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It was the very beginning of the summer when I turned my tiny Honda Civic into a mobile home and posted a picture of my life hack on instagram. I received a comment saying #sohobo. Sometimes the smallest (teeny tiniest) moment can change everything. Over the course of the awesomeness that was my summer I posted my adventures and trip reports to instagram where I developed a friendship with a certain handle @mtnhobo (George and Igor). Ultra trail runners based out of California (San Diego) these two started the mountain hobo revolution and basically stoke people on getting off their asses and running up mountains. But they are more than that. They embody the hard work, dedication, and passion that goes into trail running, a lifestyle that has provided me the mental stability I have spent most of my life searching for. I am a mountain hobo, they saw this, and asked me if I would head up Colorado's official (or not so official because that wouldn't be hobo) Mountain Hobo. Without hesitation I accepted and rallied an amazing group of hobos and we did what we do, we ran mountains and had some real life fun along the way.
Logan: can run down big mountains with no trails really really really fast (up is no different)
Ashley: she can talk and run (uphill) FAST without a gasp, not human
Zach: the most beautiful man calves around
Adam: experienced (loves the 100 mile distance), tough, likes addressing me by my last name
Chris: rolled ankle twinsie!
Brendan: leadville 100 survivor
John: the english destroyer
Roxy: the official Mountain Hobo Colorado pupper doo, she doubled our vert for the day
Somewhere around 11 miles and 5,000 feet of vertical gain in the front range.
The plan was a 6:00 a.m. start time but that turned into 6:45-7 ish. We started from the parking lot on the west side of Guanella Pass, I believe on the South Fork trail. This went to lower Square Top Lake where we made a left, the trail petered out and we headed up Square Top Mountain's grassy southeast slopes near a knocked down sign. The mood was light, running turned into power hiking, and everyone was enjoying the grind.
Magical morning time
Hey, wait up guys.
Hey, wait up Zach.
Damn it these people are fast.
Zach
Birthday girl Ashley!
We love mountains.
Fantastic
Ass kicking good times
Running it in
Walking it in
Summit of Square Top Mountain A (13,794') Mountain Hobo Colorado's first official summit!
All day the clouds told a story of snows impending arrival. There was a lack of sun and this made for cold times when not moving uphill so our summit was short and mostly consisted of me taking an oppressive amount of photos with the group and my poorly crafted mtnhoboCO sign that barely shows up in pictures (so hobo).
Descention off of Square Top's northwest ridge.
Grays and Torreys
Silver Dollar Lake and Mount Wilcox
A curious thing happened in the saddle between Square Top Mountain and Argentine Peak. When the mountains formed a million years ago (I really have no idea how long) some ancient power lines erupted from the earth's crust leaving behind the stunning and aesthetic view we took in.
The raddest hobo of all.
Avoiding electric shock we made our way to the summit of Argentine Peak (13,738') where things got plenty weird.
HOBOS!
Last stop Mount Wilcox. Down we went only to go up again. On the way down we ran into a nice man who seemed bewildered by our route (and us), here is where I learned Silver Dollar TH was a thing.
On and off all day Ashley had music going which led to sporadic dance parties that kind of erupted with no warning. Some pretty impressive dance moves were thrown around.
This is called the, "I see people"
This is called the, "Giant Mitten"
Mount Wilcox (13,408') should be re-named Mount Love Eruption.
The descent off of Mount Wilcox to Naylor Lake took some prisoners, Chris rolled his ankle twice and I rolled mine once. I wasn't even doing anything cool, I was stepping over a bush. We both heard a nauseating pop. Current status: jiggly balloon.
Mount Bierstadt, Mount Evans and The Sawtooth
We took a lovely break at the beautiful and illegal Naylor Lake (we realized once we headed down the dirt road towards Guanella Pass that we were on private property.) I guess the gun shells, canoes, and cabins should have given it away. Running on a rolled ankle is really fun said no one ever.
There is only this
The dirt road gave way to pavement and all that stood between us and lunch was a couple miles of road and a bunch more vertical gain, on road, not our favorite but we got it done.
Road with a view
As we licked our wounds back at the trail head two guys rolled up and told us to go check out the moose. FINALLY! I finally saw a freaking moose. One word: Majestic. Moose blend into their surroundings, damn you evolution!
We had Ashley's birthday lunch at Tommy Knockers Brewery in Idaho Springs which ended an absolutely fantastic day. To many many more my dear hobos.
Still smiling...always smiling...
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Are impressive animals. I saw quite a few of them growing up in Maine and going to college in Vermont, and seeing them NEVER gets old. Looks like a fun trip. Thank you for sharing and including text and pictures, seems like most of the other recent trip reports were about mountains climbed in 'whiteout' conditions. :lol:
Looks like a fun hike, nice work! Hope your ankle feels better soon...
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