Category Archives: Adventure

Adventure, Isle Royale National Park, Troy's Blog

Independence Day on Isle Royale

November 16, 2019 Troy

After the close encounter with moose the night before, it was nice to get back to camp and crawl into the sleeping bag for a night of much needed rest. Beginning to return to a conscious state, I eventually realize I’m hearing water splashing. Now more alert I open my eyes and realize this is Isle Royale and Feldtmann Lake is steps away from our tent. That must be a moose I’m hearing! I try to exit the tent as quietly as possible, grabbing my camera on the way out and take the trail out to the shores of the lake. There he is entering just a short distance down the shoreline walking in the opposite direction. Amazing to see this large, wild animal right there in front of me. I crouch next to a small shrub and just watch as the moose meanders towards deeper water, finding something to eat from time to time. Hoping to see at least one moose on this week long adventure and here it is only the second morning and my count is already at five. I know there are a lot of moose in this National Park, but to see that many in less than 24 hours seems almost surreal. Eventually this moose moves on and I turn my focus to other wildlife around.

Off and on through the night and early morning hours I would hear the call of a loon. Relaxing near the shore, a pair of loons swim closer searching for breakfast and giving the occasional loon call echoing down the lake. While enjoying their company I realize it’s the 4th of July. Our plan was to stay put near Feldtmann Lake for the day and just enjoy the day. Maybe catching fireworks from Rainbow Cove at nightfall shot off from Grand Portage. We had a down day planned just in case weather did not cooperate at some point or we were to sore from the 9+ miles of hiking to get here from Windigo. Fortunately we felt relatively well and the forecast called for passing storms in the afternoon with clearer days after so we could spend the day leisurely exploring around Feldtmann Lake. As the loons moved out of sight I turned around to return to the camp sight beginning to feel my stomach beginning to growl. Before I could go just a few feet I noticed a dragonfly soaking up the warming sunlight. They are such interesting insects and eat mosquitoes which is a great benefit on this island.

Eventually I return to the campsite and the others make their way out for the morning. Time to enjoy a warm treat today. Most days its just bars and dry cereal. Things we can eat while on the trail. After breakfast is over and our dishes are all cleaned up, we notice the other hikers have all left and we’re the only ones left. We decide to check out the other campsites and decide there’s one we would rather spend the next day at. The tent gets emptied and flattened so we can transfer everything a few sites down the trail and be right on the shore of Lake Feldtmann. One of the advantages of taking a day off from hiking. Once everything is set back up we decide to enjoy the view on this beautiful, sunny morning. Watching the water for awhile and we begin to see fish. There’s supposed to be Northern Pike in the lake. Then Kristen pulls one of her feet out of the water and there’s a leech attached. Bait? What can we do for a hook? Then I spot a lure stuck on a large stick under the water. I retrieved the lure and tried to save the fishing line attached without success. We took some of our rope, attached the lure adding the leech, and tossed it out. Unfortunately this wasn’t successful. No fresh fish for dinner tonight.

At one point a beaver would swim by at relatively close range and climb on shore just on the other side of our tent. A minute or so later it would return to the shoreline eating the leaves it just collected near our tent. They’re fun to watch close up but also a little unnerving. Their teeth as so big and sharp. They could clip through a bone with ease. Thankfully they really don’t want to attack humans so we could just watch them going back and forth in the lake without too much concern. I wasn’t sure how we would spend a down day. Would it move slow and boredom set in? Instead time was flying by and here it was lunchtime already. We prepared our Independence Day meal and enjoyed it in this amazing park. Afterwards we decided to wade in the shallow water near the campsite. The water felt great on our recovering feet from the hike the day before. Fish would swim just out of reach, including a few Northern Pike we’d heard about. Exploring the shoreline a little we looked at the vegetation moose seemed to graze on and could even see their hoof prints in the sandy bottom. After an hour in the water we decided to return to Rainbow Cove almost a mile away and take in the waves of Lake Superior while checking the western sky for rain and thunderstorms.

