Mags and I (bill) decided to kick it up a notch on our hike this morning. Previously (this summer) we had climbed a whole bunch of local peaks with short ascents and relatively easy elevation gains. It was time to graduate to the big-girl league. We went for Madden Peak in the La Plata mountain range.
The hike started a little ominously. The vagaries of the area guidebook presented an initial problem in figuring out where the trail started (aka: bush-wacking through a dense aspen forest until we found it)
Nevertheless, we found our way out of the forest and onto the proper trail. Here is an early sunrise over the La Platas, and an even sunnier smile from Mags.
Keeping hydrated while looking over Mesa Verde and New Mexico.
The first of two false summits. Mags is turning into quite the climber. I imagine it will not be long before she will leave me in the dust on these hikes.
Heading over to the beginning of the actual summit climb. This was the crux of the climb and included roughly 300-400 feet of very steep talus to scramble over.
Looking up at the talus slope.
Mags taking a breather on the slope. She tried to convince me that this would be a good place to take a nap. I thought otherwise.
