Colorado Day 4 - Climbing Twin Sisters Peaks

Today I was hoping to sleep in, but found myself awake at 7:45 a.m. and unable to go back to bed. I was planning on climbing the Twin Sisters Peaks (which are 11,428 and 11,413 feet in elevation) tomorrow, but decided to go ahead and do it today. I started at 11 a.m. and after following the train for about a quarter of a mile it suddenly ended. It looked like some foot trails went off to the left, but it didn't take long for them to blend in with all of the animal trails, and I knew it wasn't the right way. However, I did stumbled upon the skeletal remains of an elk. I then backtracked, but still did not find the trail. I spotted some orange trail markers going up the hill through the woods, so I followed them, and gladly they led to the trail. It took just under two-and-a-half hours to reach the summit, and I only saw 8 other people coming down as I was going up. I did spot some chipmunks and squirrels and on a handful of occasions heard rattlesnakes shaking their rattles. I was hoping to see one, but no luck. I spent about a half hour on the top of the two summits. I chatted briefly with some park rangers who were doing work on a tower. There were several mules with them who bring them and their equipment up. They said it takes the mules about an hour-and-a-half to get up. Not unlike the commute from Long Island to NYC. lol! I then ate some trail mix, drank some water, and headed back down. Going down only took an hour-and-a-half, and the trail which had eluded me on the way up came out not far from my car. The driver's seat of a car never felt more like a Lazy Boy! I also downed another bottle of water which I had in the car. I then drove into Estes and enjoyed an Elk burger and journaled before driving back to Loveland. Here's the link to pics from the day.