When Dennis & I were forced to retreat off the summit ramp of Mt. Ida a couple summers ago, I vowed to return and claim victory. Boy, did I ever!
Lucky for me, intrepid CMC trip leader, Dominique, came up with a marvelous scheme: Hike from Milner Pass to Bear Lake bagging peaks along the way. What a brilliant concept, with even greater execution!
Total Distance: 17.4 miles
Total Time: 15 Hours
Gain: 6,077 ft
Loss: 7,355 ft
Peaks Bagged: 6
Start at Milner Pass (10,758 ft): 6:15am
Mt. Ida (12,880 ft): 9:10am
Chief Cheyley (12,804 ft): 10am
Cracktop (12,760 ft): 10:50am
Mt. Julian (12,928 ft): 12:35pm
Sprague Mountain (12,713 ft): 4:15pm
Flattop (12,324 ft): 6:50pm
Finish at Bear Lake (9,475 ft): 9:10pm
Early Morning on Continental Divide 7:50am. Mt. Ida on the top left of picture.
Looking Northwest from the same spot as the previous picture. Neversummer range.
We took our second break at 8:30am; snack time!
Dave leading the way up north slope of Mt. Ida (9am).
Mt. Ida summit pictures at 9:10am. Including a shot of Azure Lake with Mt. Julian looming.
Climbergirl happy on Chief Cheyley Summit (10am).
Renata shared some cookies on the summit of some of these peaks, so I was *EVEN* happier. In fact, I never thought I could be quite that happy on a summit. It’s amazing what some crumbly, sugary morsels can do! I was wondering what the secret ingredient was…?
Mt. Julian and Cracktop with Highest Lake nestled in scree.
John on top of unnamed peak between Chief Cheyley and Cracktop (10:30am).
We made up a limerick about the unnamed peak, but I can’t remember what it was, except that it was totally cheesy.
Chief Cheyley and Mt. Ida from Cracktop (10:50am).
Descending Cracktop Southeast ridge – Dan’s Bravado-Look Ma, No Hands! Not yet, at least…
John & Renata Descending 3rd/4th class terrain off of Cracktop (11:15am).
Dave Signing Mt. Julian Summit Register (12:30pm)
Instead of retracing our route, we drop into a bowl on the south of Mt. Julian. We then scramble up scree to merge back with the Continental Divide. Picture taken just before the steep ascent, at 2:05pm.
John & Renata work their way up the steep scree & talus. They made it look easy, they had done an arduous hike the day before. One could not have guessed it from their performance on Sunday; they are such strong hikers!
Group Approaching Sprague Peak vacinity (3:15pm)
John Approaching Summit of Sprague and Climbergirl on the Summit (4:15pm)
Water stop at the Eureka ditch (5:40pm)
Back on the Divide Trail, 30 minutes from Flattop (6:30pm)
Clare with Hallet’s and then Longs Peak further off. I love the color of this picture.
Flattop Vacinity (HUGE CAIRNS!) at 6:50pm
The rest of the hike was in darkness. We all picked up the pace and headed downhill for Bear Lake. We did a bit of singing and played the food game, which helped to pass the time. This trip was totally fun. I had a great time hanging out with everybody and the conversation was quite enjoyable.
Dominique was a fantastic trip leader and a truly motivating person. The miles melted away, the views were amazing, and there were no shortage of peaks to bag.
Thanks to Dominique and Dan for organizing!!!
A big thanks to Dave for letting me carpool & share his camp space-totally generous!
Last but not least, thanks to John & Renata for driving me back to my car in Golden and letting me snooze a little on the drive. I was really tired, I can’t even imagine how tired they must have been with two huge adventures back to back!
Tags: Bear Lake, Chief Cheyley, Cracktop, Flattop, Milner Pass, Mt. Ida, Mt. Julian, Sprague Mountain