Hiking Avon and Minturn - Backpacking Grouse Mountain and Meadow Mountain

With the wife firmly esconced in the Westin Riverfront, the son and I were able to sneak off for a bit of backpacking.  We had tried this in other locations, but leaving her alone in the tent, taking community showers with truck drivers, and eating at the local diner didn't go over well.  Finally, we had the right combination of location and accommodation!

Unfortunately for me, Steam was offering a free multiplayer weekend for online gamers on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, so our son awoke hours before dawn and played for free before our departure.  This had immediate negative consequences.

At least we didn't miss the trail sign, and since he was carrying the food, he had no choice but to persevere.  However, we did a lot of this on the way uphill.

Time for the daily game, can you spot the grouse?

Between the devastation wrought by the Pine Bark Beetle here in Colorado and the recent high winter winds, the trail got increasingly more difficult, especially when carrying packs.

It was fun at first...

...but pretty soon, the West Grouse Creek Trail became a bit ridiculous.

So we back-tracked and after wandering a bit, we settled on to the Meadow Mountain trail.  It was lower down, free of fallen pines, and offered wide-open meadows and stands of aspen for the hammocks!

Our view looking north from the campsite...

...and our campsite looked like this the night before,

and this in the morning light.



At around 10,000 feet, our son stayed warm and toasty in his hi-tech sleeping bag in the "mother ship" to the left, while I, after stuffing the jungle hammock with leaves for insulation, was still looking for the feeling in my toes four hours after getting up.  Note the ice on the logs crossing the bubbling brook next to our campsite.

I regained feeling in my digits shortly after consuming this buffalo burger, fries, and onion rings at the Route 6 Cafe on the way back to the hot tub at the Westin
.