Dave got up at 6am, and we wanted to be on the Mad Creek trailhead by no later than 7:30am, because it was reaching 85°F to 87°F daily, and at 7,000 feet, the sun is brutally hot at high altitude. In Arizona, you always got up at 5 in the morning and worked until about 1pm and then, like the smart reptiles, went and hid in the shade and did nothing until the heat broke for the day around 5pm. We decided that since the forecast is in the high 80s all this week, we’ll be on our "Zonie" schedule.
I packed a lunch and off we went north of Steamboat Springs at 7am. It was in the high 30s as we pulled into the trailhead. The Mad Creek was rushing, pounding, and racing nearby. Now, I see why it is called "mad" - we found out it is a 5 creek (creek of no return if you ask me – the water is swift, with a huge current, huge boulders, and nothing but white water).
We no sooner got on the wide, well-kept, but steep, trail, and I had photos of flowers to take. Of course, the salsify, a yellow flower, was still closed up tight because it doesn’t open until the sun’s rays grace her face. We were in deep shade as we stopped, clicked, and walked a few more feet. The Mad Creek was always on our right, always pounding, roaring, and plunging through the narrow canyon that our trail traversed among the sage brush and bushes at lower altitude, and later, oak trees (scrub), and then, pine and white-barked quaking Aspen groves. On the way up, we saw Hawk Rock, a huge, gray-granite rock on the side of our trail. I had to take a photo because it looks EXACTLY like a hawk head. It’s pretty cool stuff.
We wanted the Swamp Hike because I was hoping to find some rare mountain orchids in the seeps or near the water courses. It was 2.5 miles up into the area where the swamp was located. There were some mosquitoes, and they all went for Dave. Luckily, he had on long sleeves and his hat this time!
The air was cool, the sky a bright cerulean color, and the pines dark and thrusting upward along the steep walls of the canyon on the other side of us. I found gorgeous white evening primrose in all their glory on many slopes. There was the ever-beautiful wild rose in a variety of pink shades. The deep blue of delphinium was startling and rare between the grass and sagebrush of the lower altitude. We kept climbing and stopping and clicking. As we went higher, we saw the lighter blue flax; white, soft-looking Pussytoes; and the bright yellow of orange sneezeweed. There were plenty of chokecherry bushes, a bear’s favorite in the fall as it fattens up for the coming harsh winter.
We got to the Swamp Trail to look for orchids, which always like a water source nearby. We wanted to eat, so we went to a quaking Aspen grove in the shade, because the temperature was starting to rise and we had some food. I ate some cantaloupe to replace my fluids. At high-altitude hiking, you can lose a lot of water and not even know it. In Arizona, the same thing can happen, so we were drinking fluids, fruit or veggies, and Fritos.
As Dave rested in the shade, I scouted around the meadow for some elusive, rare orchids. I found none, but three other flowers that I couldn’t identify, but did photograph. We could always hear the roar of the Mad Creek, which wasn’t far away. Veratrum album, or Hellebore, is a highly poisonous plant. The huge, leafy, and tall plants were in the seeps and muddy, grassy flat. I was hunting for one that was blooming. There were hundreds of them, and some had buds, but no flowers. We'd hiked 3.5 miles, and that would be a round trip of 7 miles, which was plenty for a good day's hike.
We did detour on the way back to a small path that led right down to the turbulent, roaring Mad Creek. I found a Hellebore in bloom! Wow, was I happy! Dave lay on a rock in the sun, eye closed, like an old turtle warming up.
The temperature was climbing rapidly now, and the trail, which had been about 50% in the shade coming in, was 95% in the sun now. As you get older, you don’t handle heat stress like you can when you’re younger. I found deer's ears, or what is known as the monument plant, a huge 7- to 10-foot tall plant when mature. The deer love to eat this plant, hence its name. It has wonderful and interesting flowers on the spike and is worthy of being photographed.
By the time we reached the parking lot at 10:30am, it was 80°F, and we headed back to Steamboat Springs. Our favorite restaurant is the Egg and I in Sunset Plaza. They have great food and are very creative, and the price is right. It is a good way to end a good day's hike and to celebrate finding deer's ears!