8/11 - Thu - Loveland to Baker's Tank

Loveland climb

I still didn't feel great going up the Lift 3 line at Loveland and took it me 50 mins to do 0.8 mi. It climbed a little over 900 feet, but still not great. I connected to Route 6 and had a much easier mile up to Loveland Pass at 11,990’. From there, I started the nine-mile descent to Keystone, stopping at A-Basin to grab some water and use the toilets along the way.

Views near Loveland Pass

In Keystone, I ate a bagel with bacon and cream cheese, then walked by the Haywood Cafe because I thought it was the cafe owned by Vail, but I was wrong. I realized that once I got into Lakeside Village and got an egg sandwich from Edgewater Cafe.

From Lakeside Village, I wandered through a neighborhood to get to the Soda Ridge Trail and head south. I got caught in some storms and hailed on but never saw any flashes. At least I made much better time and felt better being wet than hot. Along Galena Gulch Road, I spotted a moose and her calf in the woods.

Mama and calf

Crossing through a meadow under power lines in the storm was a little worrisome though. Living in Leadville, it seems like all the lightning strikes near Breck, and now I was near Breck. I was soaked by the time I got to CR 6 and finally put my rain jacket on, followed woods roads up and down through a recent timber cut to French Gulch Road.

Sisters (#2 - 18:05)

I was mostly dry by the time I got on to Sally Barber Road and then mountain bike trails took me to Sisters Cabin. Nice to finally get to a second hut and into the Summit Huts system after 50 miles. They are a non-profit founded in 1987 “dedicated to developing and maintaining a system of backcountry cabins accessed by non-motorized trails in Summit County, Colorado” and have five huts in the Breckenridge area. Sisters is the newest in the Summit Huts system, opened in January 2019. It was the first new hut to be approved on public land in Summit County in 22 years.

Iowa Mill

From the hut, I followed another Hannah’s Way to County Road 520 and hiked through the site of the Iowa Mill. The road led to the Mountain Pride Trail and then the Bakers Tank Trail. I found designated campsites along Boreas Pass Road near the Bakers Tank, so I stopped there. Much better day than the first.

Bakers Tank