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"I don't think they'll appreciate a phone call at five thirty in the morning to ask whether we can borrow their dog for a bit."
With the slightest hint of dawn in the sky in the east, we're finding our way past Kite Lake and up the trail to Democrat. The dog who'd stayed with us the whole night appears excited to be finally on the way, up to the first of today's fourteeners.
The evening before, not long after we turned onto the road to Kite Lake in Alma, a dog had come darting out of the bushes to chase our car. Kate was excited from the start: "Oh yes, a puppydog!" Matt was driving, and tried to shake the dog off. But on this bumpy dirt road he couldn't do much more than 20mph, and that was no problem for the dog. In the back seat, I tried to gauge the animal. It's looking kind of angry, I thought. At least it wore a collar, so it wasn't some kind of stray. Oh well, it's at least 5 more miles, so it'll get bored soon enough.
But just moments after we got out of the car at the trailhead, there it was, all happy to finally meet the inhabitants of that Subaru in the night. Also, it appeared to be friendly enough, so I could relax. We took the 'swag' out of the car, an Australian sort-of-three-person-bivy with built-in mattress, and before we could even set it up properly, the dog had claimed its place. Tonight it was a three-person-and-a-dog-bivy.
The night was cold. That didn't really come as a surprise; it was November and this trailhead is above 12.000 feet. But mostly it was windy, so whatever warmth we locally created was quickly blown away, and the swag shivered whenever a particularly heavy gust swooped through the valley. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well. But at least the moon was full, so I still enjoyed the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. At some point in the night, I witnessed a wind-triggered avalanche that sent a cloud of snow dust towards Alma. I zipped up my sleeping bag a little further, and turned around one more time.
The whole night I'd sort of assumed that at some point the dog would leave, but no, it's still here. The collar says he's called Jake, on the other side the owner's name and number. Because Jake looks so confident around here, we assume he does this all the time, and we decide to just enjoy his company. Because good company it is! Jake keeps you warm(ish) at night, jumps around you through the snow to emphasize that really humans hike way too slowly, and whenever you take a break he pushes his body against you as if to try and give you a little strength.
Especially in the beginning, a little strength we can use. Perhaps it was the cold night, the early morning, the long time since our last fourteener, or the many stops to tweak our layers, but the going is pretty slow indeed. So when, just after sunrise, we finally reach the saddle between Democrat and Cameron and the full force of today's wind hits our faces and lets us hang into it pretty deeply, it dawns on us that four peaks may be a little much for today.
The trail up Democrat is snowy and icy, but the reward on the top is fantastic. So many white peaks all around us! We hide behind some summit rocks to rest and eat, and wonder whether Jake would be thirsty. Nope, he's got no eyes for a trickle of water out of a bottle. Back to the saddle we manage a tiny glisade, but most of it is sort of slippery hiking, so I'm quite pleased with the 'Yaktrax IceTrekkers' I bought for this expedition: they transform it into an easy stroll down.
Then comes the bit that we were all sort of scared of, the ridge up to Cameron. It's icy, not very wide, and the strong wind comes right from the side. Every once in a while, a big cloud of snowy dust gets blasted across the ridge, attacking our exposed cheeks with tiny needles, and our stability with tugs and pushes in all directions. Yes, I'm glad I also brought hiking poles. Meanwhile, Jake runs laps around us, rolls over in the ledge of snow that half hangs into the abyss, and decides to stand in front of you exactly where it's a little tricky to make the next step. But in the end, it's not at all bad. Yes, it's harder than doing the same loop on a quiet summer's day, but that's not what we're here for. It's a beautiful day with beautiful views, we have these mountains to ourselves, and we're doing this and it's kind of awesome. I'd never done a mountain hike in the winter before, but today it's great, and I'm only gaining in strength. So when we reach the slightly disappointing peak of Cameron (it just flattens out and you can sit on the gravel for a bit), it's not hard to choose where to go next: to Lincoln!
The hike there is not too hard, and the summit offers some good wind breaking rocks, so we have a proper break here. It even gets a little warm, but not warm enough to make my drinking system functional again; the tube out of the pack has been clogged with ice since the descent from Democrat. Matt makes himself some oatmeal while I get the Aeropress out to create a decent cup of coffee for Kate and me. Jake is also treated to some oatmeal, we're all surprised that he's still as energetic as when we first started. After the obligatory summit shot we proceed the easy walk to Bross, which we may or may not have summited. All I can say that from there the views are also fantastic.
Then comes the dreaded descent back to the parking lot. I'm never a big fan of descents, but the loose gravel here makes it all a bit more annoying and tricky. I dream of learning back country skiing, because then it's all about only hiking up, right? While my mind drifts off I make some minor slips (nothing serious), and at some point I must have lost one of my IceTrekkers, because when we get to the car, there's just one left.
It's 1PM; we spent 7 hours to hike 8 miles. Wow, that's pretty amazingly slow, but none of us thought it was a contest anyway. Except for Jake, maybe. He seems a little confused when we get back into the car and drive off, but soon enough he's back to running speed and in pursuit. What fuels this crazy beast? How often has he done this loop? For 5 miles, he doesn't slow down much, and when we arrive at the house where he first saw us, we get out and knock on the door. Nobody answers, but Jake is obviously at home here, and quickly out of sight. Slightly saddened, we walk back to the car and wonder where we could find such an awesome buddy for all our hikes.
Pretty sure he lives in the dome house as you come up the road.My buddy and I drove him back home before a storm hit, next morning he was outside our tents and ready to roll, He tagged along for most of the loop with us. Good to see he is still crushing it! Thanks for the great write up!
I must have just missed you guys. I did your same loop starting a little before 2:00. I found your IceTrekker. Let me know how I can get it back to you...
He followed me up Democrat a few weeks ago after running after my car up the whole road! He followed another guy and his dog back down. He did seem very confident so I also assumed he must live at that dome house. Cool to see that he joined you!
Thanks for all the nice comments, people! I know that the actual mountaineering-stuff in this report is pretty pale compared to most TRs on here, but yes, Jake made it a very memorable hike, so I was curious whether anyone else here had met him. Good to read that many have!
@Screesurfer: we might even have crossed paths on the dirt road, shame we missed you. I sent an email regarding the icetrekker; thanks for taking it with you!
Sounds like Horton the Quandary dog that used to do pretty much the same thing it sounds like.
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