By this time clouds began to increase with some fog beginning to drift into Isle Royale. A crack of thunder could be heard off in the distance but there really didn’t appear to be any storms approaching. It must be moving around the island keeping us dry. We walked up and down the beach at Rainbow Cove for awhile just looking at the different stones and listening to the water splash against the rocky shore. Eventually we decided that fireworks probably would be covered by the clouds and fog and headed back to our campsite for the remainder of the night. As we got back there was once again a frenzy of hikers setting up their campsites after a long days hike. Several of them were disappointed as they tried to get to Feldtmann Lake early in order to get the best site but we were already there. A part of me felt a little bad because I understood their extra efforts to secure this beautiful spot only to have it already taken. The night began to overtake the day and we decided to head for our sleeping bags once again bringing an end to our Independence Day on Isle Royale National Park. Tomorrow would bring a 10+ mile hike further into the island.

Adventure, Photos, Troy's Blog

Finding Spring Again

July 14, 2019 Troy

About a month ago I had the opportunity to head into Northern Minnesota for some camping and exploring with a friend of mine from college. Just getting there was a lot of fun as the further north we drove from the Twin Cities, the more like spring it felt. There are so many things I enjoy as spring begins to transform the winter wonderland into a landscape so full of life. One of those is the scent of crabapples in full bloom. They’re beautiful to look at but so captivating to smell. Unfortunately their blooming season seems so short so to be able to enjoy this sweet fragrance once again at the Leif Erikson Gardens in Duluth was such a great unexpected treat. Winter held on a little longer this spring delaying these spring flowers a little which worked out extremely well for this trip. In addition to the crabapples, tulips were showing off their vibrant colors while being complimented with the large Lake Superior as a backdrop. I could have spent more time here just enjoying an absolutely gorgeous spring day but there still was a significant distance to go before getting to the days destination in Northern Minnesota.

As the vehicle continued towards the Canadian border along Lake Superior, spring seemed to rewind as the leaves on trees were smaller, earlier flowers were blooming once again, and the air grew cooler. By the time we reached our destination just outside of the Boundary Waters we were greeted with early blooming wildflowers such as Trillium – my favorite spring wildflower I think. It may be a toss up between Trillium and Lady Slipper Orchids. Since I didn’t come across any hardy orchids in bloom in the area I just enjoyed the pure white flowers reaching out above the interesting leaves of these intriguing Trillium grandiflorum. There were also nodding Trilliums in bloom along with a number of other wildflowers. What a great way to start out a weeks trip camping in the North Woods!

Adventure, National Parks, Photos, Troy's Blog

Happy Independence Day!

July 4, 2019 Troy

Wishing Americans a Happy Independence Day!

I’m currently on a hike on Isle Royale celebrating the freedom we enjoy to be able to explore such beautiful places. It’s been an incredible experience and I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you soon.

Adventure, Troy's Blog

Mushrooms Abound

September 29, 2018 Troy

While camping at Lost Lake in the Chequamegon – Nicollet National Forest Labor Day Weekend I kept finding different and unique mushrooms. There are nine different ones pictured alone in this post but I counted at least 13 different types. I’m not a mushroom person so I don’t know what most of them are nor do I eat them so if you’re looking for what kind each is I’m sorry but I can’t answer that. Maybe at some point I’ll research these and figure out what more of them are but there are just too many at one time. It would take a good part of a day to identify all of them which is more time than I am willing to commit at this moment.

There were several things I wanted to do while enjoying an extended weekend in the quiet north woods of Wisconsin. Some of these included fishing, sitting by the campfire, exploring area trails and waterfalls, and photographing stuff like animals and stars. Upon moving my stuff from the car to a cabin I kept seeing different mushrooms. Some in or on trees and others on the ground. I thought it was pretty cool to see these especially since I had recently read an article about some of the area mushrooms and was learning a better appreciation for them and their structures. Eventually I planned to take a few pictures of them but fishing was more on my mind so the camera stayed in its bag and down to the lake I went.

The next day,after throwing a line in the water for a bit, I decided to snap a few quick photos of those mushrooms just around the cabin I was staying in and retreat to a chair for some R and R before continuing on with a day of exploring. Looking at these photos a little later on I was not happy with how they were turning out so figured I should find a bit more time at some point to get some better ones. Also I was spotting more types of mushrooms to take pictures of.

By the third day I decided to try again photographing the mushrooms in the area but only half hardily. Handholding the camera in relatively low light of the forest I attempted some more pictures of the same mushrooms as the day before in hopes of better results. Well, the results really weren’t much better but I wasn’t sure I cared enough to spend more time doing that.

