Nature Is Never Closed: T Brad Smith
This past weekend my good friend Drew and I had the opportunity to complete the Capital Creek to Haystack Mountain Loop up in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness. It was a stunningly fantastic hike with breathtaking mountain views and crystalline mountain lakes.
The trail was clocked at 38.3 miles and 12,000+ ft of elevation gain on the AllTrails App, but Drew and I ended up recording around 53 miles with 13,009 ft of elevation gain. Please be weary of that. It was a definite physical challenge to get it done in three days, but we were able to make it happen.
We ended up spending our first night near Avalanche Lake, which if you haven’t been you need to go, about 12 miles in from the beginning of the trailhead. We then pushed hard the second day to try and spend our night at Snowmass Lake. We ended up finding camp just on the south western side of Frigid Air Pass near a quaint little pond. We tackled about 16 miles that day. The next morning we were prepared for our longest day yet. And had a long push to Haystack Mountain. About 21 miles until we made it back to the trailhead.
I made it a point to stitch together the videos I took along the way which you can see in the linked YouTube video. I hope you enjoy my experience, the hike, and if you are up for it; I hope you give this one a shot on your own.
YouTube link For CAPITAL CREEK | HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN LOOP
-T Brad Smith
E-mail: TBradSmith87@gmail.com
Instagram: @iamtbrad87
