Mt Hope

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
This kind of sums up hiking 13ers. Type 2 fun at its best.

This one has been on the list for a while. And to be honest I was 0-for-2 on it until this try.

We knew the weather was going to be one of those perfect warm September days, so we slept in. Got to the TH and was on the trail by 8:15ish.

It was still cool, upper 30s but what a beautiful morning. The sun was warming up the gulch.

The aspens were just starting to turn. A few groves were golden, but most were still greenish.

Don’t let this easy hike foul you. It’s UP. About 4,000 feet of gain in about 3.5 miles.

It took us about 2:30 to reach Hope Pass, including a stop for snacks. We didn’t linger long and began the ridge.

There is a faint trail that will lead you left of the first bump, no need to go up and over. From there we stayed on the ridge, until 13,150.

Why? Because the route description says to go hard left here. DON’T. It’s just a bunch of steep loose rocks. If we would have stayed ridge proper, there is that faint trail. (I’ll let Bill know about this. It should say stay on the ridge to about 13,350-400.)

We should have followed our eyes, not our brains.

But we kept moving up trying to decide which gully to go up. I thought we needed to go far, far left. But nope.

I looked up and say a guy in a bright red hat coming down the gully right above us. We watched him for a bit and decided that was the way to go. Turns out this was Phillip E.

The gully, is a loose pile of rocks. You can easily turn this into a Class 2+ or Class 3 scramble by sticking to one of the sides. The center is a bunch of loose dirt and rocks. Helmets? Not really needed if you take turns and watch out for each other.

Up the gully and back on the ridge for a bit. More rocks, a small “V” notch and another short scramble to the top. Well, almost.

The disappointment… probably a couple hundred yards of rocky curved ground and a dip before the summit. The entire hike was up, up. Some scrambling fun in the gullies, which was the highlight of the hike. Then you’re on the soft rounded summit area. Why is it always a letdown to have to walk to the summit on these types of peaks?

“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Maybe that's why we're always reaching the summits, to see that horizon.

We spent about 30 minutes on top eating snacks and enjoying the moment. It was a gorgeous September day. Bluebird skies. Cool temps. Warm sun. And I’m still complaining about the top. I should just shut up.

It took about 1:50 to reach the summit from the pass. And about 1 hour to get down back to the pass. And then another 1:15 to get back to the trailhead.

We drove with the windows down back to the highway. Stopped for dinner at the Lariat in BV. And enjoyed a relatively easy drive home. There has been so much traffic this summer, especially with the Hwy 9 detour in South Park. This day had light traffic.

And some fall colors...

"My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here."
~ Jim Henson