I'm running pretty far behind on my hiking recaps but there is a legit reason for that. I was only about 23% committed to writing recaps this year since they take up time and I wasn't entirely sure they would ever be useful to me.
HOWEVER. During the past week alone, I think I have sent people to various trip logs from last years adventures a minimum of 10 times. That's a solid week for me, since #Covid #nofriends but apparently I am regarded as the person with the info.
And, hence, the hiking posts shall continue, albeit tardily.
So WAY back on in early June, Eric and I had intended to make the drive to Rangely to hike Saddleback and the horn. Approximately 3 minutes into that particular morning, I took a bad step and hurt my back in a manner that made it difficult to sit. And that was that for the 2.25 hour drive each way.
Plan B, made hastily, was to scoot over to Evan's Notch and amble around the Baldface Loop. At 10-ish miles this seemed like a good trip for early season, and we felt pretty confident hiking in that area since we basically live there. I knew to go clockwise around the loop, as a couple ledges were said to exist.
We leisurely arrived late morning, to find a (typically) full lot. Too many little trails in that area make for crowded parking.
However, we saw very few people heading out and saw no people for the first couple miles. The first real human interaction we had was at the small camping shelter, which I believe was about 2.5 miles in. To that point, the trail was certainly on the easy/moderate side. A really pleasant walk through the lovely woods.
Just after the shelter, you see your first couple rocky ledges. My initial impression based on my research (brief research, I will admit) was that the ledge/scramble stretch was pretty short.
Well. Not exactly.
 |
| The beginning |
All the scrambling is doable, but be prepared to get your butt up some rocks. Don't be afraid of heights. Be agile and nimble!! And get ready to fiddle around on a rock slab for quite some time. The views make it TOTALLY worth it though, plus, scrambling can be pretty fun.
 |
| One of the first views. HELLO. |
The best thing about this hike is that there is SO much to look at. We tend to do quite a few "walking through the woods" hikes, which I really enjoy. But sometimes, getting up above the trees is pretty fun.
 |
| Possibly the prettiest thing I had seen all year |
Anyway. Eventually the one thing we couldn't help but notice was the 400MPH wind. It was insane. The most crazy. Like, my hat blew off.
But it was PRETTY AF.
 |
| Stop |
I don't want to be a total fangirl but this was possibly one of the most lovely hikes ever. And stepping outside of the 4k obsession was absolutely fine, and something that I would consider daily, if all hikes were this perfect (and please don't forget the half mile of straight up rock, because you do have to cope with that.)
 |
| Loves scrambles |
Between the South and North peaks were more views, (like, always) another short scramble, WIND, and then a view of where we had been.....
 |
| Remember those rocks from earlier?? |
Anyway. Lame blog. Lots of nice trail. Like, PERFECT except for the actual technical rock climbing part, haha. Beautiful flowers. VIEWS for DAYS. And nice woods. This hike was a real 10/10.
And then we came down, out of the hurricane wind, got back into the woods, crossed a perfect river and then we were done. THE END.
 |
| River |
I hate to oversell this. But writing this over a month later has given me time to ponder what an actually amazing hike this was. I would go do it again tomorrow, but tomorrow we are hiking Cabot which must be done.... Unless you are not nimble and brave, go do this hike. Even if you aren't nimble and brave, walk to the first place it gets rocky (almost immediately after the shelter, going clockwise) take a look, and then go down (you really do not want to descend those rocks. so quit early unless you are committed.) The views are amazing, but more importantly, it's a really glorious trail experience.. This hike would not have been our first choice, and I'm actually kind of ashamed by that as it was one of the most enjoyable trails we have seen. Lots of variety. Lots of fun (maybe lots of danger, haha.)
Stats:
Date: June 7th 2020
Mileage: 9.6
Elevation: 3,484
Time: 4:55 (included 15-ish min of faffing around)
Challenge level: Difficult, only because of scramble
Dog Friendly?? ISH. Must be able to handle some rocks
No comments:
Post a Comment