After spending about as much time as I wanted photographing mushrooms I returned to the cabin ready to take it easy for a little bit when the friend I was camping with brought out his camera and started getting more serious about capturing these little forest gems. Begrudgingly I joined in and realized if I wanted some decent shots I needed to commit to setting things up correctly with the camera which required a tripod, remote shutter, and additional lighting. At first I struggled a little bit because it was taking longer to set up a shot or series of shots than I really wanted but the urge to capture these amazing mushrooms motivated me to continue on.

Getting good, close shots of some of these tiny mushrooms requires figuring out how to get low to the ground while keeping the camera steady for a second or two and triggering the shutter while holding a light at just the right distance and angle became a bit of a circus act. Eventually I enlisted some help and began to see some nice photos encouraging more time on the forest floor. By the way, it had rained the night before so the ground was wet and muddy adding to my lack of motivation to crawl around to get some interesting shots.

Once I finally got past the lack of desire to spend the time capturing these little fungi and started to get better results from the camera setup, time started to fly and the day with it. Every time I thought this is the last different on that I see I would photograph it, stand up and see another one or be informed of one I need to take a look at a little further in the forest. After several hours of just taking pictures of mushrooms I finally decided I needed to be done. I was on fungus overload and needed to go fishing. Especially since I wanted to eat fish for the next meal.

While meandering back to the cabin so I could put the camera gear away and grab a fishing pole I couldn’t believe how many different mushrooms existed in such a relatively small area. I’ve never seen so many. Or at least I’ve not noticed them like this. The other thing that really caught my attention was the coral fungus. Having just read about them a few months prior I wanted to find some and here they were. Since that time I’ve been paying more attention to decomposing logs and trees looking for more of these interesting little fungus. Sometimes I find a couple of different mushrooms but nothing like what was at Lost Lake. Hopefully I can return to those cabins again and continue this hunt for even more mushrooms.

Adventure, Troy's Blog, wildlife

Merganser Feast

September 23, 2018 Troy

Before the sun had risen above the horizon at Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota I ventured to a dock hoping for a foggy morning scene. There was some fog hanging onto the lake as sunlight began casting shadows from the pine and maple covered shoreline but not the epic foggy morning dreamt about the night before. Everything was so still waking up from a cool summer night. So peaceful! The type of morning I have come to cherish. As I was soaking in this serene landscape movement caught my attention. Ducks swimming slowly through vegetation nearby. With camera already resting on it’s three legged perch I stared into these grasses watching as ducks disappeared under the water’s surface and returned again all without making a sound. Only the ripples giving them away. Zooming in on one of these busy birds I noticed something in it’s mouth appearing to be a crayfish.

Watching intently through my cameras eye the outline confirmed my suspicions. It was indeed a crayfish caught in the beak of a merganser. This hard shelled creature appeared much to large to be swallowed by the little mouth of this bird so I continued to watch, snapping a few pictures along the way, as it wrestled to get it’s next meal ready to eat. As if it were dancing, this duck would swing it’s head from side to side opening its clamping beak attempting to shift the crayfish in another direction before dipping it underwater as if rinsing it off in preparation to eat it. The crayfish dance would be repeated for several minutes until finally satisfied this meal was ready to be consumed. All the while the crayfish appeared to be in a state of uncertainty of what was going on. Only moments before it was the predator eyeing up the next meal.

Once this early morning meal had reached the stomach of this merganser it was back to hunting. A water bird of this size appeared unable to handle more than one of these bottom dwelling creatures and yet continued searching for more. Watching this happen several more times I began wondering just how many crayfish can a little duck eat before becoming too lethargic and tempting a nearby perched eagle into a possible easy meal. Finally the mornings feast seemed to come to an end and preening was the next event on this cool, sunny mornings calendar. A few dunks in the water while flapping its wings before drying off in the warming sunlight in preparation of checking that all of this little ducks feathers were perfectly in place removing those that were not. Returning to the soundless swimming in and out of grassing camouflaging this brown aquatic bird from sight before once again losing it under the waters surface.

