Posted by 18.7 miles
I completed under estimated how difficult the Silverthorne Alternate would be. A quick glance at the map and I thought, oh yeah, no worries, 21 miles on the alternate back to the Red Line and beyond was doable. I pictured being able to hike a 25 mile day easily.
What I under appreciated was the steepness of the climbs on the alternate route and that as a much less travelled trail much of the path simply did not exist, requiring off trail hiking across various terrain including tussock type country. The amount of tree blow downs on the second climb for the day made for a rough time, climbing over countless downed trees sapping energy levels.
All climbs of the day essentially meant ascending from 10,000 feet up to 12,000 only to return back down to a valley floor at 10,000 feet and repeat. Strenuous work indeed.
The alternative was stunning and I would not change a thing. I would hike it again.
By late afternoon I realised I would have to pull up short. There was sufficient time to reconnect back to the Red Line which would have meant 21 miles but I would have to continue on for another 4 miles to find a suitable and sheltered camp site. Once back on the Red Line it was all open country on the tops of 12,000 feet ridge lines. No place for an ultralight tent on a windy day.
Reluctantly but smarty I made the decision to camp low below the last climb on the alternate route and tackle it tomorrow morning.
Luckily I have sufficient food with me as while planning ahead I realised that I’d also miscalculated how many days to reach Grand Lake. I had 3 days written down in a note book however this was for the Red Line portion from junction with the alternate route. I had completely forgotten the initial 21 miles for the alternate. 3 days is what I had in mind when resupplying food yesterday. A hotel breakfast, carry out lunch and donuts purchased on the way to the trail head this morning will all help. I have plenty of food with additional snacks and won’t have to ration anything. If I really needed to I could pull off trail at Berthoud Pass and hitch into Fraser for food. I can’t see that happening.
I had planned to reach Grant Lakes on my birthday and celebrate as its the big five 0 this year. Unfortunately that is no going to happen and I’ll have to hold over celebrations to the next day.
Mick Beckers 