Hope Pass
Description
Elevation: - 12,520'
Location - Southwest of Leadville in
Colorado on the Colorado Trail.
Trip Report(s)
In July of 1998 Mike and I planned a 10 day
backpacking trip among the Collegiate Peaks. We were
going to follow the Colorado Trail, interspersing hiking
days with peak bagging of the many 14ers in the area.
Unfortunately, equipment failure (namely the complete
snapping of one of the shoulder straps of Mike's new
pack) put an end to the trip on day three, but after a
return to Denver and back we ended up having lots of fun,
anyway, doing overnighters and some peak bagging.
On July 11 and 12 we started the trip by going up and
over Hope Pass, which was the highest place we had hiked
with heavy backpacks to that point in our experience. It
was a long, hard two days! We started at where the
Colorado Trail passes east of Twin Lakes (9,200'),
just off Independence Pass Road near Leadville. From
there we followed the trail along the south shoreline of
both lakes, then headed uphill towards the pass, which is
between Mount Hope (13,933') and Quail Mountain
(13,484'). Of course, it was Colorado in the summer,
so as we climbed that afternoon we got rained on. A nice
way to start the trip! Anyway, the grade was easy enough
(2,000' over the first seven miles after leaving the
lakes), but the constant, rainy slog uphill and the 50+
pound backpacks we were carrying (anticipating 10 days of
travel) meant that by mid-afternoon we were wet and
whipped and we camped somewhere around 10,500',
fighting to get the white gas stove working (it
wasn't long after this trip I switched to canister
stoves and haven't looked back).
The next day dawned quite fair, and we were up and at
it again. Now it got steeper, with the last mile towards
the pass being a real workout. Upon reaching the top of
the pass the views were just terrific. Mt. Elbert
(14,433' - the highest mountain in Colorado) was just
across the valley we had left to the north of us. To the
south across the Clear Creek drainage were many of the
Collegiate 14ers, including Huron Peak (14,005'),
Missouri Mountain (14,067'), Mount Belford
(14,197') and Mt. Oxford (14,153'). The relief at
making the pass and the beautiful views were a great
reward!
Then it was down a very steep Sheep Gulch, losing over
3,000' of elevation in just two miles. It was here
that I discovered that my boots didn't fit
"quite right", and with the steep downhill and
the heavy load on my back, by the end of the descent my
big toes had taken quite a beating from being jammed into
the front of my boots over and over (the toenails would
later turn black and remain that way for months). It was
also in this section that my hiking poles saved an ankle.
The upper part of the "trail" here is basically
a walk down scree, and at one point a rock moved under my
foot, causing it to get trapped between two others, while
my momentum wanted to carry me forward. If I hadn't
had my poles (one of which has a bend to this day to
remind me of its valiant service here), I would have
twisted and possibly broke my ankle. Upon reaching the
road at the bottom of Sheep Gulch, we walked down the
valley toward Clear Creek Reservoir. Here we passed what
has to be one of the most beautiful places to live in the
whole state. There is a working ranch nestled in the
bottom of the valley, 14ers rising all around, Clear
Creek meandering through beaver meadows running right
through the ranch, which had bunkhouses and other
outbuildings besides a beautiful ranch house. If those
people don't wake up feeling lucky every day for
where they live, I want to slap them!
We finally reached the reservoir in the middle of a
very hot afternoon, and found the campsite we planned on
using was actually an RV camping area, so we got to
listen to generators hum and TVs blare all night long -
not a pristine wilderness experience! To get away from
the noise for a while, I walked down the north shore of
the lake to the dam and back. However, we forgave them
all the next day when Mike's pack broke while we were
saddling up, and one of them gave us a ride to Buena
Vista.
Miles traveled: 20 in two days.
Elevation gain: 3,320'
Photos follow.
Photos
Some of the photos that follow are panoramas, so
expand your browser or scroll to the right.
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Two dorks getting ready to start
trip. I'm wearing "the
hat", which increases my
dorkitude by at least a factor of
two.
(Photographer unknown)
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Mike sitting whipped in our sodden
campsite at the end of a very wet
first day. The tent is my Walrus
Warp/2, which the following summer
would do yeoman work fighting wet
conditions in the Weminuche
Wilderness up Noname Creek.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)
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Looking north down from the pass.
The shoulder of Mt. Elbert is on the
left. The upper Twin Lake is barely
visible below, with the smaller lake
beyond it being Mt. Elbert Forebay.
The upper Arkansas River valley is in
the background.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)
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Mike on the summit of Hope Pass,
looking south toward the Collegiate
Peaks. Missouri Mountain
(14,067') is directly behind
Mike, with Mt. Belford (14,197')
on the left.
(Photo by Jim Lehmer)
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Me on the summit of Hope Pass,
looking southwest. Huron Peak
(14,005') is behind me on the
right, Missouri Mountain on the left.
(Photo by Mike Slinkard)
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