Scanning over the nearby waters surface this merganser re-appeared once again holding another crayfish in it’s tiny beak. The dance continued, although as if perfected, lasted a much shorter time before another crayfish was swallowed whole into the small mouth of a motivated predator. By this time more people were stirring causing these little ducks to retreat further into the weeds protecting them from the large two legged animals wandering along the shoreline. It was time to store my camera and tripod back into its protective sack relinquishing my place on this dock for others to begin launching their water crafts for a summer day out on the water.

Adventure, National Parks, Troy's Blog

How About One More?

August 20, 2018 Troy

We were all really sad to have our Monopoly travels come to an end in Hawaii and didn’t really want our National Park adventures to come to an end but there we were visiting an active volcano which was placed at the end of our trips as an incredible end in our family journey. Fortunately I found a loophole (excuse to visit another park) giving us another opportunity to explore a different National Park as a family. The Monopoly board has three ‘chance’ spots on it and three ‘community chest’ spots which we figured where there for us to pick out six of our own places to go. After a little discussion it was decided the ‘chance’ places would represent three different caves we’ve explored – Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Mammoth Cave. For the ‘community chest’ locations it was thought the three national parks in Minnesota would make sense which includes Grand Portage National Monument, Pipestone National Monument, and Voyageurs National Park. All of these have provided adventures for us on previous trips with the exception of Voyageurs National Park so that is where we decided to go this summer as an unofficial ending for our Monopoly adventures.

While there we experienced a range of temperatures with days of 90+ degrees Fahrenheit which is unusual for extreme Northern Minnesota and days in the upper 60’s with nighttime lows reaching into the 40’s. Since we were camping there were times the heat was a little uncomfortable and so were the coolest of nights causing us to shiver while trying to sleep. The beautiful landscape made the time at the most northern portion of Minnesota very enjoyable. Much of Voyageurs is surrounded by water so to really take in this park some of the time should be spent on the water fishing, canoeing, or just exploring. We planned on going canoeing one afternoon and taking a boat excursion another day. Unfortunately we were unable to get on one of the boat tours and on the day of our planned canoe trip the wind was too strong causing that to be canceled. So there we were without an opportunity to travel over these same waters voyageurs would transport their furs over a long time ago. This didn’t stop us entirely from enjoying the water. On one of the hot afternoons we found a place to venture out wading through the nice, cool lake water to find some relief from the heat.

We intentionally timed this adventure to coincide with the Perseid Meteor shower peaking throwing a meteor per minute across the dark sky. Where better to watch this astrological event than a dark sky location like Voyageurs National Park? Fortunately our first night stargazing was mostly clear allowing us to watch as these amazing meteors streaking across the sky. Previous to this Canadian fires provided enough smoke creating a thin blanket over the sky preventing many of the meteors to be seen. We were not alone in our quest to see these fireballs blazing their way through the night sky as every park ranger we talked with also took time to look up and find a meteor or two during the night. This was certainly one of the highlights of our time in this great National Park. In the photo below you can barely see a meteor lighting up the sky in the middle near the top. It’s quite faint so you really need to look closely. Also in this picture is a portion of the Milky Way which can identified with the real bright spots combined with real dark areas in the left portion of this photograph. It almost look like the branches from a pine tree on the left side are pointing to the Milky Way.

During the day we found a few trails to hike allowing us to take in this serene landscape as it uses the final weeks of summer to prepare once again to enter dormancy to survive the harsh winter conditions not far away in this part of Minnesota. No National Park adventure would be complete without a junior ranger badge so of course one of the first priorities was to get to the nearest visitor’s center and pick up a junior ranger packet. While traveling to different areas of the park we would work on these books eventually completing enough activities to get sworn in and receive badges signifying junior ranger status. Even though our children are older now they can still become junior rangers and usually encouraged to do so by actual Park Rangers.

Probably the weirdest part of exploring this national park was that we were using our own vehicle. Usually we rent a car so that in itself has become part of each adventure. Upon picking up the car there’s a competition to figure out what color it’s going to be along with what state it will be registered in but we didn’t get to do that this time. There was one other time we traveled in our own car and that was while exploring Badlands National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park on our first set of adventures. There was definitely a higher level of comfort doing it this way though because there was no airplane ride which restricted the amount of things we could bring. As our time here dwindled there was once again a feeling of sadness because now we really were on our final national park adventure on the Monopoly Board. There are many more national parks I would like to visit but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do so as a family in the future so for now our Monopoly Travels which began nine years ago come to a close.

