it was an awful hike but we made it safely back and that's all that mattered  


from the car looking at the ridge on the left that we climbed that we did not need to climb! you can not see the summit here, it is behind that middle mound


back at camp the pups were out cold


we made dinner


pie iron tacos




and the pups put themselves to bed at like 6pm.

I hope to not repeat a hike like that in a really long time.

Till our next adventure...

Sorry you had such a sucky time. You get some of the most incredible pics of Jack! My favorite though is the pic of Jack and Sierra mixed in with all the boulders, you can just barely see their little white faces, that is an awesome pic! Scenery is really beautiful! That's something right

You have some of the best views on your adventures. Love it.

thank god for the views, its the only thing that kept us going, also the flowers were beautiful and with it being so late in the season to.
I think this hike i got the best pics of S&J
they were so tired at the end though, it was rough on me knowing that. Sierra really should be under 5 miles and Jack under 7 miles these days, so it was a little much for them. At least there was not boulder hopping, that would have made it much harder.

so beautiful up there, like the one where they have their tongues hanging out lol, think its 22nd form the bottom. and the one with the died tree pile and the beautiful yellow flowers.

The hike was less than optimal, yet you got fantastic shots. Poor pups, great pics of S and J, even if it was a major haul for them. Love the beauty that Colorado offers.

How much water did you carry, for yourself and the dogs?

I hate slogging through a "green hell."
Willows are bad, because you can't feel the bottom and they trip you up.
But what's worse is devil's club and blackberries.

SO had a long response typed out, hit send and the site had "maintenance?!" and i lost it all.

so the short answer is Ken and i each carry 3L, we just about ran out this trip, first time in a long time. I had to give him some of my water and we barley drank on the way down. was dehydrated for about 3 days.

Jack carries 2L, one in each bag along with food, bowels, booties, extra leash, mushers wax and medical tape. We took his water in the boulders just before the summit and carried it the rest of the way

Sierra carries no water now, WE DO. about 16oz for each of us, or an extra 32oz when its just me out with them. she carries food and treats.

we let them drink from the streams on the way back to conserve water in-case we need their water. Knock on wood Sierra still feels fine, she likes to pick up bugs from water and cost us $$$ at the vet.

My dogs have never gotten sick from mt. streams.
But they have, multiple times, from streams at the beach.
I think that beavers are at work in the streams of the coast range, hence "beaver fever."
Yes, costs lots at the vet to get rid of giardia.