Emergency Backpacking Trip!

So, I was supposed to go climbing on Sunday August 28, 2011, with my best friend(visiting from MA), and my usual leader, however on the way to meet him in Denver...we were in a car accident, 200 yards from our destination. It was a very stressful morning, and needless to say I needed to blow off some steam. 

Later in the afternoon my dear friend Tiffany consented to drive us up to Guanella Pass, and drop us off until Tuesday. We packed our gear quickly, and Tiffany picked us up for our trip. Our plan was to backpack a ways in from the summit of the Pass, set up camp, and get up early to climb the peak. 

We arrived at the pass around 7pm, and thank the amazing Tiffany millions of times for driving us way up there.

Upon arrival!

Tiffany and I at the trailhead!

Tess ready for her first "backpacking" trip/14er.

This is where we are heading!

An amazing view of the opposing side of the Sawtooth after sunset.

We hiked probably a half-mile and were unable to find the trailhead in the dark, so we finally found a spot in the middle of the willows, more than 100 ft off the trail, and set up camp. It was dark by this time, and we crawled into our sleeping bags, and set an alarm for 4am.... we ended up sleeping till 6:30. When we got up, we gathered gear, ate breakfast, and prepared for the hike. 

There were dark clouds on the horizon, and I was hesitant to continue on with the hike.

However, they stayed low, and enveloped the landscape.

We hiked above tree line, and continued up the trail. The valley below was covered with clouds, and it became incredibly cold and windy. By the time we hit the final scramble to the top, the clouds were racing up and over the ridge. It was amazing, to see nothing, then see everything in a matter of moments! I was able to see the other side of the ridge, which on one side held Frozen Lake- a trip I've yet to take, and the other, Abyss Lake, where I've already been. 

Abyss Lake

Frozen Lake.

The Final ridge was difficult to see with the clouds, so I ended up scrambling over large boulders to the summit, my friend took a slightly different route.

This is the view over the sawtooth.

Not all 14ers have a Geological Survey Marker, however Bierstadt is one of them, at 14,060Ft.

From the Summit, 14er #2.

A view from the summit.

The hike down was relatively uneventful, and we stopped at the stream to refill water, and have a snack. 

We sat in a small clearing filled with gorgeous flowers!

Tess was very happy we were able to do it!

We made it back to the tent by around 2:30 in the afternoon, and decided to eat some lunch.

After sitting in the tent for another half an hour, we determined that we were bored, and would like to change locations. This was a problem, there was no cellphone service in which to notify our driver, so we decided it better to pack up and backpack the 11 miles down to Georgetown, CO. As we were packing up, we saw an amazing phenomenon-- it began to mist down near the lake, and we saw a low hanging rainbow! It was below us!

Certainly one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

We packed up and began the hike, managing to txt our driver, and she was able to come get us around 7 at night. We hiked 8 miles before she picked us up, and saw a neat electric station!

Altogether it was an amazing trip, and certainly worth the emergency status!  After such a stressful few days, it was nice to get out and enjoy the wilderness again. As for my best friend, one of her big goals coming here for a visit was to summit a 14er, and she was able to do so!