We planned to do some rock climbing the day before this one, but ended up spending more time at Carrie's relaxing and planning. The drive to the trailhead was long and the dirt part was tedious, but it wasn't particularly difficult. The gate was open so I think we actually went a bit higher than planned. It did take some effort to level the vehicles and it was pretty chilly up around 12,000 feet. We did see a large deer on a distant ridge (Bruce, a hunter was up there and scoping for bighorn). We talked for a while about hiking 14ers and other outdoor activities.
8-16 I delivered coffee a bit later at the traditional 5:40. The days of planning and relaxing helped as we were on our way by 6. The hike up was mostly on old mining roads past a number of mining buildings and mines. The tramway tower from the Hilltop Mine was particularly photogenic. There were a number of others heading up but not so many that it felt crowded. The sun was warm but when we got to the saddle and started up the SW ridge the wind was cold. The trail wasn't particularly difficult but with the large loose rocks (baseball to bootbox sized) you had to watch your footing. The summit was the high spot of a fairly gentle ridge with a dropoff to the west. Someone had left a US flag there. We did our usual photo and food stop. There were some storm cells off in the distance and it looked like weather was building so we didn't linger very long.
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We heard the first thunder around 11:30 but we were quite a ways down by then. We passed Bruce on the way down - he was inspired by our talk to hike up and was making good time. I stopped to poke around and take some pictures of the mine buildings on the way down while Nalumon continued with some others. I had to jog to catch up before they made it back to the parking area.
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Summary of August 16, 1 14er, about 5.25 miles, 2,100 feet of elevation gain, mine ruins, thunder, and maybe the easiest 14er in Colorado.