I’m back! We completed the trip in 4 days instead of the expected 6. It was actually not quite intentional, we were only planning to cut off one day. But since there are no places to camp on the other side of Speculator Pass we had to hike an additional 14.5 km to get back to the trailhead – bringing the last days total to 25 km. Oh, and did a mention that Speculator Creek Trail/Pass are no longer maintained? Or as one of the locals put it before we set out: “Didn’t they abandon that trail?”

I’m glad the parks people were kind enough to post this sign at the END of the trail – after we ‘misplaced’ the trail a few times over that last 14.5 km

However we did survive and I’ll be posting a much more detailed trail report in the next fews days, complete with gobs of stats. But here are a handful of photos in the mean time:

Silver Lake in the morning light – our first campsite.

Mill Creek Pass – the 2nd pass on this trip and probably the easiest – you’ll note we’re actually smiling in this photo.

Top of Speculator Pass – WOW, they said it was steep but I didn’t think you could actually call a 60 degree slope a trail! I’ve never hiked anything this steep before but it was definitely worth the view.