I debated whether going on this hike for many days. Eric Lassance, a good friend from Zion, was going to be in the area for a couple of days to do a trip with a friend that lived in Wisconsin and another who lived near Gunnison. He invited me along on the trip, but since they were finishing their trip after I was supposed to teach, I knew I would not get to go on the whole thing. I did figure that I could go for the day with them since it was Labor Day weekend and still have enough time to make it back to prepare for the week. I finally decided to go even though I knew it was going to be mostly driving.
So up at 6:30am, I was on the road and down to meet them in Ridgway by 8. We got a little food and then took a convoy of 4 cars for 4 people up to the trailhead. This seemed a bit ridiculous, but whatever. The dust we created was amazing as we drove up the road to Owl Creek Pass. We left three cars at the East Fork trailhead and then I drove them the rest of the way to the Middle Fork trailhead. We finally hit the trail around 10:30am. I knew that I was not going to get in much of a day since the drive back to Norwood would be close to two and a half hours, but I figured I could hit the trail for about 3 hours before I had to turn around.
The trail started out gradually climbing by the river. It took us mainly through forested areas. It was nice to be the only one without a heavy backpack on. The valley we were walking in was not particularly wide and we could see the massive peaks rising up above us. There were such peaks to look at as Dunsinane Mountain and Precipice Peak. The rock on these peaks was very crumbly which made for some impressive summits. My hiking partners were all good guys and it was good to get out with some people other than just me or the wife and baby for something different. We had not met many people in Norwood that enjoyed getting out at all, so this was nice to hike w
ith some others. As we got further up the valley, we could tell that Eric's friend Josh from Wisconsin was starting to have issues with the altitude. He was struggling to make it up the valley even though the gradient was nothing incredibly steep. Adam, who had planned the trip, was hanging back with Josh, as I hiked ahead with Eric. We ran into a few other people including a huge group that must have been from Chicago area because they asked if the White Sox won yesterday. Well, we were soon approaching the Cinderella hour and I was bargaining
to save some extra time. I hiked all the way up to the trail junction where I could see such peaks as Redcliff, Coxcomb, and the ridge leading up to a 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. The group was off to find a good camping spot for the night and then would continue with an ascent of the Matterhorn the
next day. I was very jealous as climbing the Matterhorn had been something that I wanted to do since before I first visited Colorado. There is just something in the name that makes it worthwhile climbing. The hike down went swiftly as it was easy to go downhill with a light pack. Since near the end we were not moving particularly fast, I made it back to the car in under 2 hours, close to an hour and a half. I saw a cop at the trailhead with a flat tire and thought about offering him help, but what could I really do that he couldn't. I made the long drive home, but knew I would have to return to that area with all the recreational opportunities that waited.
I debated whether going on this hike for many days. Eric Lassance, a good friend from Zion, was going to be in the area for a couple of days to do a trip with a friend that lived in Wisconsin and another who lived near Gunnison. He invited me along on the trip, but since they were finishing their trip after I was supposed to teach, I knew I would not get to go on the whole thing. I did figure that I could go for the day with them since it was Labor Day weekend and still have enough time to make it back to prepare for the week. I finally decided to go even though I knew it was going to be mostly driving.
So up at 6:30am, I was on the road and down to meet them in Ridgway by 8. We got a little food and then took a convoy of 4 cars for 4 people up to the trailhead. This seemed a bit ridiculous, but whatever. The dust we created was amazing as we drove up the road to Owl Creek Pass. We left three cars at the East Fork trailhead and then I drove them the rest of the way to the Middle Fork trailhead. We finally hit the trail around 10:30am. I knew that I was not going to get in much of a day since the drive back to Norwood would be close to two and a half hours, but I figured I could hit the trail for about 3 hours before I had to turn around.
The trail started out gradually climbing by the river. It took us mainly through forested areas. It was nice to be the only one without a heavy backpack on. The valley we were walking in was not particularly wide and we could see the massive peaks rising up above us. There were such peaks to look at as Dunsinane Mountain and Precipice Peak. The rock on these peaks was very crumbly which made for some impressive summits. My hiking partners were all good guys and it was good to get out with some people other than just me or the wife and baby for something different. We had not met many people in Norwood that enjoyed getting out at all, so this was nice to hike w
ith some others. As we got further up the valley, we could tell that Eric's friend Josh from Wisconsin was starting to have issues with the altitude. He was struggling to make it up the valley even though the gradient was nothing incredibly steep. Adam, who had planned the trip, was hanging back with Josh, as I hiked ahead with Eric. We ran into a few other people including a huge group that must have been from Chicago area because they asked if the White Sox won yesterday. Well, we were soon approaching the Cinderella hour and I was bargaining 
to save some extra time. I hiked all the way up to the trail junction where I could see such peaks as Redcliff, Coxcomb, and the ridge leading up to a 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. The group was off to find a good camping spot for the night and then would continue with an ascent of the Matterhorn the
next day. I was very jealous as climbing the Matterhorn had been something that I wanted to do since before I first visited Colorado. There is just something in the name that makes it worthwhile climbing. The hike down went swiftly as it was easy to go downhill with a light pack. Since near the end we were not moving particularly fast, I made it back to the car in under 2 hours, close to an hour and a half. I saw a cop at the trailhead with a flat tire and thought about offering him help, but what could I really do that he couldn't. I made the long drive home, but knew I would have to return to that area with all the recreational opportunities that waited.
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