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Peak(s):  Huron Peak  -  14,006 feet
Date Posted:  06/26/2013
Date Climbed:   06/23/2013
Author:  jedrejcic
 Super-moonlight hike of Huron Peak   

So I drove to the 4WD trailhead on Saturday night hoping to get some sleep before waking up at about 1 or 2am, with the plan of hiking up to get some film of the sunrise from the summit. At about 10pm though, the moon came out from behind the hillside, and it was unbelievably bright.. There was no way I was going to sleep, so I started off from the trailhead at about midnight.

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Once I got above treeline, the moonlight was definitely bright enough to light the path, and left my headlamp off as much as I could.. I was startled to see headlamps, two from higher up on the trail, and also some north of me (likely someone hiking La Plata or Elbert). I ran into two folks on the way down probably around 3am, and was even more surprised to hear them tell me that there were several more folks up on the summit. I didn't realize that moonlight hikes were popular, but it sure was fabulous walking around the tundra under the moonlight.

Since I'd started out so early, I had a little time to try and kill, so I hid behind an outcrop at about 13,5 for a while and took this picture of what I assume is Leadville before sunrise.

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I continued up and sat shivering at the summit for probably an hour before sunrise, and filmed the whole thing of course.
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After sunrise, I got the most amazing shot of the mountain's shadow. This is facing west, and the full super-moon was just setting. Right below it you can see the shadow of Huron, and it extends into the atmosphere.

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It's a whole phenomenon that I had to look up.. Here's a close up:

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Once the sun came up, it was so much more comfortable. Looking forward to the next chance to hike under a full moon!



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
Dancesatmoonrise
User
Wow
6/27/2013 5:27am
The shadow of Huron is pretty cool. Huge!

”There was no way I was going to sleep, so I started off...” Ambitious. Way to go! I bet seeing all that was incredible. Thanks for the great photos. : )


jedrejcic
User
cory1223oh
User
Awesome!
6/27/2013 1:54pm
Those pictures are great. I'm putting a moonlight hike on my list for sure.

How was the road to the 4WD trailhead?


jedrejcic
User
Road is fine
6/27/2013 5:13pm
I have a normal SUV, and there were only a couple of places that were worrisome, but I made it without a problem, and so did plenty of other folks.


cory1223oh
User
Thanks!
6/27/2013 5:36pm
Thanks for the update. We may be heading up to do some camping in that area for the 4th.


heathahhhh
User
so cool
10/9/2013 7:19pm
VERY awesome pic of that shadow! I've never heard of that before either. Gonna go do some research I did Quandary at night under an almost full moon. Definitely one of my favorite hikes.



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