Backpacking 101: Lake Como
I went on my very first backpacking trip this weekend. We hiked up to Lake Como in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. The start to the trip was a huge challenge for me for a few reasons:
*I have never hiked anywhere with a 65 lb pack on my back...not to mention all I have done for the last 12 months was ride a bike...which meant my hip flexors and stabalizers were killing me!
*We hiked 4 miles and gained 3000 ft. The road was seriously all rocks and boulders, all uphill and a "gentle" 10-12% grade the entire way.
*It was all done in the pitch black!
*Mary had to stay home with a tooth ache :(

But in the morning it was well worth it! It was awesome to wake up to the beauty of Lake Como right out of our tents. This is where we camped (after relocating the first night...Anne and I literally almost slid right into the lake! We had a tough time finding spots in the dark.)
We hiked up Mt Blanca. This is a view on the saddle between Mt Blanca and Ellingwood Point. This was my favorite mountian hike so far as the entire way up to the final ascent was decorated with lakes.
However, it was also my least favorite mountain hike as it was far from groomed trail. I was crawling over boulders and rocks pretty much the entire way once we got near the top. It was more of rock climbing than hiking...kinda scary!
Kiebo is the three-legged wonder dog of our group. He did his first 14er this weekend on the toughest "trail" I have ever seen.
Saturday night was an interesting one. These were the clouds that started to blow in.
About an hour later we had an inch of "grapple." Grapple is mountain hail and snow mix. It was complete with a lightening storm right on top of us! Let me tell you, running through the storm in my pink crocs to find shelter was quite the rush!
We packed out Monday morning. This is the crew, nine of us and two dogs. I hiked out with my pack again and was lucky enough to take 5 blisters along on the way out! Would I do it again? Heck ya!