Adventure, Troy's Blog

Under the Surface of Lost Lake

August 12, 2018 Troy

On a recent trip to Lost Lake in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest I read that the water clarity was pretty good so I brought my mask, snorkel. and of course the GoPro to explore the lake under the surface. I’ve never snorkeled in fresh water before so this would be a new experience. In salt water it’s pretty easy to stay afloat due to the high density of that water but fresh water I tend to sink rather easily so was nervous to try snorkeling in deeper water. Lost Lake seemed like a good spot to try as there is a lot of shallower places to swim allowing me to touch the bottom if needed.

My first adventure into the water brought several interesting observations for me. First, the water was a little cool but didn’t take any more than a few seconds to get use to which was nice. Next, the water clarity wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping for and finally, snorkeling in fresh water wasn’t much different than in salt water as far as being able to maintain my ability to float. I wished I had brought my fins once this was discovered because it was challenging to swim while holding a camera. Fins would make it easier to move forward while using the GoPro to record these beautiful fish.

I found it easier to move around by using my feet on the ground but that brought up a lot of the decaying organic debris into the water making the clarity even less. Some of the surrounding fish seemed to be happy with me doing that as I’m sure I was stirring up food with the debris. Once being able to move around a little easier I was able to focus more on the different fish, their behaviors, and the underwater landscape which was really interesting. There are pumpkinseed pan fish, perch, small mouth bass, and trout listed to be in Lost Lake. I didn’t see any trout but found the others lurking in weeds.

The landscape underneath the surface proved to be quite interesting with a combination of living and dead vegetation. Scanning through the weeds at different points there would be fish or two swimming in between them but if I stayed there for a minute or so there would soon be a large school surrounding me. I began to think there would be nightmares later that night of fish attaching from every direction. Fortunately that did not happen! At one point I just stayed in a single spot and turned completely around only to find fish in every direction staring at me. It was kind of cool and a little creepy at the same time.

Every so often I would come across a bare spot in the floor of the lake. As I watched some of these areas a larger pumpkinseed would return and begin to flare its gills and fins at me in defense of this spot it had previously cleaned off as a nest. I would move towards it and scare this fish away only to have it return a short time later. This wasn’t something I would do repeatedly as I didn’t want it to abandon the nest but found this behavior interesting as I was many times larger than the fish. After swimming among the fishes for awhile I returned to the shore to dry off eagerly wanted to go fishing. It almost seemed like cheating a little because I had found certain areas for certain fish so knew where to cast. That didn’t mean I necessarily caught them even though I had a good idea where they were. Another freshwater snorkeling adventure is definitely on my agenda when I get a chance.

Adventure

A Butterfly Day

August 4, 2018 Troy

For the first time since the end of April I actually got out with the camera to see the sun rise and got to enjoy a nice morning while watching some wildlife. Much of the morning was spent watching green and blue herons but there was an hour or so of exploring trails I’ve not been on yet. While hiking these trails I kept coming across butterflies, most of which I haven’t seen before so the hike became even more interesting. The odd thing to me was that most of them were on the ground. They must have been searching for water as they were on wet areas on the ground. The butterfly above is a Hackberry Emperor. Thanks to Minnesota Seasons I was able to identify all of those I saw on this trip.

The first actual butterfly I came across was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail which I have seen a couple of times before but this one seemed much larger than those I’ve watched previously. Seeing it before did not make it any less fun to watch as it fluttered around landing often on a moist area of the trail. Butterflies are not always the easiest to photograph as their flight is unpredictable and you never know where they’re going to land unless there is a consistent food source they’re taking in. When you get to close they take off making a close up very challenging.

If they’re actively pursuing nectar from flowers you can usually get closer to them or set up the camera on a certain area and wait for them to sip nectar from that area for a great close up. As I walked along the trail I came across culvers root flowers which appeared to attract many bees and a butterfly or two such as this western tailed blue butterfly. Part of the name comes from the blue coloring on the inside of their wings which I didn’t see on this one because it didn’t fly or open its wings while watching it. I enjoyed watching it for a few minutes as it climbed all over the flowers.

Often times I’d be walking along and all of a sudden something would move or fly away not always able to figure out what it was. The northern pearly eye above was one of those but fortunately it landed fairly close allowing me to snap a few pictures of it before both of us moved on. The patterns in the wings amazed me as is often the case with butterflies.

