After a beautiful drive through the mountains, we got to the East Vail exit around 11:00 AM. Both of us needed to use the restroom and after about 15 minutes of driving around East Vail to no avail (yes, Eminem, eat your heart out at my words and rapping ability), we headed for the next exit to avoid peeing our pants. After a quick potty break, we were back on the highway heading back to the trailhead.
We made our way to the Bighorn Creek Trailhead only to find the six parking spaces long-since full and a sign about every 10 feet saying that there was no parking on the city streets. Signs so conspicuous that I would think they would be more of an eyesore or an irritant than a few cars parked along the side of the road. After another five minutes of looking for a space, we decided to head back to the public parking lot located at the highway exit.
The only problem with this parking lot is that it added an additional .9 miles each way to our hike. Given our lack of sleep, the three and a half hour drive, and the already very steep climb ahead of us, an additional 1.8 miles was not promising. I told Lori we could skip hiking to the cabin at the end of the trail and take one of the trail spurs at the two mile mark and substantially reduce our total mileage. The plan was about a 7 mile hike. This would cut it down to 5 miles.
Neither of us moved quite as quickly and energetically as we had on our trip to Sky Pond. Part of that may have been the reasons I mentioned above. But, in additon to us being tired, this hike was much steeper. After the initial descent from the Bear Lake Trailhead, the Sky Pond hike was a 1,710 foot climb over 4.9 miles, or 349 feet per mile. The Bighorn Creek Trail is a 2,220 foot climb over 3.6 miles, or 611 feet per mile. And, I believe that half of those feet are climbed within the first half mile! Even more surprising is that this trail is listed as the least steep trail in the Vail area. Eventually, the trail levels off slightly... though not quite as much as we had hoped and we found ourselves in a beautiful aspen grove.
Shortly after that, we found ourselves on the banks of the mighty Bighorn Creek.
At around the 3 mile mark, we were both feeling a little worn out and the trail spur we spoke of taking was obviously not as easy to spot as we had expected. Some dark clouds formed quickly overhead and it started to rain softly. We debated turning around. The hardest part about hiking without any GPS is not knowing how much further you have to travel. There is a part of you that says you have hiked plenty and that your body is telling you it is time to head back down the hill. But, another part keeps thinking what if our destination is only a half mile away. That little voice in the back of your head keeps telling you that you will be disappointed if you turn around now.
There is another phenomena that occurs when hiking. While I have yet to find anything on the internet to confirm my beliefs, I am positive that there is a hiking code that all experienced hikers follow. One of the rules of this hiking code is to lie to the people going uphill if you are going downhill. If they ask how far, the answer is always, "Not much longer!". If they ask how long they have to go, the answer is half of what it really takes to get to the end. This code is especially important if you are trying to encourage two old semi-overweight hikers who look like they may pass out at any moment. There is one more phrase used to completely sell these lies, that phrase is, "It's worth it!". All three of the couples we saw over the next 15 minutes... while we were still debating continuing... fulfilled their hiking code obligations by quoting all of the above. Well, they had us at "It's worth it". We continued on and even started to feel a little bit better as we got past another steep section and the light rain subsided. Apologies for disparaging Mr. Helpy Helperton from our Sky Pond hike. I didn't realize at the time that he was merely following the code.
Eventually we reached the old mining cabin at the end of the trail in a field of wildflowers. Was it worth it? Yes. But, only because we could now say we did it and didn't quit. It wasn't as beautiful as Sky Pond and not near as rewarding of an end. But, the entire hike was just as impressive and included a myriad of different vegetation from aspen groves to fern groves to rock fields to beautiful wildflowers.
Besides losing any chance at a parking spot and adding 1.8 total miles to our hike, the other hazard of getting a late start are the afternoon thunderstorms that are so prevalent in the high mountains in the summer. As we turned to head back, those dark clouds started forming once again. I could tell that this storm wasn't going to be as friendly and wasn't going to pass quite as quickly. It started to sprinkle. Then it started to rain. Then it started to pour. We walked through mud, puddles, and over slippery rocks as we climbed down the hill in drenched clothes and shoes. At one point, while it was still just raining, I told Lori that, "This sucks!" and she replied in cheerful form, "It's all part of the adventure!"... a motto we have stuck to ever since that mountain biker said that to us by the Reservoir. Then it started to rain harder and three minutes later Lori stated, "This is miserable!". I asked her what had happened to the whole "part of the adventure" thing and she replied that is was no longer part of the adventure. After about an hour of heavy rain, it finally let up. Our descent was far longer and much harder than it should have been. We both slipped on the rocks. But, once the rain stopped we laughed about not having ponchos in our bags and talked about how good it was going to feel to be in dry socks and shoes again.
The final descent was brutal... as hard going down as it was going up. But, we were close. Well, save for the 1 mile walk back to the parking lot. Our feet hurt so bad that we even considered hitchhiking that last portion. Nine miles and six and a half hours later, we were back at the car. Tired but smiling.
Here's to one day being able to lie to other out-of-shape hikers when they ask the question, "How much further?" while climbing the mountain and passing us as we are descending...
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