Day 3 - Another Challenging day

Today will not be quite as long as Day 2 but is still a challenging day. We are camped at around 10,200 ft. and will ascend our third pass - Trail Rider Pass at 12,400 ft. After a stormy night, we wake to clear skies and what promises to be a beautiful day. We have our usual breakfast (Oatmeal) and hit the trail at 9:00 PM.

We have about a 1.5 mile solid up hill clime to Trail Rider. This is a very steep and challenging climb but at the top, the effort is rewarded with a magnificent view of Snowmass Lake 2 miles down below us.



We head down and decide to press on past the lake to Snowmass Creek Crossing. We have hiked about 7 miles today and our camp elevation is around 10,400 ft.

Like day 1 & 2 the weather has been perfect - Hiking temperatures have probably been in the high 60's and low 70's with just enough clouds to periodically give us a break from the sun - which can be intense at these altitudes.

Ty sets up the tent, Ken goes to the river and fills our water bottles using his First Need filter (that has been his primary chore), I crank up my little backpacking stove and begin boiling water for our final dehydrated dinner, and we are in the tent by 8:30 PM.


Not far from our camp, the beavers have dammed the river and formed a good-sized beaver pond. We also have a waterfall a couple of hundred yards from our tent - makes for great
sleeping (aside from the rock Ken slept on.)