Our dear friend and host during our time in the greater Telluride/Ridgway area had one big idea in mind for us during our visit, and that was hiking Blain Basin. On the way there we saw something we did not expect to see:
This big plan was a 6-mile in-and-out hike with an elevation gain from 9,000-11,000 feet. Dogs are welcome and allowed to be off-leash in certain areas. It was an awesome hike, due to the obstacles and scenery the 6 miles didn't seem so bad at first. The first memorable part was a log crossing over a bustling stream.
I let Hazey walk across this on her own, and she completed the challenge like a champ. It looks a lot more intimidating up close, and there were two of these crossings along the way.
Then there were some relatively flat trails, easy walking for about 2 miles.
Then, things got really interesting. The sun came out on full blast and we were faced with a wall. It was about 300 yards of super rocky and steep switchbacks, easily 1,000 ft in elevation just in this portion of the trail. There was absolutely no shade on the trail until the top when it went back into the woods.
We did not take any pictures, but we persevered!
And we had the perfect place to cool off, this was the coldest water I ever felt in my life!
We went from blistering heat to numb feet in a matter of minutes, but it was great. I took a note out of Yvonne's book and dunked my hat in the cold water to cool off. Hazey enjoyed it as well...
We spent some time eating snacks, laying down on the hot rocks, resting up, and began the journey back past the dreaded switch-backs, and miles of the forest to civilization.
When I first got Hazey, she was literally afraid of grass after being kept in a cage for the first 6-months of her life, and 2 days later I started jokingly saying her favorite activity is"climbing mountains" because she really just loves running up hills.
This was no joke, and we had an amazing day.
Thanks for reading - you are awesome!
Next week will be the last chapter of the 2020 Boston to Colorado road trip:
Ophir Pass, and the journey back to Boston.
Comments