Going around the lake, I quickly began to climb to the summit of Mt. Spaulding.  On the way up, I caught and passed about 7 other hikers.  As we chatted, they nicknamed me “Speedy” and were impressed that a flatlander from North Carolina caught them. 

From the summit of Spaulding, I dipped down onto the ridge to Mt. Evans. By this time I was trekking alone once again.  Also the trail disappeared and so I started having to follow the cairns.  It’s here that Speedy got caught by a young coed who led me astray atop the mountain.

Crossing the ridge, I circled back to civilization to climb the final couple of hundred yards with the “tourists”-those folks who drove to the summit and claim they climbed a 14er by hiking the final 100ft up hill.

Atop the summit I was able to enjoy a PB&J and have devotion time.  Then I heard one teenager exclaim, “This would be a kick as place for quiet time.  Look, that man over there is reading his Bible.”

On the return trip I passed the tourist trap area to find my trail down…unfortunately I missed the trail head. So my return trip was bushwhacking down the side.  Halfway down, I could see people easily trekking down the designated path and so had to begin traversing over there.