ET's Info-Stew

After several months of lazy planning this year's trip is finally coming together. I wanted to bring Bill to Colorado for our first backpacking trip in this state. It's been three years since I last backpacked, and so much has changed. I've gained some weight compared to last trip, but generally my fitness level is much worse than just some weight gain. I have exercised little, and just recently I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The thyroid is now being controlled with medication, but if I want to have any kind of fun on this upcoming trip, I need to exercise, eat well, and lose weight, and I need to do it quick. Three months is not much time.

Planning for the trip started out with determining where we were going. The process started late last year, but after discouraging initial results, I started to procrastinate. Colorado is high country for sure, but it's made up of a lot of high peaks and ridges, and glacial water valleys. This is a big difference from the Sierras, which have several large glacial basins. In the Rockies you'll find a lot of high alpine lakes, but you have a hard time finding a place to lake hop. Typical is a hike up a creek valley to a high alpine lake, surrounded on three sides by high peaks and ridges. The only reasonable way to get to another lake is to hike down the valley, move parallel to the ridge line, then hike back up the next valley.

Another aspect of Colorado hiking is that here there is more of a focus on day-hiking and peak bagging. You won't find a single book focusing on multi-day hikes in Colorado, though there a few such hikes sprinkled in a few books. So when a google search yielded few results, my next attempt was to purchase a book on Colorado lake hikes. My thought was that I might find decent lake hikes which I would use as a jumping point. Then using a topo map I would narrow down the candidates to those which looked to connect to other lakes. In this way I would create my own multi-day, multi-lake hike that, if lucky, might resemble a loop.

The strategy actually worked out pretty well at first. I discovered the Flat Tops Wilderness which actually turns out to be a large area with lots of accessible lakes and loop hikes. But I determined that it wasn't ideal, because that area is more of a high altitude prairie plateau, and doesn't really show off much of the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. I'd still like to go there some day, but not for this trip.

My next try was to purchase a Colorado recreation atlas and go through each section looking for hikeable lake filled areas. It's a slow process and I really didn't find too much, though I only went through a quarter of the areas. I intended to continue that strategy, but luckily I didn't need to, at least for this trip. When Bill visited in mid-April, we sat down and discussed our options. After explaining that we should avoid Rocky Mountain National Park because of the population density, I did another search for isolated backpacking and found a forum where someone suggested Eagle's Nest Wilderness. After we found it in the atlas I decided that the area showed significant promise. Over the next couple days I did some online research and found some photos and hike reports, and it was set. This was the place to go. It's still not as lake-filled as I'd like, but in all other respects, it seems like it's going to be an excellent trip.

The plan is to start at the Surprise trailhead near Lower Cataract Lake and make our way to the Upper Cataract Lake area. Along the way, if we need a night to adjust to the altitude, we can stay at Surprise Lake. Upper Cataract has a fair amount of day-hiker traffic, so we also have the option of going past it to Mirror Lake, or even further to some unnamed ponds. From here we have two route options, but both end around the Eaglesmere Lakes area. There are three Eaglesmere lakes, to which the Gore trail goes, but around that area are smaller unnamed ponds which are reachable with some bushwhacking. Then we return back to Lower Cataract Lake to complete the loop. The book mileage is nineteen miles. The great thing about this area is that we can wing it. No wilderness permits are required, and where possible we can bushwack between destinations.

So with the destination figured out, the next consideration is gear. Having not backpacked in three years some of my gear is either gone or misplaced. I destroyed my daypack using it fairly heavily on travel. I was going to replace it with the Mountain Laurel Designs Burn. But today I went to REI and found the Flash 18. It's also 10 oz., but it is smaller and has fewer features. But it saves me $150, so that's a big deal. I tested out the size and it will fit my chair and a full bladder with room for other stuff like warm clothes, water filter, and other essentials. I also purchased said bladder, since I somehow misplaced my other one.

I am missing things like clothing, including rain-wear, some stuff sacks and pouches, and the expendables. I have considered purchasing a new tent, in particularly the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2, which would be a major improvement over my old tent, plus it is lighter. But it is fairly expensive, and I'm trying to stay within a budget. The Swift could probably last another year with a quick patch job. Besides, I'd rather spend the money on something I can exercise on.

Which leads me to fitness. I'm 235 lbs. unclothed. The upper end of my goal weight is 165 pounds. Losing that much weight is a multi-year endeavor, and I only have three months before our trip. My fitness level is quite terrible, though some of that may have a bit to do with my recent diagnosis of hypothyroidism. I get quite tired going up a flight of stairs. Walking even a mile on a level sidewalk is somewhat tough. I need to get serious about losing some weight and increasing my fitness, or I'm going to be extremely unhappy for this trip.

When I was exercising, the one thing that I could stand to do was use the elliptical machine. I'm pretty sure that's what I want to get, and I need to use it like crazy. They're expensive and heavy, so that's why I've been waiting. Craigslist is the cheapest option, but I don't have transportation. I need to get this taken care of sooner rather than later.

Here are some links for the area we'll be staying:
This is the reference for the "book" route. I have the book.
Pics from Eaglesmere Lakes
Tip about staying above Mirror Lake
Pictures of the general area. Our area is actually about 10 miles west of these pics.

Well that's it for now. I hope things work out!