Georgia Pass 2017

I took the dogs hiking in Georgia Pass today.  The pass is about ninety minutes west of Denver on US 285.  We have hiked the area before but it is close enough to home to be an easy drive, especially with good weather.

Our target today was a ridge opposite Mt. Guyot that I have been unable to ascend in the past — a sprained ankle and impending thunderstorm prevented climbing it in the past.

At the top of the ridge we were at about 12,400 feet elevation.  Sadly the wildfires in the Pacific northwest were sending a large amount of smoke our direction which prevented the glorious views we would normally see.

I didn’t intend to hike more than five miles but once back at the truck my GPS app registered 7.6 miles.  Surprisingly both dogs handled the distance well, at least until Sunday morning when Lucy was sore and unable to walk more than a couple blocks.  She recovered by Monday, though.

 

Unfortunately on the drive back down the hill from the pass I hit a sharp rock on the gravel road and ended up with a flat tire.  The flat was complicated by the fact that Discount Tire decided to over-torque the lug nuts to the point where I literally twisted my lug wrench ninety degrees.  I was worried I would snap the top of it off and not have a means of tightening the lugs on the spare.

Needless to say on Monday morning I had a conversation with the guys at the tire shop about not torquing the lug so tightly.  I also picked up a heavy-duty lug wrench at AutoZone… hopefully I won’t have to test it out any time soon.

Break time
Break time

Colorado Trail marker shield
Colorado Trail marker shield
The ridge that we climbed
Near the top of the ridge
The view to the east
The view to the east
The last remaining snow
Mt. Guyot
Mt. Guyot
Exactly what you want to see after hiking for hours

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