Leon Peak

7:30 AM on a Sunday usually means at least a couple more hours in bed, sleeping and/or reading.  Not this week!  Karl loaded the ATV and lowered the pressure in the truck tires, packed our emergency supplies on Saturday night.  I made our lunch and threw it into the frig, packed my gear in my day pack and laid out my cloths and all my layers (hoodie, vest, windbreaker) before hitting the hay.  If you don't remember, Karl is NOT a morning person, and I get more like him all the time.
After a quick stop at Grand Mesa visitor center to check forecast of the day, we headed out to the Leon Peak trail head.

Nice and easy trail head which ran out within 20 minutes

By 11:00 we were parked and heading up the foot trail.  A little huffing and puffing with the elevation steadily increasing but that was nothing until we hit the end of the discernible trail.

at the end of the forested trail this little fat guy posed for us

No more marked trail. Jagged lava rock means time to put on the gloves.

a valiant little pine starting out of the rock

 I think I finally have it figured out what I need to take on these trips... note in photo that I have my sun glasses, gloves, mosquito fan (also have on Avon SSS insect repellent), rain gear, wind breaker, and hoodie.  Inside my pack are a variety of items including water, tissue, wet wipes, lip balm, sun screen and more.

Karl catching a snack

When we stopped for our first breather after getting into the rocks, I was starting an altitude headache, probably from exertion at nearly 11,000 ft. I saw some scraggly plants coming through the rocks and suddenly realized what I was looking at...wild raspberries!  There were only a couple of plants, but we each got a couple tiny berries a piece.

about 1/2 way there

The summit climb was the steepest but wasn't too far, 500 feet or so.  Back in 1912 they built a fire lookout at the summit. Since it was the highest point on Grand Mesa, they thought it a great place.  Don't know how they ever managed to get the materials in..there is no way pack animals could make it over those boulders, the builders must have humped it up on their own backs. However, after realizing that no amount of lightening rods were going to keep it from the repeated lightening strikes it received, the lookout was abandoned in 1915.

Made It!

Upon arrival at the summit (11,236 ft. elevation) we could see a rain shower headed for us, so didn't stay long.  In searching for the geocache reportedly at the summit, we ran across geodetic survey marker (set in 1937), which Karl also documents and registers online with benchmarks.com whenever we find them.

The wind was really whipping up by that time and we could hear distant thunder...it was time to get off the mountain!  Karl put on his beanie, and I struggled with the wind to get on my windbreaker over my hoodie.  With two hoods and my hat on my head, I was okay, but not eager to stay around.  Karl wanted to photograph the cache documenting the find.  I left him to it and and headed down after signing the log book. 

200 ft away from the summit, the wind had lessened and the shower had passed.  I think we needed to be in just a little better shape to do what we did at our age.  We were having trouble lifting our feet and each of us took a small spill on the return trip (Karl decided I had a good idea and started wearing his gloves after his).

Downhill trip

By the time we got back to the pickup we were ready for our 4:00 pm lunch/supper.  We relaxed and ate, then tried to get up and walk around...oops.  Things had stiffened up a little and all we wanted to do was go home. We had totally planned to spend the rest of the daylight hours on the ATV but scrapped that idea and headed home.  We are kind of sore and achy today, but rather proud of ourselves for having done the trip.

09/10/14
Post Script:
When Karl told Kirk Huff about our trip to Leon Peak, Kirk told Karl about some great family photos he had of his great-grandparents (the parents of Grandma Dot who still works the phones and the office for Huff Excavating see:Labor day on the mesa posted September 3), would we be interested in seeing them?  Of course we were!  And would he mind if we shared them with our family on the blog.  No problem...they arrived via email yesterday, so I'm sharing.  Taken on Leon Peak sometime in the 1930's.  I just realized I only have the names "Gramy" and "Granddad" and since they are the parents of his grandmother, I don't even have a last name.  Oh, well. Enjoy a 1930's wintertime view of what I posted above.

Aren't they great?!
kj