Brian’s Microblog

July 07, 2026

We slept well and it was not very cold. We got up around six and aimed to leave camp at eight. A woman who appeared to be around our age stopped by. She has adopted this section of trail to keep up with maintenance. We had a nice conversation with her and learned that we did not need to stop in Winfield - she thought the Inter-Laken historic site was much more interesting. We ended up getting on trail at 8:10.

The trail dropped steeply about 1200 feet from our campsite down to the Clear Creek valley. There we turned to work our way up the valley and to the west for several miles. Eventually the valley curves to the south, ending in a bowl holding Lake Ann. We saw some of the old Winfield mining stuff from a distance. The trail is fairly mellow for most of this section.

Once it starts climbing towards Lake Ann the trail gets rough and steep. While the approach to Hope Pass was steep and rocky, the approach to Lake Ann is steep and rooty - lots of tree roots to step over.

We made it up to Lake Ann after a couple breaks and a lunch stop. On a snack stop we got a little ten-minute rain shower. We talked to a guy going north on a Collegiate Loop trip during our lunch stop. We asked about camping opportunities on the other side of the pass and he mentioned Illinois Creek had a few sites.

Up at the lake the weather changed and it started raining. We hunkered under one of the few groups of trees at this altitude for almost an hour. The rain stopped and started and there was distant thunder - not conditions suitable for climbing the pass.

Eventually the clouds lightened enough we decided to try going over the pass. We knew it would be steep but it turned out much of the final ascent is on scree fields with lots of large rocks.

It was tough hiking but flowers grow in unlikely places. There was also a crazy pika that wanted to lick Julie’s trekking pole and taste her shoe.

We got over Lake Ann Pass as some threatening clouds returned. The terrain on the other side seemed much different. It overlooks a large valley containing Taylor Park Reservoir. That afternoon it also contained big rain clouds to the west.

On the way down from the top we saw several marmots up close, even a couple young ones wrestling. When I figure out how to post videos it will come with a cuteness overload warning.

We reached a trail junction that was confusing. The trail sign seemed to indicate the Colorado Trail was the higher option, and that is what the Far Out app says as well. However Open Street Map says the lower trail is the CT’s Collegiate West loop, and the old data book that Julie has also appears to have mileages and altitudes from the lower trail. We ended up taking the higher trail.

We made it to Illinois Creek with some clouds threatening rain but found only one lumpy campsite there. The lower trail crosses the creek too, so maybe the guy we spoke with was on the lower trail? Anyway, we ended up walking as fast as we could for a couple more miles in search of a site before the rain arrived.

Eventually we arrived at a great site near an unnamed creek but a tent was already set up there. We found a sloped site across the creek and took it since it was well after 7:00.

We ate some mashed potatoes with salami and cheese, then set up the tent.

Almost 15 miles with 3000 feet ascent and 2200 descent over 11 and a half hours.