Day 3 in Colorado. Okay. Time to put our breathless bodies to the test and try hiking to Gem Lake, 1.7 miles, one-way, straight up, up, up 910 feet. Sounded pretty pud to me. Until we got started. Maneuvering all the granite steps at the beginning wasn’t exactly easy on the lungs and legs, and before long I silently wondered if we’d bitten off more mountain than we could scale.
Eventually we came to a fork in the trail and a little sign that pointed: “Gem Lake, 1.4 miles.”
Big Bore went into shock. “That CAN’T be right!! We’ve gone over three-tenths of a mile!!” he moaned.
“Apparently not,” I panted. “Trail markers never lie.” I waited for him to change gears into reverse and head back down to the parking lot, pouting, but then he surprised me.
“Well, let’s keep going a little farther,” he said after taking a breather.
And that’s the way it went the rest of the way. Each time we thought we were just going to drop on the spot, we’d rest a little, suck down some water, take a few pictures, and admire the beauty of the world around us. Then, it was back up the trail. The Little Engines that Could. “I think I can. I think I can.”
Eventually we encountered some zippy young folks on their way down the mountain.
“About much how much farther to Gem Lake?” I asked, hoping our destination was just around the corner.
“Oh, probably less than a quarter mile, but it’s the steepest part of the trail," warned the nice gal who easily recognized our subpar conditioning. I wonder what gave that away? "You can make it," she encouraged.
Darned right we could make it! We’re the Bores and Bores don’t give up! Well, not lately, anyway. We'd gone this far. There was no turning back now---even if we had to crawl the rest of the way, we'd reach our destination.
We lumbered up the final two switchbacks, then through the pines I spotted water. “Holy oxygen tank! It’s Gem Lake!” I shouted. We high-fived each other and plopped down onto some flat boulders, then celebrated our victory with more water and pictures and a well-deserved rest.
Getting back down was easier on the heart rate; hell on the knees and hips, but we finally arrived back to the car, all body parts intact, about three hours after we'd started.
Later in the week, ruminating about Colorado, trailblazer Big Bore commented, “You know what my favorite part of the trip was?" I expected to hear about the divine Mediterranean pizza or the thick and tasty hamburgers or the dandy complimentary breakfast muffins. “The hike up to Gem Lake,” he said.
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m glad we kept at it.”
"Me, too."
But I’m also happy that last night’s 3-mile walk back in Kansas had an incline of zero inches and took less than an hour to complete, with not a single stop to catch my breath. Of course, the scenery left a helluva lot to be desired!
(Here are a few more pictures from the Gem Lake Experience.)
Tomorrow: "Call of the Wild"
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