For my birthday hike we head up Guanella Pass Road to Geneva Creek Road, just west of Mt. Evans. Our map makes this out to be an improved dirt road to the Shelf Lake trailhead, but the road is really pretty rough from the start. We take the Subaru in a few miles, then park and continue on foot past the Shelf Lake trail to Jackwhacker Gulch. There is no trail on the map here, but we find a steep, overgrown track heading upstream. We follow this to a really pleasant beaver pond, where Ann hangs out while Dad and I head up for a ridge walk around the basin. This takes us over Decatur Mountain (12,890′) and Revenue Mountain (12,889′), both supplying great views north to Dillon, the Gore Range, and even Mount of the Holy Cross. The whole day would have been perfect, but when we get back to the car I look back for Ann and she is standing in the road feeling her pocket, all the blood drained from her face. Her fingers had swollen up from an insect bite, she had removed her wedding rings, and now the rings are gone. It’s a painful end to the day. She thinks she knows where they are, and we may return for them.

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