11 replies to this topic

[Jeffery]

Tuesday 7/19/11:
Estes Cone
Estes Cone was to be our warm-up climb. Our first hike/climb and initiation to climbing and hiking in the Rockies. Simple enough, 6.6mi out & back, 1606' elevation gain, peaking out at 11,006' at the summit.

As we parked for Estes Cone, we could see the Twin Sisters which was also a summit I had on the list of potential climbs.

(Twin Sisters)


We hit the trail at 8:20am and started the stairs & switchbacks. It wasn't long before we were stopping to catch our breath. Hiking at altitude would certainly take some getting used to. About a mile and a half in, we hit Eugenia mine which is little more than a very few 100+ year old remnants of a cabin and a few rotted hunks of iron. For about the next mile, the trail remained relatively flat with very slight incline. Little did we know what lie ahead….

(Eugenia Mine)



(Trail views between Eugenia Mine & Estes Cone Summit)


The last 3/4 mile had me asking what the hell was I thinking?!? This is EASY???? Ugh. One step at a time. UP AND UP AND UP we went. It seemed like it would never end. I kept looking up and kept seeing more earth. Behind me, the vertical drop began growing. Surprisingly enough, the maximum positive gradient that I recorded was only 32.8%, but my GPS app is questionable. FINALLY a small rock scramble and blue sky was all that was left.

(Estes Cone Summit)





The majority of this climb was under the protection of trees, but on the summit we had the full exposure of the wind which was amazing. We only hung out on the summit for about 20 minutes before throwing the packs back on and heading back.

Once we got back to the parking lot, 6 hours, 25 minutes, 4 seconds after departing; we took a minute to look back at the mountain from the parking lot. It was pretty impressive!

(After the climb - Queue, less than thrilled)



In all, this was a fun climb, but personally there was more time in the woods than I wanted.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Monica]

Nice pictures and report.
I really like the summit picture with the rock outcropping.

[Jeffery]

Thanks Monica!

It was a lot of fun. Trying to enter my other trip reports, but am getting errors for too many pics =( have to figure out how to get it in here right.

[Melanie]

I can't see your pictures. Loved your reporting, tho. Welcome to the forums, by the way.


Melanie<><

[Lynette]

Jeffery, on 10 August 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

Thanks Monica!

It was a lot of fun. Trying to enter my other trip reports, but am getting errors for too many pics =( have to figure out how to get it in here right.

I struggle with that, too, Jeffery. It will let you post 10 in a post and then another 10. I can't get any more to show up until someone else has posted.

We didn't make it to Estes Cone, although it was on my list. It might be too much for us. We did make it above Black Lake. What a beautiful area! Highly recommend it.

[Jeffery]

Lynette, on 10 August 2011 - 11:34 AM, said:

I struggle with that, too, Jeffery. It will let you post 10 in a post and then another 10. I can't get any more to show up until someone else has posted.

We didn't make it to Estes Cone, although it was on my list. It might be too much for us. We did make it above Black Lake. What a beautiful area! Highly recommend it.

If you did Black Lake, you can do Estes Cone. The final push to Estes will hurt, but it's much shorter overall than Black Lake (which was INCREDIBLE)...

Melanie, on 10 August 2011 - 11:18 AM, said:

I can't see your pictures. Loved your reporting, tho. Welcome to the forums, by the way.


Melanie<><

=( dunno... I have them hosted on my server. Perhaps your work has it blocked or something?

[Twinebender]

Jeffery, on 10 August 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

Thanks Monica!

It was a lot of fun. Trying to enter my other trip reports, but am getting errors for too many pics =( have to figure out how to get it in here right.

I think you can only enter 10 pictures per post. I usually put in my 10 and then wait a few minutes and do a reply post to my own post, then I do another 10 and so on.

Oops, I did it again. I didn't realize Rick was logged in. This is Monica typing as Twinebender.

Edited by Twinebender, 10 August 2011 - 05:39 PM.

[mwilson]

Can't see your pics either, but it sounds like you had a great hike. The views from Estes Cone are awesome.

[Lynette]

Aaarrrghhhh!!!!!! I could see your pictures, but now I can't!

Edited by Lynette, 10 August 2011 - 06:12 PM.

[Rhonda]

I can't see them either.

[Allie]

Rhonda, on 10 August 2011 - 07:20 PM, said:

I can't see them either.

Me, either. Sorry.

[Jeffery]

Allie, on 10 August 2011 - 07:39 PM, said:

Me, either. Sorry.

Whoops! I moved them to a different server =(

Copied them back =)