Mt. Hope

June 11, 2020 / 13,933’

RT STATS: TOTAL TIME - 5 HR & 5 MIN, 7.32 MILES, AND 3,986’ ELEVATION GAIN

TIME STATS: 2 HR & 45 MIN TO SUMMIT, 15 MIN AT SUMMIT, 2 HR & 5 MIN BACK TO CAR

RATING (HOW MUCH I LIKED THE HIKE): 10/10

Exciting things happening….this was my first intentional 13er!! I had done 2 other 13ers previously; however, that was because I did them in conjunction with a 14er. Mt. Hope is still a top 100 CO peak, though! I was looking for a mountain that looked interesting and discovered this one through reading Peak Condition reports on 14ers.com. Anyways, I left the Springs around 4:30 am to travel to the Sheep Gulch trailhead. I passed the Missouri Gulch trailhead (a trailhead for 3 14ers) and there were about 20 cars; however, at the Sheep Gulch trailhead, there were only 3 other cars. I totally get the obsession with 14ers (lol), but, yeah, this hike was much more fun than numerous 14ers that I have completed.

Anyways, I started the hike at 7:15 am in my new trail runners (which I plan to use for hiking!). First big hike in them….big movesss! The first mile of this hike was hella steep….right from the beginning. My watch measured the first mile as gaining about 1200’ in elevation (went from about 9,900’ to 11,100’)!

Soon enough, it flattened a little bit and, around 11,300’, I crossed the Sheep Gulch. I kept hiking along a nice path and the views were absolutely incredible. The third picture below is of Hope Pass/Mt. Hope, taken around 12,000’.

1 hour and 24 minutes & 2.6 miles later, I reached Hope Pass—elevation 12,550’. Hope Pass had a nice marker (second picture), and some good views (fourth picture is Mt. Hope in the distance)!

After a few minutes, I left Hope Pass. From then until the summit, there isn’t a defined path/trail…. I was excited about this haha. I begun up the ridge and climbed up a pretty steep section (first picture). I took this pretty cool picture (second picture) up on the ridge and just continued on.

Around 13,000’, I began up the crux of the hike. From now until the summit was where all the fun was. This portion made this hike the most exciting and fun hike that I’ve done in the 3 weeks that I’ve been in Colorado. I have tons of pictures below to show all of the awesomeness. This portion made me realize why its considered a “Difficult Class 2” hike.

Eventually, I reached a false summit, but, a few minutes later, I reached the summit (2 hours and 45 minutes/3.62 miles). The summit was basically like a flat top as you can see haha...walked around a bit at the top to see what was around! I had the summit all to myself again, so that was awesome! The self timer pictures that I took today were 100x better than the self timer pictures that I took up on Mt. Columbia a few days before. Side note: my freckles are hella noticeable lol (last picture). I spent 15 minutes at the summit before descending.

I was much quicker on the descent than on the ascent. I stopped and talked to this guy and girl for about 15 minutes right before I got back to Hope Pass. Some socialization on a solo hike….yay!!! In the first picture below, if you look veryyyy closely, you can see a helicopter to the left of the peak. It definitely was not a rescue though, they were obviously practicing as they just kept flying around.

It took 57 minutes to return back to the trailhead from Hope Pass. I took out my hiking poles around 11,400’ since it was starting to get quite steep again. The steepness was especially evident on both the way UP and the way DOWN.

5 hours and 5 minutes later, I finally returned to the trailhead!!! I’m not sure why I said finally because it’s not like 5 hours is a super long hike. I had a blast on this hike today! My new trail runner shoes (Brooks Cascadia 14) made a noticeable difference traction-wise. It also didn't feel like the sole of my shoe was constantly flexing and bending like my road running shoes do that I wore for all of my previous hikes. I mean it makes sense because these new shoes are designed for TRAILS…unlike past me taking my shoes designed for asphalt out on the trails hahaha. Overall, a successful day and I can’t wait for my next hike!!!