Eaglesmere

Well, we read through "The Best Loop Hikes of Colorado" book and decided to try outEaglesmere, a 9.3 mile loop about 20 miles North of Breck.

Reading through our backpacking and hiking books got Corey and I all pumped up for the summer hiking season. We love the idea of "loop" hikes vs. out-and-backs. One of my goals for the summer is to try to avoid the out-and-back whenever possible. I also picked up a "13'ers" book while in Ouray earlier this year on the advice from the local book store lady(also and avid hiker). Bagging 14'ers is a hobby for many around CO in the summers, this means camping sites fill up quickly, trails are packed on the way up, etc. The basic premise of the 13'ers, says the hiker from Ouray, is that there are more options as far as mountains go, the campsites don't fill up nearly as fast as the 14'er campsites and the trails aren't as packed on the way up...woo hoo! So, hiking some 13'ers is also on the docket for summer fun!

We set up camp, let Britta chase some squirrels, made dinner, told stories, ahhhh, I love backpacking. Choosing a good tent is key, we used a 3-man tent made by Walrus (tent info below).

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s.stpost.com/eccStoreFront/product_images/88264/m_88264_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/322,88264_Moonrock-3-Season-2-3-Person-Tent-By-Walrus.html&usg=__xq-qMCl0FTST4saOjiyvhGTbeNE=&h=178&w=178&sz=7&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=DFY6ltEHyq0saM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwalrus%2Btent%2B3%2Bman%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

eaglesmere

Corey, Mariel, Britta and I left D-town for Eaglesmere Loop early Sunday morning for a nice little hike and overnight backpacking trip, the first one of the year. (17 miles North of Breck, L on Heeney rd., L on Cataract rd to TH). WHAT A GREAT TRAIL!! This hike literally has it all and we didn't even get half way through it. Aspen groves, lush pine tree forest, beautiful views, boulder fields, wildflowers, lakes and waterfalls. The hike was strenuous but not unbearable. A majority of the difficulty of the trail was posed by long portions of snowy terrain. We tried to step lightly, but we often fell through; this was bearable for Mariel and I, but tough on Chaco-wearing Corey. We hiked in about 4 miles (thanks gps watch) and came to a foot-wide log over some pretty aggressive rapids; Corey had a grand plan to harness Britta to his chest and butt scoot over the "bridge"...that idea was vetoed by yours truly :) We hiked back across some little streams, scurried up some boulder fields and found a nice little camp spot about .25 miles back. Rapids avoided!

Britta retired to the tent before dusk, chasing vermin makes for a hard day ;)

Guess what we did when we did when we first arrived back at the car this morning?! Talked about our NEXT backpacking trip.

Summer commences!