32 - Gladiator Creek!

7/19/12 - With Sarah Hayden and Lilly Frey

It is official.  We are gladiators.  We gave ourselves gladiator names and we conquered the mountain, all before breakfast.  Well... before second breakfast.  Who climbs mountains without having breakfast?

Our opponent was a tricky foe.  Seriously, this is a total fake-out hike.  First, it starts out at a fairly moderate grade, which lulls you into a false sense of complacency.  You can even go touring off to some old mining cabins. 

Back on the main path the trail suddenly begins to shoot upward, but you see the top of the ridge fairly soon, so you think, 'hey, no biggie, I can hack this.'  You make it to the top and, alas, it was a sneak attack!  You come into a really beautiful meadow, but across the meadow is the trail, continuing on its way up the mountain.

So you catch your breath as you cross the meadow and begin to climb straight up in the air once again.  You see open air smiling at you from above the ridge.  This time you are positive you are almost to the top.  You come to the top and... another small basin.  This one has a lovely stream, but it is still not exactly what you were hoping for. 

The trail continues, constantly giving you false hope until, at last, you come to probably one of the coolest saddles. 

It is really narrow, so you can see down both sides at the same time.  There are some excellent rock outcroppings.  Look for the cairn to your right and head down that way for the best viewpoint. 

Breath in the fresh mountain air, then prepare yourself for a long downhill back, because all that steep trail you just came up is a careful mess to pick your way back down.  Hiking poles were a huge help on this one, both on the ascent and the decent.  The trail does continue into the valley on the other side, but breakfast (which was actually lunch by the time we got down) was back at Galena.  Just remember, if you make it down before 4, Galena Lodge has some of the best food in the valley.  Definitely stop in for a snack before heading home. :D

Notes on the trail head: The dirt road from Galena Lodge to the trail head doesn't look bad at the begining, but it is seriously not for coups. My Escape took it like a champ though! If you've got more than a few hours before work, you can always hike/bike the 1.6 miles to the trail.  The trail starts in both directions from there, but there is a map out by the trail head. You'll want to hang a right.