During my short hike the butterfly that was the most colorful and different to me was this red spotted purple butterfly you can see here. First of all being a dark bodied insect really set it apart from the surroundings along with the red, blue, and white spots covering parts of the wings. Secondly it had red spots on the outside of its wings which came out beautifully in the sunlight.

Early on in my hike I was looking at the area landscape when I happened to look down and see an interesting caterpillar crawling around on a spent thistle bloom which seemed fitting as they both have a lot of spikes on them. Researching this one came up with a spiny elm caterpillar which becomes a mourning cloak butterfly later in its life. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those as the summer continues. I don’t remember seeing this many different types of butterflies at one time in one place. It certainly made for a more enjoyable hike.

Adventure, Lake Superior, Troy's Blog

A Snowmobiling Adventure

February 12, 2017 Troy

Last winter I had so much fun snowmobiling in Northern Wisconsin that I couldn’t wait to do it again so this year the plan was to go earlier almost guaranteeing enough cold and snow to fly across the wintery landscape. As luck would have it the upper Midwest has been relatively warm with precipitation falling as rain instead of snow once again bringing questions of trail quality and snow cover. As the planned day arrived a fresh coat of snow fell bringing many of the trails into great condition for snowmobiling. Let the fun begin!

After a brief check of the snowmobile it was time to hit the trails for a day of adventure through the forests of the North. Thankfully it was a warm winter day under a bright blue sky dulled only by a few wispy, white clouds making for perfect weather to fly on top of the snow covered Earth. As the day progressed miles kept flying by bringing different beautiful landscapes around the next corner. Portions of the trail glide through dense forests while others are wide open fields with the occasional lake added in to keep the picture ahead changing.

As sunset approached the mileage was reading almost 150 miles clocked during the daylight hours. It was definitely fun amassing those miles through every turn and hill set before us including one that was a little sharper than expected causing a sled to cruise through the corner almost flipping over and running over a few small trees before stopping to allow damage assessment. Fortunately there was none except maybe to a little tree or two which had to be removed before the snowmobile would move under its own power once again.

With the sun now down below the horizon it was off towards our final destination of the day ending at a hotel for a few hours of rest before returning the snowmobiles for the weekend. As the trees flew by the sky continued to amaze with beautiful colors changing from yellows and oranges to reds and pinks distracting from the trail in front. Fighting through that distraction came yet another one with a full moon rising above the horizon bringing with it a reminder that there was suppose to be a partial lunar eclipse but probably not visible at this Northern Wisconsin location. As daylight turned to darkness this partial eclipse shown across the face of the moon continuing the challenge of focusing on the trail ahead.

A quick stop to refuel and off again into the darkness of trees reaching over snow covered trails meandering up and down and side to side until my snowmobile continually slowed down even though the throttle was pushed until it stopped and a small pop came from under the hood. Now what do we do here with nothing but trees as far as we could see. After a half hour of trying to get it restarted without success we decided our current adventure was complete and unknowingly a new one was about to begin.

Thankfully our second snowmobile was a two person sled so we moved the dead snowmobile off of the trail and headed for the nearest town to hopefully secure a place to stay and figure out what to do with the broken one. As the night progressed we learned how to disable the drive on snowmobiles and how to tow them all thanks to Youtuber’s. Grabbing a tow rope we headed back to the disabled snowmobile, disengaged it’s drive belt and towed it back to the rental place over several hours in complete darkness with only the flashlight of our phones to see what we were doing as the moon was now covered by a layer of clouds. Once completed we fell, exhausted into our beds for the night ending this Northern Wisconsin adventure.

Adventure, Rocky Moutain National Park, Troy's Blog

Climbing Longs–Continue On or Not?

October 9, 2016 Troy

While taking in the views sitting in the Keyhole, Lysa and I discussed the next portion. Are we up for the next portion of this hike, which becomes a climb, and is considered more difficult than what we just completed. Our initial decision was to sit and enjoy our surroundings and return to the trailhead while the weather was in our favor as storms were predicted for the entire afternoon and clouds were beginning to form. You can see in the above picture of the next portion of our hike. There is a group following the trail towards a valley called the trough. Actually the trail looks fun except for one issue – being able to breath adequately at 13,000 feet. Going beyond the Keyhole the hike becomes increasingly more dangerous as a wrong step on parts of the trail can lead to serious injury and even death as has happened here before.

