The Teardrop Cronicles Part 2: Mount Elbert to Palo Duro Canyon

Day 4

I was optimistic about the 30 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms until I awoke at 4 am to a torrential downpour. We bagged the planned 4:30 am start and got some more sleep. The south trail head was empty when we passed by. We reached the end of the 4WD road at 7am and parked just passed the only other vehicle and hit the trail in full rain gear a few minutes late. The road and the first mile of trail is surrounded by aspen trees, the leaves of which had recently turned a brilliant yellow and began falling to the ground.



Around 12,000' we noticed a group of three ascending the North Ridge as Mount Massive emerged from the clouds behind them. Soon after that a solo hiker caught up and joined us for the rest of the climb. Mason, we learned, had been telecommuting from his home in Denver, but coincidentally might be relocating to Seattle, where the company is based. We climbed through occasional bouts of light rain as clouds continued to pour over peaks and ridges to the west. Steffy turned back just before a little hail storm, and Mason and I agreed to hurry up the final 800 feet and back down before any potential afternoon lightning showed up. We were treated to a bit of a clearing with decent views on the summit, where we found a laminated sign held down by a rock, but no register.



We ran most of the way down to Steffy and made it back below the tree line just in time for the sun to come out. We exchanged contacts with Mason at the trailhead and rolled back down to camp for a hearty dinner.
Day 5

Having not slept much the night before the climb, we planned for a late start the next morning. We cooked a quality breakfast while enjoying sunrise on the gorgeous mountains surrounding us, and stopped near the lake for some farewell pictures before once again hitting the road.




As we neared the town of Salida, our attention was dominated by a behemoth tower which, likewise, dominated the valley floor outstretching before us. We immediately agreed to explore further, this being one of very few days with less than 10 hours of planned driving. The closer we got to the smokestack, the more it's enormous size made it seem very out of place. Plaques at the base detailed the controversial history behind this historical marker.





During an unplanned detour over the Wet Mountains we were surprised by another out of place tower along Highway 165. There was no debate as to whether we would sidetrack the trip yet again to spend a few hours exploring such an interesting place. Bishop Castle is the life's work of Jim Bishop, and a testament to the power of strong will and determination. Information can be found at www.bishopcastle.org

The Teardrop Cronicles Part 3: Palo Duro to New Orleans