Backpacking to Sherman - part 1

I have wanted to see the Hardrock course sections on either side of Sherman (a small "town" near Lake City), but I've also heard stories about the drive over Cinnamon Pass. Being so-not-a-fan of the high mountain 4WD driving around here, I've been trying to avoid being stuck in the back of a truck for 2 hours trying to stay calm over multi-hundred foot drops and rocky roads.

So I came up with a different plan. John and I would backpack in the opposite direction as the trail crew, hopefully get a ride up to Maggie's Gulch, camp on the other side, and continue over Handies the next day. It turned out that we were able to help with moving a couple of vehicles (again on 4WD roads, but at least fairly-short ones), plus we had a truck to sleep in overnight. Bonus!

Here is part of what we missed on the drive over!


Since we were carrying camping gear, food, warm clothes, etc., we took our time the first day. It was such a beautiful morning above Maggie's (where there will be an aid station during the race) and we had a lovely hike.


It made me think more seriously about doing more hiking/camping trips.


This seems fitting along the Hardrock trail:


That was also the spot where I dropped (and broke, for good I think) our original travel camera. Bummer! I was carrying our newer camera but didn't get it out of my pack for the rest of the day. Too bad, because I might have gotten a photo of a herd of elk from a couple miles away... Here's what the old camera is doing now (this photo was taken on the Continental Divide):


Oh well, we got plenty of photos the next day! Stay tuned...