Sitting and enjoying the awesome surroundings while watching others maneuvering the trail was nice but a feeling kept burrowing deeper inside us. What’s it like on this trail and what’s around the corner that we can’t see? Well there really is only one way to find out! On went the packs as we moved to boulders making up the trail which is marked by red and yellow bulls eyes. The morning sun was warming us at the Keyhole but as we began this portion it was in the shadows with colder temperatures. Thankfully we had gloves as the boulders are quite cold up here. The trail wasn’t too difficult as long as you take your time and watch your step while grabbing boulders to maintain balance and support among this unforgiving granite.

Time flew by as we slowly made our way up and over numerous rocks towards the valley called the Trough. There are a few challenging boulders to climb over but for the most part it was a nice climb/hike. Reaching the trough fatigue was beginning to set in. This is concerning because it can lead to poor decision making in a place intolerable to it. Even though we took a few breaks along the way we needed to stop for a longer period of time to regain our oxygen levels and leg strength before the next section which requires continually climbing up.

Clouds continued to build around the mountains causing us to try and push towards the top so we began climbing the Trough as quickly as possible. About a third of the way up we began to get light headed and dizzy at times along with trembling legs. At this point we knew we had to slow down and take more breaks in order to get enough oxygen to continue our climb. After this point we would climb about 10 or 15 feet up and take a short break. That seemed to help maintain our strength but slowed down our climb. While we were climbing up there were others working their way down sliding from time to time making us realize up may actually be safer than coming back down. Occasionally a rock would come flying down towards us from other hikers above requiring us to take cover from time to time until the rock passed without incident. Eventually we picked our way through the rocks getting close to the top of the Trough reaching, what at first glance, was an impassible boulder. Taking some time to study our options we chose a path and nervously worked our way up and over this boulder and arrived what felt like on top of the world. There’s a geological marker here stating that we had made it to 13, 749 feet. Only 500 feet left to the top of Longs.

We sat on a narrow strip of granite taking in our surroundings and resting after this energy draining climb up the Trough in preparation for the next section. Again the discussion arose of continuing towards the summit or not. After a few minutes we came to the conclusion it was time to call it a day and turn around. There were multiple reasons for this. First, clouds were continuing to get darker and there were obvious rain showers in the distance working towards us. Next, we had someone picking us up from the trailhead at a designated time and looking at the current time we were already going to be pushing that time. Finally we were very fatigued and still needed to climb down these difficult sections safely. I estimated we would need another 2 hours in order to make it to the summit and begin our descent which I was not interested in doing in thunderstorms with wet, slippery rock. Especially with my daughter.

After taking some additional time enjoying the view, eating and drinking to replenish, and resting to re-gain strength, and talk with other hikers about the situation we began the climb down scrambling around this almost impossible boulder while others tried to figure out their way around it climbing up. With their assistance we made it down safely over this boulder and continued down the Trough making our way to the Keyhole once again. It felt good to be back to this point safely before any rain started to fall. Taking the last few minutes at this altitude we surveyed the area as it’s so incredible knowing we will not likely be back here again in our lifetime.

Shortly we made our way down to the Boulder Field campground feeling good about what we accomplished and that it’s all down hill on relatively easy trails from here just as thunder began rumbling off in the distance. Better get moving in an attempt to reach the tree line before storms reach us. We didn’t make it far before thunder began to boom overhead bringing with it a rain/snow mix which we hiked in for the next couple of hours. Fortunately there wasn’t visible lightning striking the mountains allowing us to continue our hike instead of seeking out a depression along the trail to take cover in. Yes, the decision to forgo reaching the summit now seemed like a good call as we would have been caught somewhere above the keyhole on wet boulders or possibly snow as the mountain peaks around us were turning white making the hike even more dangerous and time consuming. The rain passed as we reached the tree line with only a few more miles to go before meeting our ride and the end of this adventure filled and tiring day.

The return brought us down over 6 miles almost without stopping in an attempt to reach safety with storms expected much of the afternoon and then to reach the car. Because of this our legs became increasingly more sore with each step down we had to take. If we would have taken a few breaks to rest we would have been in good shape having accomplished an amazing hike.

Gaining Life Experience