NO
LONGER HIDDEN
We
got up at 5:30am on Monday. This was
unpleasant because it was barely above freezing. Needless to say, we hadn’t really been
prepared for cold weather on this trip.
The first real mishap of the trip occurred while I was cooking
breakfast. Christy had purchased a
frying pan that was supposed to be compatible with our Jet Boil stove. What I didn’t realize was that you have to
use an adapter when using the pan. I
discovered my error when I saw that the stove was on fire. Shit! Needless
to say, incinerating the stove was not was not part of the trip plan. I did bring a second stove that isn’t prone
to catching on fire. However, it isn’t compatible
with the Jet Boil pot or our French Press.
We would have to replace the Jet Boil somewhere down the road.
We
finished breakfast and broke camp. After
much debate, we’d decided to hike the Devil’s Causeway in the Flat Top
Wilderness in northwestern Colorado that morning. The Devil’s Causeway is a narrow spine of
rock with a sheer drop off on each side.
I’d read somewhere that it was 2 feet wide and 1,500’ down on each
side. Later I discovered that this is a
gross exaggeration. However, that
discovery didn’t come until much later in the trip. The Flat Tops
Wilderness is a long drive from everywhere, but we thought we could pull it off
despite our time constraints. My
guidebook listed the hike to the Causeway at 3 miles round trip. Even with a 2 hour
drive there and over an hour of driving afterwards, we thought we could squeeze
it in. We just needed to be in Edwards,
Colorado before 2pm for Christy’s first doctor’s appointment.
We
were about to pull out of the campground when Christy scanned over some
supplemental information I had printed off of the Outdoor Project website. She pointed out that their description listed
the hike as 6 miles for the round trip.
I pulled over and double-checked the book. It definitely said 3. That was a big difference, and potentially a
deal-breaker. Which one was correct?
I
studied the map and determined that it couldn’t possibly be 3 miles for the
round trip. It was definitely
longer. We speculated (and later
confirmed) that it had been misstated in the book, and that it was actually 3
miles one-way.
There
was no way we could do the hike that morning, given our time constraints, so I
came up with a backup plan. We would
drive to Glenwood Springs and hike to Hanging Lake, Bridal Veil Falls, and the
Spouting Horn. I knew that it was a
popular hike, but a Monday morning seemed like the perfect time. Plus, it was conveniently located. We would actually drive right past Edwards on
I-70 on the way there. After the hike,
we’d have a 30 minute drive back east. The hike is 3 miles round trip (really!), so
we had plenty of time.
We
arrived at the trailhead at 9am and got the last parking space. And it’s a big parking lot! I knew the hike was popular, but I really had
no idea that it was THAT popular. We
were hiking in a conga line most of the way.
It’s not an easy hike, either, as it requires climbing about a thousand
feet in a mile and a half. Needless to
say, most of the people on that trail were overdoing it a bit. I’m not sure that flip flops were the ideal
choice for footwear for most of them.
I
think the popularity of this area is a recent development. Christy and I biked through Glenwood Canyon (on
a paved bike path) 9 years earlier and went right by the trailhead. We’d never heard of Hanging Lake at the
time. I think the sudden popularity of
the area is due to the internet and social media. People see photos of stunning waterfalls
dropping into a beautiful blue lake and inevitably want to go there – even if
the hike is really beyond their ability.
The
trail was steep and rocky in places, but I thought the hike was pretty easy,
aside from dodging tourists in flip flops.
Shortly before the lake we passed a broad run of cascades spilling down
a hillside covered in greenery. It was a
lovely spot, but the light was terrible for photos. I hoped it would improve by the time we
headed back, but that didn’t work out.
It was just too sunny.
Hanging
Lake really is gorgeous. It is fed by
Bridal Veil Falls, which is only 20-30’ tall, but a couple hundred feet
wide. The stream is braided just
upstream from the falls, creating a whole series of individual waterfalls
spilling into the lake. The water is
clear, but a startling shade of blue.
You don’t see many lakes like it in Colorado. That color of water is much more common up in
Montana and the Canadian Rockies, where the lakes are fed by glaciers. There are no glaciers near Glenwood Canyon
though. Here, the amazing blue water is
due to minerals from the many springs and caves in the area.
I
managed to take some photos, despite marginal light and numerous hikers and
tourists walking up and down the walkway bordering the lake. Afterwards we took the short trail to the top
of Bridal Veil Falls. Just upstream is
another incredible waterfall – the Spouting Horn. This one is much taller, and the trail actually
passes behind it. That’s a cool feature,
but this waterfall is truly unique. Most
of the stream drops over a sheer cliff 80’ high. However, there are two separate jets of water
that project out of openings in the cliff part of the way up. The effect is amazing – one huge freefalling
waterfall joined by two elegant streams of water, seemingly coming from
nowhere.
I
explored the waterfall from all angles.
Photography was difficult due to heavy spray and marginal lighting, but
I made the best of it. Afterwards we
hiked back down quickly. We returned to
the parking area and had a picnic lunch before auctioning off our parking
space. Then we headed back up I-70 to
Edwards for Christy’s consultation. The
appointment went well. The doctor felt
like she was an excellent candidate for stem cell therapy. We scheduled the procedure near the end of
our trip, as Christy wouldn’t be able to hike (or do much of anything else)
afterwards. Then we headed back down
I-70, bound for Moab, Utah.
Incredibly,
we actually drove through a short stretch of Glenwood Canyon five times in one
day. The trailhead for Hanging Lake is
only accessible from the eastbound lanes.
That morning we’d driven to the next exit to the east, gotten off, and
then gotten back on to reach the correct exit.
When we left, we had to go back west and take the same exit to return to
the eastbound lanes. Our fifth pass
through that stretch was the worst.
There was a huge traffic jam due to construction and a lane closure in
one of the tunnels. I guess we ran out
of luck after making it through there four times without difficulty. Fortunately the rest
of the drive to Utah was smooth.
Moab-bound!
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