Because It’s There and A Visit From A Bear

 

We have always had a desire to hike to high places just because they’re there, although many times we don’t have the nerve or the stamina to actually get there. Since we arrived at Steven’s Creek Campground we’ve had our eye on this funny looking hill across the road. It appeared to have a road or trail going up it, so we convinced Chuck, Carla and Debbie to take a little hike.

 

We were able to access it from the storage area at the RV park below it. What we didn’t realize is that the road doesn’t go all the way to the top, but that didn’t stop Jim from trying. He got up quite a bit farther than the rest of us but it was really steep and rocky.

Jim’s vantage point. Chuck’s pedometer said we walked 4 miles round trip, so even though we didn’t reach our goal it was a good workout.

Yesterday we went back to the Dillon Pinnacles trail with Chuck and Carla. When we hiked it the first time we saw an unmarked trail forking off of it. We saw two park rangers coming down it and asked them where it went and if you could get to the top of the pinnacles. They said it continued on for a long way and there was no actual trail to the top. They did say it was possible to get there just by working your way up the side of the mountain. Well, that was all it took, so Jim and I tried to find a way up while Chuck and Carla took the main trail to view the pinnacles.

Our goal was the highest point on the right.

We managed to get about halfway up, but Jim didn’t bring any hiking poles and I only had one, plus we didn’t want Chuck and Carla to have to wait on us, so we gave up.

We decided to give it another try today, brought our poles (I replaced the one I threw off the side of the mountain in Ouray), plenty of water and snacks, and worked our way to the top. It wasn’t easy, and I had a little anxiety wondering how we’d get down, but we succeeded. It took us three hours total, spending about 20 minutes at the top.

Not everyone gets to see the pinnacles from above.

You can barely make out the lower trail on the left by the water.

Then to cap off our day, we saw several people with cameras and binoculars walking behind our sites this evening. I heard someone say bear, so we went to check it out. Sure enough, a cute black bear cub was playing around the rocks not far from the road in front of the campground..

We watched him for a good while as he dug in the rocks, then looked both ways before successfully crossing to the other side of the road. Hope he reunites with the rest of his family.

Tomorrow our plan is for our little Lazy Daze caravan to move on to Crested Butte.