Taylor Mountain
This was the last trail of the long weekend and we really didn't want it to end. We had just finished Billings Lake so we ran Taylor Mountain in reverse. We started with a spur off of Billings Lake, with a steep climb up some switchbacks and under the power lines. We would follow this trail until it intersected with the Taylor Lake trail, where we turned right.
Running the trail in this direction meant that the long, rough hill was run uphill but we would be forced to take the narrow shelf road downhill. This turned out to not be a problem, however as we met no uphill traffic. Again, the mountains were rougher and steeper than the mountains around Bonanza where we had spent the first two days of our four-day adventure.
We were soon near tree line and the near the highest point on the trail. We stopped at a large, flat area where some mine reclamation had been performed. This was a good area to pull over and admire the view of Taylor Mountain and the surrounding peaks.
After a short run through the trees, we were out in the open again and climbing up a couple of switchbacks. Soon, the trail turned down a long, narrow shelf road and we were all hoping that this was the correct route as it looked little used and it would be difficult to back up. We had no troubles in the end, though, as we were soon around a couple of switchbacks and down to the Lily mine before we met anyone going up.
Soon after that we were at an active mine site where it looks like they're extracting and processing limestone. We aired up and reconnected here for our long return trip to Denver.
