Fossil Ridge Backpacking 2007
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Seven Westerners, Four Peaks, and Three Days of EXTREME EPICNESS!
Check out the photos here
The Fossil Ridge Backpacking trip of 2007 was one for the record-books, my friends, and if you weren't there, run down to WP quick-like and sign up for the next one - you won't be disappointed.
Fossil Ridge is one of the newer and lesser known wilderness areas in Colorado. Although the wilderness is small, and lacks the hot springs, 14'ers, and popularity of the others, it more than makes up for it with its uniqueness. Unlike most Colorado mountains, these sport a limestone ridge chock full of fossils - the remnants of ancient seas laid down hundreds of million years ago. The fossils of various sea life, from sharks to invertebrates have been found in this area. We were stoked to find a few fossils of our own - mostly shells, although there were many strange and intriguing patterns in the rock that left us guessing as to their origin. What else did we find? One heck'uva good time!
We began Saturday afternoon, September 1st, after some of our members totally rocked the Week of Welcome Ruby Peak hike and came back down ready for more! Our trailhead was the Gold Creek campground, a great car-camping spot with killer access to the wilderness and several other worthy summits outside of the area. We started up the Lamphier Lake trail in a slight drizzle, which soon turned into major drizzle, which soaked our clothing but hardly dampened our spirits. After three miles of hiking on a well maintained trail through a gorgeous forest, we topped out at Upper Lamphier Lake, a stunning turquoise beauty surrounded by several stately peaks. We picked out a campsite a bit off the beaten path, which, despite the minor inconvenience of dodging cow patties, was wicked sweet. The rain clouds drifted off and the chill began to come, but we warmed up our engines with a whopping huge meal of creamy chicken alfredo, washed it down with hot cocoa, and topped it all off (just in case there was any room left) with the absolute finest no-bake cheesecake known to the wilderness.
Sunday morning came chilly but beautiful, with a few clouds here and there to make for a spectacular sunrise. After our lox breakfast - bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onions, and tomatoes - we packed up camp, slung our bags, tied our boots, and hit the trail- well, not exactly... we hit the talus. If you don't know, talus isn't exactly the easiest thing to hike - it is basically a big steep pile of broken, loose rocks. If that doesn't appeal to you, don't worry. We saw once we got to the top of it all that there was a nice, easy trail up grassy slopes just out of sight. Well, now we know. From the junction with the trail we should have taken, we headed up to the summit of 12,985 Square Top Mountain. After the customary rituals, we headed off along the easy ridgeline to the highest peak in the Fossil Ridge Wilderness, 13,254 Henry Mountain, where we ate massive amounts of chocolate candy bars as we sat in awe of the rows of endless ranges, valleys, peaks, and forests surrounding us. We also saw a few peculiar clouds, many ominous and some just plain strange. We decided to boogey on over to 12,749 Fossil Mountain and get down off the ridge before mother nature came and laid a smack-down. This part of the hike was for most of us the highlight of the trip - the ridge between Square Top and Fossil was just incredible - chock full of interesting rock, potential fossils, and just enough of a challenge to keep us on our toes. The ridge here, although easy enough to negotiate, required the use of our hands in a few spots, and a safe distance off to the East was a precipitous drop-off that churned our stomachs and shook our nerves. We summitted by noon, and hauled it down off the ridge, though not so fast that we couldn't stop and tear up some tortillas, lunch meats, guacamole, tomatoes, spinach, and Gatorade. Well refreshed by our feast, we made it down to Mill Lake and got our tents set up just as the rains became to come down with a fierceness. Not to worry - we napped through it all in dry comfort. An hour later, the sun poked out, a campfire was started, hot drinks were prepared, and our crew began an UNO marathon that will go down in history. For dinner, we had a Pita Pizza Party that got everyone stoked up and ready for another day of epic peak freaking.
Although we were short on time and sore in legs our last day, our fellas all agreed to wake early, eat a quick yet tasty granola cereal with raisins breakfast, and hit up another nearby summit - 12,264 Sheep Mountain, which we did in record time. It was another perfect hike on a perfect mountain to end a perfect peakpacking trip. We headed down and broke camp, then hiked the two miles back to the van. But not to worry - there was more food to be had before the trip was through - and we all came away with a new outlook on hummus, cheese, sausage, Nutella, honey, and life...
Much respect goes out to the folks who made this trip so fun - Dave, Forrest, Jeremiah, Alex, and Travis - the five baddest mountain goats we know!
- Rob and Kevin
The Route
