5th Peak

just climbed 5th peak alone this morning. took me 2hrs to get to the top. what a great way to start my preps for further trips to come. its approx 8,600ft above sea level. it helps that i'm already at 8,190ft from satanta, so there wasn't too long a distance to climb.

started at 830. hiked past archery and tried to find the trailhead, which i couldn't. i went the wrong way twice, once ending up at riflery, which wasn't a very pleasant find considering the morning cold and the cloud cover still over-lapping us here in cco. in the end i gave up and just bashed up the mountain from the swensen trail. the hike up was really morbid. all around were aspen trees and then slowly the landscape changed to pine trees and then finally just near the summit of 1st peak, gravel and rocks.

from 1st peak, you can see most of camp chief ouray and snow mountain ranch. it was a very rewarding view considering how tough it was to bash through the slopey forest. i gave a huge "yawp" of triumph when i got there. its amazing just listening to the echo of your yawp traverse the entire valley.

2nd peak, the most exciting peak was alot tougher to climb but not only could you see all of what you saw at first peak, but also the town of granby and the great rocky mountains valley as well. each time i got to a peak i'd give a "yawp" of triumph(which i learned from scotty and brian kurz)

3rd 4th and 5th peaks were not as exciting. their summits were pine-covered, meaning you couldn't see most anything without pine trees blocking you. the pine cones grow bigger the higher up you climb thats what i noticed. there was cloud cover everywhere though the fog started dispersing as the morning wore on. it was cold at the top, could see your breath even by the early afternoon. still it was a huge achievement to get there. i sat around for awhile, wrote in my journal then started heading down hoping to be able to get down by lunchtime.

the trip down was alot faster for obvious reasons though i almost rolled my ankle a coupla times if not for my walmat hike-worthy hiking boots. i took the trail down which took alot longer and finally found out that it started off at the reservoir. wah so far from camp.

first mountain cleared!