A man wearing an ice cream cone costume carried a heavy pack of ice cream and dry ice up Huron Peak and handed out frozen treats to hikers who reached the summit over the Labor Day weekend, officials and hikers said.
The unidentified man, dubbed the "Legend dairy" man by some who encountered him, hauled about a 60-pound (27-kilogram) pack up the more than 14,000-foot (4,267-meter) mountain and distributed ice cream sandwiches to climbers. Word of the impromptu snack spread down the trail, prompting more hikers to make the final push to the summit in hopes of a cold reward.
Blaine and Katie Griffin said they learned about the man from other hikers when they were about three-quarters of the way up the mountain and feared they might miss out. "Eventually we got up to the top of the mountain and, tired, hot, thirsty and didn't know it, but ice cream was just kind of what we wanted," Blaine Griffin said. He and his wife ate ice cream sandwiches at the summit, which they said remained surprisingly cold, along with some leftover pizza they had carried.
The encounter provided an unexpected, lighthearted moment for climbers on Huron Peak, one of Colorado's taller "fourteeners," and a popular destination for hikers seeking a strenuous day climb. Several parties reported seeing the man in costume and receiving frozen treats; some described children among those who were given snacks. Christopher Whitestone, who reached the summit with his family, said his two children, Olivia, 11, and Owen, 8, were among those on the mountain that day.
Huron Peak rises in the Sawatch Range and requires a sustained ascent; reaching the summit often takes hikers through steep, rocky terrain and alpine conditions. Carrying perishable items high into that environment typically requires cooling methods to keep them from melting, and the man used dry ice inside his pack to preserve the ice cream, hikers said.
Organizers of local trail groups and park officials did not immediately identify the man or confirm any formal connection to a dairy or event. No permits or public announcements about a planned distribution were reported; hikers described the gesture as spontaneous and driven by the individual.
The episode drew attention among Colorado hikers who shared accounts and photos on social media and in-person, praising the gesture as a creative and generous surprise at the top of a demanding climb. The man remained unidentified as of Thursday, and those who received ice cream said they appreciated the unexpected treat and the brief respite it provided after a strenuous ascent.
The scene on Huron Peak underscored the informal, communal aspects of mountain hiking in Colorado, where strangers sometimes exchange water, snacks or encouragement on remote trails. In this case, the exchange came in the form of frozen desserts delivered by someone in an eye-catching costume who carried enough cooling material to keep the treats intact at high elevation.