Leadville: Day Trip Series Part 5

Joel and I in front of Turquoise Lake. Photo credit: Daniel Kim

By Nate Van Noord (RO Staff)

Shortly after moving to Colorado in 2021, I heard about these hoodies made by a Colorado company called Melanzana. (It took me a few times to say it correctly). Occasionally, I’d see people wear them around town and the hoodies were easy to spot - brightly colored and often two toned. But I also heard the only place to buy them was at their store in Leadville - not even on their website.

When my buddies - Daniel and Joel - and I climbed Mt. Elbert last Fall (read story here), we stopped by downtown Leadville for lunch after. We walked past Melananza and looked inside. A sign said customers had to make an appointment to shop - months in advance! Daniel was intrigued and made an appointment for a Saturday in May.

Folks sewing hoodies at the Melanzana store

So this May (2023), the three of us made the two hour drive. We first stopped at Turqouise Lake in Leadville. The trails were too snowy and unfortunately we didn’t rent any showshoes from Routes. So we walked on the road along the lake. It was well plowed, closed off to motorists, and still had some nice views.

For lunch, we stopped into High Mountain Pies. The menu said the local favorite was “The Crocodile” - BBQ sauce, mozzarella, shrimp, bacon, jalapeno, and cream cheese. Sounded nasty but we ordered it. The bbq sauce was sweet, the bacon salty, the jalapeno spicy, and the cream cheese, well creamy. Somehow, a phenomenal combo!

After lunch, we walked the historic downtown, with many of the brick buildings over a hundred years old. We dipped into Melanzana for our 3 pm appointment. We perused the hoodies in the front of the store and watched people sewing the hoodies in the back of the store. Since we were only allowed to buy two items per appointment, I tried on like a dozen different ones to make sure I found the right one. And find it I did. I‘m wearing it right now and it feels just right!

Exploring Twin Lakes Below and Climbing Elbert Above

Mt. Elbert from the shores of Twin Lakes.

By Nate Van Noord (RO Staff)

In the Fall of 2022, two buddies - Daniel and Joel (who I wrote about hiking the Great Sand Dunes with here) - and myself ventured to Twin Lakes for the weekend. Daniel wanted to see the Fall colors, Joel to hike Mt. Elbert nearby, and me to explore anywhere new in CO.  

Joel and Daniel

We left the The Springs on a Friday morning, and after the 2.5 hour drive west, saw our first glimpse of Twin Lakes nestled directly below Elbert - Colorado’s highest peak at 14,440 ft. We had to pull over for a picture!

When we arrived in the town of Twin Lakes - population like 36 in the summer - we stopped at the General Store. The gentleman behind the counter notified us our ‘first come, first serve’ campsite was closed for the season. But, he informed us of his favorite ‘dispersed’ campsite. He explained that dispersed camping requires no reservation or money, but has no bathrooms or running water either. It sounded like my kind of camping! He showed us on the map where to go and made us swear not to tell anyone else where it was. 

After exploring the abandoned resort, Joel found a fishing spot and caught two Greenback Trout.

After setting up our camp, we drove 20 minutes to The Interlaken Trailhead. Our guy at the General Store also told us about a centuries old, abandoned resort two miles from the trailhead. Our hike hugged the lakeshore and Daniel soaked in all the golden leafed aspens. We explored some of the resort’s open buildings and walked along the beach.

The next morning, we woke up at 4 am and drove 45 minutes to the North Mt. Elbert Trailhead. With a dozen cars already in the parking lot, we embarked on the 10.4 mile round trip with our headlamps. After walking through the forest for a half hour, we were surprised to spot the first traces of snow. The steady rain at our campsite the night before was snow at the higher elevation of Elbert. After crossing the treeline, the snow deepened to 4-6 inches. 

The ascent

Eventually, we came to the bottom of a false summit, where the trail narrowed and fell off steeply to one side. A couple hikers decided it looked too risky and turned back. Joel, Daniel, and myself stood there for ten minutes debating whether it was worth it. We had no yaktrax for our boots, no hiking poles - didn’t even have gloves. This was Daniel’s first 14er and said he really wanted to summit. Joel has done many 14ers, said he didn’t have anything to prove, and voted to turn around. They both looked at me. I glanced up at the dark clouds and swirling snow looming above. I looked back down at the trail thinking it could get icy by the time we returned.

Mt. Massive across the way.

A few hikers caught up to us, excused themselves as they scooted past, and slowly made their way up this sketchy section. One of the dudes was rocking basketball high tops. I thought, alright, if this dude is going to do it… 

So we pressed on. 

After the false summit, we had another mile to go. The winds whipped, the snow swirled, and visibility was low. After we reached the summit, we stayed for about 90 seconds. 

The descent

We descended quickly and I felt anxious about our sketchy section down below. I started to have flashbacks to the time my foot slipped and I fell off a cliff in Mexico. I wasn’t found by search and rescue until the next day (told at the NPR StorySlam here). But, with careful foot placements and hand grips, we made it through. We cruised back down to the treeline - where it started snowing, then hailing, and then raining. Once back to our car, we were soaked from top to bottom. 

We drove 20 minutes to Leadville and had lunch. Neither Daniel nor I brought a change of clothes for the weekend. So after lunch, we decided to foregore our second night at our ‘secret’ campsite. We drove back, packed up all our stuff, and headed back to the Springs. Daniel was exhausted but happy for bagging his first 14er, Joel glad to have crossed another one of his list, and me still wondering if we made the right decision.

Winter Hut Trip with the Fam

Ben’s dad, with the Sawatch Mountains in the background.

Routes staff, Ben Goodmen, went on a winter hut trip with his family over the Christmas 2022 holiday. Along with three other families, the Goodmen’s drove from Monument to Leadville - where they spent the night. The next morning, they drove past Ski Cooper and arrived at the Mineral Belt Trailhead with their Alpine Touring (AT) skis. AT skis, also known as backcountry skis, are similar to downhill skis. In order to go uphill, though, ‘skins’ can be placed on the bottoms and they have a pin binding - allowing the foot to move up and down. (Routes has AT skis for rent this winter!) 

Ben and his family and friends skied for about 5 miles, taking 4-5 hours, until arriving at the Fowler-Hilliard Hut, part of the 10th Mountain Hut Division. For the last 7 years, Ben and his family have reserved and stayed in a 10th Mountain Division hut through a lottery based system. In 2020, they got off to a late start and couldn’t find the hut in the dark. They had to bed down in the snow, under a tree for the night, in freezing temperatures. 

The Fowler-Hilliard Hut, built in 1988, sits at 11,500 feet.

On this trip in 2022, they stayed three nights. During the day, they skied around the hut in fresh powder, taking in the amazing views, but making sure each person had a shovel, beacon, and probe in case of an avalanche. Each family took turns cooking meals, the hut had a common area to play games together, and adults and kids alike congregated around the wood-burning fire. The last morning, they departed and the descent back to the trailhead only took about an hour.