This trail is not nearly as taxing as the day before, and we are in better shape. Also we have actually made it out of the campground at 0730. Another beautiful day. We make good time. Arrive at a trail fork. Estes Cone to our right. The toughest part of the trail lies ahead. Or should i say .... the trail disappears, and is replaced by random stone cairns, leading up a 55 degree slope.
There are still trees and i make use of them, hauling myself up. Then one bites me. "Ouch", said i. Inch and a half gash in the back of my right hand, looks worse that it is, no loss of function. Oozing blood i proceed. The scramble continues, through narrow splits in house sized boulders, upward.
The top. Long's Peak rises 10 miles away, almost 3 kilofoot higher. Haze from the burning western forests shrouds the valleys below.
We bask on top for a while, then begin the return. At first we make good time but halfway back we flag, (but we have not failed yet). Reach the fork in the trail where one branch leads to the parking lot, other to campground. We r very tired by now, but this last section isnt very long izzit, can't b far now.
Wrong
I am heartily sick of this section of trail.
Drag back to camp. Catch our breath. But begin to feel better almost immediately. We have made very good time, covering over 10 miles in seven hours, though without most of the load. For the first time i am sure that we will make it up Long's Peak.
We had intended to stay for three nights at Goblin's Forest, then move to Boulder Field. Buoyed by the results of the days trek, we decide to leave the next morning for Boulder Field instead.