Twin Crater Lakes Adventure - Backpacking In The Rawah Wilderness of Colorado With A Sad Ending

Last year, Jenna and I did an out and back backpack in the Rawah Wilderness, just down the road from our house in Fort Collins. It was beautiful weather and we had the Twin Crater Lakes all to ourselves. On the way out, we ran into a situation on the trail that we never expected to see and we hope to never experience again. A backpacker in a group of five life long friends had died from a heart attack on the trail and we got there as a rescue team was preparing to take the poor guy down the mountain. The trail was too tight for us to go around, so we had to hang back while the recovery crew did their job. It was so intensely somber and quiet standing there while they secured the man on a rescue stretcher while his friends sat in shock and disbelief. They had only made it an hour into what was supposed to be a 3 day adventure and we felt horrible for them. We had to hike the remaining mile and a half out while following the rescue team down the mountain and that's why there's no f