Trip theme: "Freakin' Black Flies!" or "I
Wonder When Its Going to Start Raining?"
 Warren and
Tom on the trail to Bear Creek Falls in Tellurude |
 Mark at the
top of our acclimatization hike looking back towards Telluride |
 Telluride |
 Tom and
Mark on the Telluride ski slope |
 Warren,
Tom and Mark at Molas Pass |
 Hiking
down from Molas Pass towards the Animas river |
 Mark on
the bridge over the Animas river by Elk Park |
 Climbing
up the Elk Creek trail from Elk Park |
 Campsite
#1 - 10,100 ft. Bad blackflies here |
 The view
west from Campsite #1 |
 Tom and
Warren contemplate the long climb ahead towards the Continental Divide |
 We have
to go all the way up there? |
 Ugh, that
was steep. |
 These
were the nicest switchbacks ever |
 Mark
looking east from the Continental Divide at Elk Creek, 12,650 ft. This is
towards Beartown |
 Mark
looking west from the Continental Divide at Elk Creek, 12,650 ft. This is
where we came from |
 Mark on
the next ridge line to the south of the Divide. |
 Mark on
the summit of an unnamed mountain to the south of the Divide, 12,972 ft. |
 Campsite
#2 - 11,350 ft. Good stumps |
 The view
from Campsite #2. |
 Hiking up
towards Hunchback Pass looking back towards Beartown |
 Looking
back towards the Continental Divide from the previous day |
 Looking
down the Vallecito Valley from Hunchback Pass, 12,493 ft. |
 Crossing
Rock Creek. The water was very red |
 Campsite
#3 - 9,400 ft. Warren wonders if he should set up his tent or not. Really
bad blackflies here |
 Heading
up Johnson Creek towards Columbine Pass |
 See you
later aligator! |
 Columbine
Pass from Columbine Lake. The picture doesn't do justice to how ridiculously
steep this was. |
 Mark
looking east from Columbine Pass, 12,680 ft. This is the way we came |
 Mark
looking west from Columbine Pass, 12,680 ft. This is overlooking Chicago
Basin. Is that lightening?! |
 Campsite
#4 - 11,300 ft. Watch out for goats |
 The
climbers trail up to Twin Lakes. Another ridiculously steep section of
trail. |
 Twin
Lakes in the early morning, around 12,000 ft. |
 Heading
towards Windom Peak looking back at Eolus. |
 Heading
towards Windom Peak looking back at Eolus, this is around 13,000 ft. |
 On the
Windom Peak ridge line looking back at the shadow cast by Windom on the
climbing route. |
 Mark on
the summit of Windom Peak, 14,082 ft. Somewhere around a 3 mile and 3,000 ft
climb from our campsite |
 Looking
back up towards the climbing route on Windom Peak on the way down the
mountain |
 Wow, look
a mountain goat. Everyone be quite so we don't scare it away |
 Looking
up towards Windom Peak from our campsite. Windom is the one in the middle
with the long slope on the left |
 OK, never
mind about scaring away the goats. |
 The
Durango-Silverton train comes to pick us up in Needleton. |
 All
Aboard! |
 Wouldn't
you "gentlemen" be more comfortable in the open air car in the rear
of the train? |
 Mark back
at Molas Pass. I wonder what happened to the others? Oh well, the heck with
them. I'm going for beer and burgers! |
 The view
from the porch in Warren's condo in Telluride. I picked up these two cream
puffs in Silverton. |
Warren and
Tom on the trail to Bear Creek Falls in Tellurude
Mark at the
top of our acclimatization hike looking back towards Telluride
Telluride
Tom and
Mark on the Telluride ski slope
Warren,
Tom and Mark at Molas Pass
Hiking
down from Molas Pass towards the Animas river
Mark on
the bridge over the Animas river by Elk Park
Climbing
up the Elk Creek trail from Elk Park
Campsite
#1 - 10,100 ft. Bad blackflies here
The view
west from Campsite #1
Tom and
Warren contemplate the long climb ahead towards the Continental Divide
We have
to go all the way up there?
Ugh, that
was steep.
These
were the nicest switchbacks ever
Mark
looking east from the Continental Divide at Elk Creek, 12,650 ft. This is
towards Beartown
Mark
looking west from the Continental Divide at Elk Creek, 12,650 ft. This is
where we came from
Mark on
the next ridge line to the south of the Divide.
Mark on
the summit of an unnamed mountain to the south of the Divide, 12,972 ft.
Campsite
#2 - 11,350 ft. Good stumps
The view
from Campsite #2.
Hiking up
towards Hunchback Pass looking back towards Beartown
Looking
back towards the Continental Divide from the previous day
Looking
down the Vallecito Valley from Hunchback Pass, 12,493 ft.
Crossing
Rock Creek. The water was very red
Campsite
#3 - 9,400 ft. Warren wonders if he should set up his tent or not. Really
bad blackflies here
Heading
up Johnson Creek towards Columbine Pass
See you
later aligator!
Columbine
Pass from Columbine Lake. The picture doesn't do justice to how ridiculously
steep this was.
Mark
looking east from Columbine Pass, 12,680 ft. This is the way we came
Mark
looking west from Columbine Pass, 12,680 ft. This is overlooking Chicago
Basin. Is that lightening?!
Campsite
#4 - 11,300 ft. Watch out for goats
The
climbers trail up to Twin Lakes. Another ridiculously steep section of
trail.
Twin
Lakes in the early morning, around 12,000 ft.
Heading
towards Windom Peak looking back at Eolus. 
Heading
towards Windom Peak looking back at Eolus, this is around 13,000 ft. 
On the
Windom Peak ridge line looking back at the shadow cast by Windom on the
climbing route.
Mark on
the summit of Windom Peak, 14,082 ft. Somewhere around a 3 mile and 3,000 ft
climb from our campsite
Looking
back up towards the climbing route on Windom Peak on the way down the
mountain
Wow, look
a mountain goat. Everyone be quite so we don't scare it away
Looking
up towards Windom Peak from our campsite. Windom is the one in the middle
with the long slope on the left
OK, never
mind about scaring away the goats.
The
Durango-Silverton train comes to pick us up in Needleton.
All
Aboard!
Wouldn't
you "gentlemen" be more comfortable in the open air car in the rear
of the train?
Mark back
at Molas Pass. I wonder what happened to the others? Oh well, the heck with
them. I'm going for beer and burgers!
The view
from the porch in Warren's condo in Telluride. I picked up these two cream
puffs in Silverton.