There were six of us hikers plus our coach who made the trip to Colorado. When we landed in Denver and walked out of the airport, it was very apparent we were in a different landscape. So flat! Way off in the distance you could see the outline of the mountain range. We get so used to mountains and hills and water in our backyard, that it is amazing to see such flatness!
Almost immediately you feel the dryness. I began sucking down the water. Not only to help avoid elevation sickness, but the air is so much dryer than in Washington state, you simply need it. I drank more water each day than I normally would over the course of 3 days. A bottle of water was my constant companion for the trip!
We stayed in little town of Estes Park which is a quaint little town. I'd love to have the chance to explore it some more - so many little shops!
On Friday, the day after our arrival, we really wanted to get out and do some hiking. I wanted the chance to get as much hiking in as I could while we were there. Also, I wanted to check out the elevation. Our big event hike on Saturday would be starting at over 9000 ft and elevation sickness was a big concern. I wanted to see how I would be effected at lower elevations.
So we decided to do a short hike, about 5 miles round trip, to Mills Lake. We headed out and found quickly that it's a pretty popular trail. Lots of fellow hikers out on the trail!
The weather was mild and I had debated on shorts vs. long pants, but once on the trail I was glad I had chosen shorts. It felt like a nice fall day despite the fact that it was still technically summer!
The Mills Lake Trail starts from the Glacior Gorge Trailhead at about 9200'. The trail meandors uphill following along Glacier Creek. After about 2.5 miles you arrive at Mills Lake. Mills Lake is in a valley looking up the Glacior GorgeK and surrounded by several 12K+ and 13K+ mountain peaks. We hung out at Mills Lake to eat some light lunch and take pictures. We were very interested in the view of the Glacior Gorge as this would be our destination on Saturday.
After about a 30 minute stop, we headed back down to the trailhead. In all we hiked 5 miles with approximately 821 feet roundtrip elevation gain. I am happy to report that other than being a little more short of breath than normal, I noticed no elevation sickness. Woohoo! That's a good sign for Saturday's hike!
Be sure to visit my photo gallery to see all the pictures from our hike on Mills Lake Trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment