Life in the Rockies

Teton Trip 2010: 7/31 - 8/7

2010-08-17T21:17:00.059-06:00

This was a greatly anticipated trip. I've been planning for it ever since the drive home from last years trip. A year of anticipation, looking at routes, planning, dehydrating meals, watching the snow/weather conditions, etc and the big week finally arrived.....

Saturday 07/31/2010

Fred showed up at my place bright and early around 7:30. We loaded all of my gear into the Xterra and we began the 7 hour drive to Jackson Hole and the Tetons. Before my trip last year, when I thought of Wyoming I pictured mountains, forest, raging rivers....don't be fooled, this is not the case! Until the Tetons come into view it is a mind-numbing drive of virtually baren land that in my opinion, runs a close 3 to driving through Kansas and Nebraska. Luckily, Fred and I were pretty excited and passed the time with talk of our plans. We reached the town of Dubois and I knew it was a matter of time before we made it over the pass and were greeted by the Tetons. That was until we hit construction that they apparently didn't finish last year. It prolonged our time in the car by an hour, at which point we were getting super anxious. Just as Fred was about to punch the gas and take out the pace truck that was leading us through the constuction, we popped over the pass and were treated to our first views of the Tetons.
Despite the construction we made descent time which got us there before the ranger station closed. We decided to go ahead and get our permit for the week so that we didn't have to worry about it in the morning before starting our hike. A pic of the Grand Teton, Mt Owen & Teewinot respectively....As we were walking into the ranger station an older man, his wife (we later learned Jerry & Jeannie) & a guide were also getting a permit as the man and guide were planning on climbing the Grand Teton also. I was awe struck.....the old man had to be at least in his 70's, he had a huge brace on each knee and he couldn't even stand up straight! The approach to the lower saddle alone is a demanding hike with a little scrambling which totals a little over 7 miles. Then there's the climbing. There are "easy" climbing routes on the Grand, but they are all long (the Upper Exum is 12 pitches) and not straight forward. Going from the trailhead to the top totals 7000 feet of elevation gain. Needless to say, I was pretty inspired by this guy's ambition. Once we got our permit we headed for Jackson to grab our last good meal before heading into the backcountry the next day. A pic of Garnet Canyon & the lower saddle (taken last yr), our home for the next week.....
We grabbed a beer and bite to eat at the Snake River Brewery and headed back out of town to camp for the night.

Sunday 08/01/2010

We woke up to an amazing view of the Tetons and couldn't help but get excited to get started. We hopped in the truck and started out the road only to be delayed yet again, but not by construction this time. There was a herd of about 30 buffalo strolling up the road. They weren't the slightest intimidated by the Xterra, nor did they seem to share in our excitement about the hiking and climbing we were anxious to do. They just mozied along doing their thing, straying only to stare us down as they walked around the truck, as if we were in their way! We finally made it into the park where we grabbed breakfast. Since the trailhead elevation starts so low we wanted to get started before the temps got too hot. At the trailhead we sorted gear, packed 5 days worth of "stuff" into our packs and started hiking. I think Fred and Jamie will concur, my backpacking setup isn't exactly optimal and my back was hurting before we even hiked out of the parking lot.....in my defense we were parked all the way at the end ;-) Once I got past the aching back the hike wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it being last year. The trees keep you shaded in the beginning. Fred making his way up the trail.... The first part of the hike isn't anything spectaclular, just like any trail you would hike in CO. Then, you make the turn go up a few switchbacks and start heading into Garnet Canyon when your eyes are hit with this view.... And the view only gets better from this point on.
Almost like a right of passage into the canyon, you have to make your way over a section of car sized boulders. Normally this would be kinda fun, but the loads on our backs bumped it up a few notches. Next, we passed the Meadows where we would be camping the second half of our stay. Fred was getting ready to look for a camping spot here and I assured him we were to keep going higher. I don't know who actually reads this blog, so I'm not going to write out his response....let's just say he wasn't thrilled. :-)..... This is the point where the hike gets a little tough. You start climbing up a bunch of short steep switchbacks that never want to end and your pack seems to start doubling, tripling, quadrupling in weight. Fred was desperately trying to think of things in his pack he didn't need that he could throw off. I forgot how bad this last part of the hike sucked and was soon joining Fred in his thoughts. Once above all of the switchbacks it was more car sized boulders to hope over. Then, finally a camp spot! We didn't bother sizing up any of the other spots....we took the first one we came to! Home sweet home....We put the tent up, filter water, ate, chatted with a few other climbers and curled up in our sleeping bags for the night.......the loooong, wiiiindy, sleepless night. The wind was blowing so hard it was like we were in a garbage bag. It never let up the entire night.

Monday 08/02/10

We both slept less than an hour the entire night and when it came time to get up and start hiking I really had to talk myself into it. It was still dark and the wind had let up to the point that the tent wasn't about to rip into shreds.....perfect for sleeping, but I begrudgingly got ready. We managed to find the trail by headlamp and started making our way to the lower saddle. The lower saddle from camp, pic taken the previous day....We made it to the snowfield below the saddle. At this point you can gain the saddle by climbing the snowfield or by climbing a fixed rope up the rock band. The ranger at the station told us the rope never melted out and we should take the snowfield. He also told us that we didn't need crampons, only our ice axes. We took his advise and planned to go up the snowfield, but what we found at 530 am was a solid sheet of frozen snow and ice. After about 10 steps in our trail shoes we decided it wasn't a good idea and went back to the trail. We decided to check the fixed ropes since we saw a few headlamps in that area earlier as we were hiking up. Low and behold the rope was good to go. I guess you can't take anyone's word, you have to be prepared for anything and see for yourself. We made the saddle just in time to catch the end of the sunrise. (at this point my batteries decided to start dying and worked only sporadically)....A little alpine glow on the Middle Teton and Teepe Glacier....At the saddle we met up with Rob and Jason whom we talked with the night before and were happy to hear that they didn't sleep either. They were heading for the Upper Exum also, so we decided join up. The Grand from the Lower Saddle (pic by Fred)....The four of us made our way up the saddle to the cutoff for the Upper Exum route. We did a little class 4/low 5 scrambling to the "eye of the needle". Fred jumping in the eye.....Just a short hike/scramble from here is Wall Street, the ramp that leads you onto the Upper Exum. Wall Street.... Wall Street leads to the first airy move, Leap of Faith that brings you onto the Upper Exum. The Leap of Faith basically consists of bellying up to a boulder and slithering around it to a short airy step move. Jason belaying Rob at the Leap of Faith..... Fred coming around the Leap of Faith.....Next we made our way up the Wind Tunnel, and windy it was....We worked our way to the Friction Pitch (called so because there aren't many holds and you have to really use your feet). This is suppose to be the crux of the climb, but after enough Flatiron slab climbing in CO I didn't find it hard at all. I found a few other pitches (mostly where we were a little off route) more challenging. Coming up the top part of the Friction Pitch....We missed what is suppose to be the best pitch on the route, the V Pitch and went up a short snowfield to a slab. A group of locals caught up to us and suggested we follow them to what they called the "boulder move", so we did. This turned out to be one of my favorite pitches of the route. It consisted of a big step over the open air to a nice foothold where you could look straight down and see a thousand or two feet of air below you. Then it was a matter of making an awkward move or two to get started and working your way up. The start of the boulder move....After this it was a nice stroll across a snowfield and some easy scrambling to the summit. It felt great to finally be standing on the top of the Grand Teton after being turned around the year before and planning for this for an entire year. The sky was blue and clear; the views were amazing, to the west Idaho and to the east the Jackson Valley and Wyoming, the company was great (I met another climber from Pittsburgh), we couldn't have asked for a better day. Fred and I excited to be on the summit.... I can't remember how long we spent on the summit, quite a while, we figured we better start making our way down. Our descent consisted of going down the Owen-Spaulding route, some easy downclimbing, 2 rappels and some nice loose scree, of course. The rap down Sargent's Chimney.....Fred and I decided since it was such a great day we were going to take our time getting down and enjoy the mountain, scenery and day; as usually we're running down to beat the weather. Finally hunger got the best of us and we made our way back down to the Lower Saddle and camp. Back at camp we ate and revelled in the climb and the fact that we climbed the Grand, and I couldn't help but wonder if Jerry (the old guy from the ranger station) made it up. We were in our sleeping bags fast asleep before the sun went down.....and thankfully it wasn't windy!

Tuesday 08/03/2010

The night before we had a few climbs in mind for the day, but decided to sleep on it and see how we felt in the morning before deciding on which to do. I woke up a few times through out the night to hear it raining. Waking again at 630 to find it still raining, I went back to sleep knowing the rock would be wet and not great for climbing.....I'm not going to lie, I was kind of happy to be able to keep on sleeping. Eventually the rain stopped, starving I made some breakfast. I think both Fred and I were thankful for the rain and the excuse to relax at camp. We lounged around camp for a while and watched all the climbers coming to and fro. It's amazing how many people come up to climb. It was also the day we had to move camp down to the Meadows. We eventually packed up and started heading down. The grassy patch in the lower right corner is where we were spending the second part of the week.....We made our way down to a big boulder which seems to be a popular stopping spot along the way. The boulder sits next to the Petzoldt Cave and low and behold there was Jerry and his guide. We talked to the guide and found out Jerry was breaking up the approach into 3 days and attempting the climb on the 4th. It was great to be able to take our time and enjoy the amazing scenery.....We made it to the Meadows and found a nice spot against a boulder which would block the wind nicely. We pitched the tent and realized we were camped next to Jerry's wife Jeannie. Our new home....We chatted a bit then Fred and I propped our packs up against some rocks, propped ourselves up against our packs and took a nap. Not long after, I woke up to someone saying "hey, Heather". I thought I was dreaming, but it turns out Jamie hiked in and managed to find us. We passed the afternoon talking about the climb, eating and watching parents and their 2 young daughters come in and set up camp. By the end of the evening we made plans to get up and climb a 5.6 route on Nez Perce. The Tetons' shadow stretching across the Jackson Valley....

Wednesday 08/04/2010

With Fred and I still trying to recover from our sleepless night and run up the Grand, we didn't quite get the early start that we were hoping for. Most of the people that were climbing had already left camp, including the young family. We slowly got our stuff together and started up the loose rock gully to Nez Perce. I managed to forget to take a picture of this from camp, but honestly it's something I really don't care to remember anyways. It seemed like every boulder or rock we touched was ready to roll down on the person below us. Thanks to this the approach to our route took much longer than expected and it was getting too late to start a technical climb with a team of 3 climbers. Especially with the lightening incident on the Grand on a couple of weeks old and fresh in our minds. At this point Fred decided he had enough and headed back to camp. Jamie and I decided to make our way to the 4th class route which required traversing some not so fun loose gullies. Jamie making his way around a ledge to checkout one of the gullies...... The day pretty much consisted of scrambling up loose rock, traversing loose rock and decending loose rock. It didn't seem like anything we touched was really attached to the mountain. Jamie on one of the few solid parts of the day....There was a little bit of exposure along the way.....And we couldn't go wrong with the view..... We inadvertantly made a quick stop on the wrong summit....that's always such a kick in the butt. Jamie pulled through and found the correct one.....We took some pics, took in the amazing view and grabbed a bite to eat before the clouds started moving in and kicked us off. We did two short raps....Then it was back to the loose mess, I started a nice rock slide at one point, we both fell a couple times....I was kind of happy when we got to the snowfields. Looking back at the loose mess....Back at camp we found Fred chatting with Jeannie. Not long after we got back a light rain started to fall. I was starving and had a great idea....the bear box that we put our food in was under a nice overhanging rock, so why not sit under the rock while it's raining and cook some food to eat. Sounds like a good idea. As the rain started coming down harder it began running around the rock and gradually dripped closer and closer to us. We kept moving our stoves and food closer and closer under the rock. Eventually we were against the rock sitting in the fetal position eating. We still felt like this was the best restaurant in WY. Once it stopped raining 3 rainbows formed and stretched over the valley. There was only one left by the time I grabbed my camera......not long after we cleaned up and were standing there chatting when the ground started to tremble. My first reaction was to look at the mountains to see which one was falling down. Turns out I had just felt my first earthquake! I'm not sure how common this is in the Teton Range as I've never heard of anyone else experiencing this. This drew Jeannie out of her tent too. While were chatting with her a ranger came looking for her to let her know Jerry made it to the top of the Grand Teton and instead of spending the night at the Saddle, he was going to come back to camp. The news made my day! The rest of the evening none of us could take our eyes off trail as we waited for him to come back. It was a pretty quite night at camp as it was just Jeannie, our group and the young family, but they hadn't returned yet. We couldn't hold our eyes open any more so we headed for our tents. I woke up around 1100 to Jerry and his guide returning.

Thursday 08/05/2010

One by one we crawled out of our tents. Jerry and Jeannie of course beat us all. We couldn't wait to talk with Jerry, but they were eating so we decided to do the same. Finally, we all offered Jerry our congrats and listened to the story of why he was here and how the climb was. We learned that he was even thinking about climbing Mt. Moran which is another demanding climb in the range. Listening to all of their climbing stories showed their love for the mountains. We all slowly packed up camp and took one last look around at the view. We also noticed that the young family never made it back to their camp. Fred went over to get their name off of the permit, but of course they didn't put it out. We checked with Jeannie and Jerry but they hadn't seen them either. Fred sat down for one last chat with the locals.... We finally threw our packs on, said our goodbyes to Jeannie and Jerry and started the hike out.... It felt great to get back to the car and take our packs and shoes off. We made a quick stop at the ranger station to let them know about the missing family. They were going to send a ranger up to look for them. Then we hightailed it to the American Alpine Club Ranch for long over due showers. It's amazing how good a shower can feel! Next we went to Jackson for real food. How could you not fall in love with a town like this!We filled up with food and beer then went back to the place we camped our first night. We made plans to check out some local climbing crags the next day and turned in early because it was raining.

Friday 08/06/2010 & Saturday 08/07/2010

We woke up to cloudy gray skies. We decided to go grab a coffee and go to the ranger station so Jamie could get his permit for his and Steven's trip then figure out what to do with our day. While at the ranger station we found out the missing family climbed the Grand, couldn't find the rap station to get down and ended up spending the night only to be found by the ranger they sent up. The weather forecast at the ranger station wasn't looking too promising for the day so we decided to head for Yellowstone since Fred had never been there. We did the usual tourist loop. We saw Old Faithful, bison, elk, moose, black and a grizzly bear with her cubs (which made the day complete for the boys). We headed back to Jackson and enjoyed a really good mealand margs at a Mexican restaurant....I'm not sure if I enjoyed my meal more or watching Jamie eat his ;-) Then, headed back to our camp spot where Steven eventually showed up at.
We woke up fairly early. We talked about Jamie and Stephen's plans for the week, went for a coffee and started the long drive home. The drive was even worse on the way back.....not only is it already boring, but it also meant we were heading back to the real world.

What a great week!

My Domestic Side

2010-07-30T21:40:00.006-06:00

We're leaving for the Tetons tomorrow. I've actually been getting ready for the trip for a little over a month now. My domestic side has made a brief appearance in getting ready for this one. I decided to dehydrate all of my dinners....it's much cheaper and it tastes better than the commercially prepared ones, you make bigger portions, they pack better in your backpack, etc, etc. You simply cook the meal as if you were going to eat it now, put it in the dehydrator, then package it. At camp boil water and add to the meal and let stand for a few minutes. I decided to start easy....I bought a jar of apple sauce and cinnamon and made apple cinnamon fruit leather. The leather was a succes, so I bought the Backpack Gourmet and tried a couple recipes from it....Morroccon Stew and Turkey Chili. Then I decided to make my own spaghetti and meat sauce. Of course I had to sample each to make sure it was edible....there wouldn't be anything worse than to backpack all the way in and not be able to eat my food. Morroccon Stew rehydrating, mmmmm.....I can't wait to try some of the other recipes on my weekend trips in CO. These will be extra good this winter!
My next domestic task was sewing a new zipper on my climbing pack. Not only did I sew a zipper on, but it's functional too (I'm still packing a needle and thread just in case ;-) ) The old and the new... Who knows when this side of me will make an appearance again!

07/24/2010 Sharkstooth in RMNP

2010-07-25T18:48:00.013-06:00

Jamie and I haven't climbed together since our trip to Moab over Thanksgiving. We had talked about it earlier this summer and were finally able to get a plan together. We met in Boulder at 2:30 am....yes am....and made the drive to RMNP for the hike into Sharkstooth. The 2.5 hr approach seemed to go by quickly with our catching up talk and the darkness...it always helps to not be able to see the never ending hill you're hiking up! As the sun came up it highlighted the low clouds. The clouds added an amazing affect to the already beautiful scenery. The second picture was our first look at Sharkstooth. As we were doing the boulder hopping part of the approach Sharkstooth made its towering presence known.We made our way to the other side of Sharkstooth, around the headwall that guards its base to find that it takes on a different shape. We made our way up the unpleasant loose gully to the start of the climb. I just happend to look behind me and caught sight of the inversion taking place. I love it when I'm above the clouds like this! We made it to the base of the climb, threw on our climbing gear, grabbed a bite to eat and jumped on the rock. Jamie leading the first pitch.Aside from the many missiles (aka rocks) I dodged on the first two pitches and realization that we were on the wrong route, it was a good climb. At the top enjoyed some nice views. One of my favorites was of the Petite Gripon. It has an amazing route on it, which is included in the 50 Greatest Climbs in North America that I'm hoping to do next summer. There was only one other group of 2 on the mountain with us and we ended up spending a little extra time on the summit to give them time to rap down. The rap gully is very loose and we didn't think it would be nice to hurle any rocks down at them. As we finally started down we realized it was just as loose as advertised as we dodged rocks that came crashing down when pulling the ropes. Jamie on the first of three 2 rope raps.Getting back down the gully to our packs was also as miserable as advertised...nothing like going down a steep loose gully. However we couldn't have asked for a better day in the high country. You can't help but be in awe of Sharkstooth as it looms over you...one last parting shot....

Catching up........again

2010-07-20T20:16:00.016-06:00

I'm obviously not so good at this blogging thing. Guess I'll give a little update of what has been going on over the last year and post a couple of pics from some of my favorite trips.

Last spring (2009) brought quite a few fun snow climbs. A few of the more memorable ones would be Dragons Tail on Flattop Mt (the day the mountain decided to take a dump on us)

Another would have to be Stephanie and I's climb of Little Bear Pk, a 14er that requires a long approach and camping at Lake Como. This 14er is actually much safer as a snow climb as the snow keeps the rocks from falling on you

Towards the end of the spring and into the summer I began to find myself doing more and more rock climbing. It took me to Boulder Canyon, the Flatirons, Eldo, Lumpy Ridge and many more local crags. However, my favorite place to rock climb was in the high peaks. I enjoyed the alpine climbs so much I can't really pic a favorite.
Dickers Peck w/ the CMC

My weekend in Glacier Gorge where I met 2 fellow CMCers for a climb of Spearhead Saturday(left) and stayed to meet Fred as we bivied for the night and climbed Pagoda Sunday (right).

Then there was Crestone Needle. This day, or shall I say expedition is a story in its self, but I'm too tired to write about it. Let's just say what was suppose to be an awesome climb turned into an epic.....sleet, hail, lightning, decending the wrong gully, doing 20-30 (no joke) raps down a wet gully in the dark to the wrong basin, Fred leaving most of his rack in the gully so we could safely rap, after all of which we had to hike over another pass to get to the right gully and arrived back at camp 30hrs later a bit hungry and exhausted....mostly exhausted.
The sleet slowly covering the rope

Crestone Needle from camp

I also took a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone. I took a couple of days and toured all the sights sights in Yellowstone, geysers, bison, grizzly, etc. Then we made an attempt on the Grand Teton but we were kicked off by the weather. (I'm headed back in two weeks for redemption!)
During the spring and summer I started playing rec softball again. This was short lived as during a night game I lost sight of a fly ball in the lights and accidently tried catching it with my ungloved hand resulting in a broken bone in my wrist. After this incident I decided to hang up my glove and cleats and dive fulltime into the much safer sport of climbing. (The light in the pic does not do the color in my fingers, hand and wrist justice)

The fall brought more climbing, hiking and a few 14ers. Over Thanksgiving I took a roadtrip to Moab, visited many arches and climbed a few desert towers with Jamie and Aaron.
Owl Rock is the tall tower on the right

Aaron on Bullwinkle

And Looking Glass Rock

I had big plans for the winter, but it ended up being extremely mellow. I hiked a few easier peaks, did some snowshoeing and ice climbing. I can blame it on being sick for a month and a half. Then after getting better had no motivation to really do anything. On the positive side it made me excited for the upcoming winter.

This spring brought more rock climbing. I was an assistant instructor for the CMC Basic Rock School. I had a great time and met a lot of great people that I have continued to climb with through the spring and summer. I did get a few snow climbs in and kicked off the alpine rock season this past Saturday on Longs Peak's Keyhole Ridge. This gave me my 4th annual Longs Pk summit.....I want to try to climb Longs at least once every year for as long as I can. (If you are at all interested you can checkout pics on facebook)

In short that's what I've been doing for the past year. I have a trip to the Tetons coming up in two weeks, a few 14ers planned in Aug/Sept and who knows what else will come along, but hopefully I'll do a better job of updating my blog along the way!

Mount Guyot - 02/07/09

2009-02-09T20:38:00.014-07:00

I almost feel guilty calling this a winter summit...today was nicer than most of the spring climbs I've done....but I'll take it! All of the usual suspects were either busy, sick or sleeping in so it ended up being a solo day.
I left early in order to beat the Saturday morning ski traffic. After a quick stop at the 7Eleven in Breck I made my way to the road closure. Since I was fairly early I took a quick nap, took my time getting ready and started hiking down the road at 9:00. Thanks to the road being plowed and packed I made good time and it wasn't long before Guyot came into view.I came across a trail without a sign and decided to take it and find out if it was the one I wanted. As I was snowshoeing up the trail I got my first look at Glacier Peak. It looked very impressive; however, I looked it up when I got home and it's really not impressive at all. (Oops, apparently I don't know how to read a map...this is Mount Baldy and it actually looks like it could be fun)
Eventually I started to get glimpses of Guyot through the trees, so I knew I was at least headed in the right direction. Eventually the broken trail disappeared and I was postholing in snow with my snowshoes on. I'm really not sure where it came from since it hasn't snowed much up high recently. I made my way out into the basin staring straight ahead at Guyot.This was my option to gain the ridge.It didn't look very inviting, especially since I was by myself. So, I back tracked to the trees and started the grueling trudge up. This was probably the longest part of the day. The snow was very inconsistent bullet proof for a step or two and then sugar. I was one happy girl when I made the ridge. Looking at the ridge to Guyot....I made my way up to the talus where I stashed my snowshoes under some shrubs, grabbed a quick bite to eat and took in the view. I should have stayed high on the ridge, but ended up going to the left of one of the bumps and found my self on a snow slope that I probably shouldn't have been on. It definitely got my heart rate up and I was glad when I got to the other side! After a quick break to let things calm down I began the never ending boulder/talus hop up to the ridge proper and then the summit.
I made the summit four hours after leaving the Jeep. Looking back at the final part of the ridge....Looking towards Breckenridge...More of the view....As I was taking in the view I noticed a piece of wood sticking out of the snow by some rocks and decided to dig it up....Looking down the gully that I came up.....I made the never ending boulder/talus hop back down to my snowshoes where I again stopped for a bite to eat and thought about the miserable snow slope I was about to go down. As I was heading down the ridge to the trees I ran into the first people I had seen since leaving the 7Eleven earlier in the morning. Once down the snow slope the hike out went pretty fast and I was back at the Jeep a little before 4.
It was an amazing winter day!
And just for the record....I never got off route!!

01/31/2009 Hidden Falls Ice Climbing

2009-02-04T20:56:00.005-07:00

I remember talking with someone about climbing not long ago and saying that ice climbing is something I really had no interest in doing. Weelll.....Colin and Scott were cool enough to let Stephanie and I tag along with them for our first ice climbs. And I think I'm hooked!

A few pics......

Stephanie's first climb

Scott

Colin

your's truly

Longs Pk - North Face 01/18/2009

2009-01-25T13:29:00.016-07:00

I've had the North Face of Longs on my radar for quite a while now. It was a matter of waiting for a day with good conditions, as Longs is notorious for crazy weather year round and finding someone that would want to lead me up. Low and behold Josh, the guy I climbed Pyramid's NW Ridge with was looking for a partner. After a few emails and phone calls the plans were in place.
We met Saturday afternoon at Josh's house packed his gear into the Jeep and were on our way. We made a few last minute preparations at the TH and started making our way to treeline to camp for the night. I've hiked up this trail so many times I probably could do it in my sleep. It went by suprisingly quick despite the heavy pack I was carrying. The notorious Longs Pk winds picked up once the trees started to thin. Josh found a nice camping spot and started digging a spot in the snow for the tent. We melted snow for water, made dinner, discussed our start time of 6am and burrowed into our sleeping bags for the night. I forgot my ipod, so the winds kept me awake most of the night.
After both of our alarms froze we didn't quite make the 6:00 start time, but we still beat the sun. Not the best sunrise pic, but it was too cold....We made good time to the Chasm Lake - Granite Pass Junction. Longs diamond peaking around Lady Washington....After a quick chat with a hiker we started the hike below Lady Washington to Granite Pass. I was a little concerned. In the past, this part of the hike is a postholing nightmare and we decided to leave our snowshoes in the car this weekend. Fortunately, the trail was packed down making it tolerable with the shoes. Once around Granite Pass the North Face came into view and it was suprisingly wind blown....We started making the neverending boulder hop across the Boulder Field to the base of the climb. Finally, making it to the base of the first snowfield we decided to stop and put on our harnesses and crampons and grab a quick bite to eat, and watch the group of 2 that was ahead of us. They were doing the climb in two pitches and were taking their time so we decided to start up before we turned into ice cubes. The first snow slope was a moderate climb on wind packed snow. Me making my way...We reached the base of the technical section and the second group was still making their way up. We were hoping they would move a little faster as the wind was pretty cold. Josh took the lead and climbed it in one pitch. This was would be my first technical mixed climb with crampons on and I'll admit the longer I stood there belaying, the more nervous I was getting, but the minute my toes started to get really cold I was ready to start climbing! The crux turned out to not be as bad as I was expecting. It is very different climbing slabs on the points of crampons and with thick gloves. Neither of us took pictures while we were climbing, but I did take one after reaching the top of it looking back down....Josh coiling the rope at the top of the crux....While Josh finished coiling the rope I began making my way up a few snow ramps to a bunch of boulders where we could stop and grab a drink before crossing the "no fall zone". We didn't stay too long because the wind was extremely cold. The "no fall zone" is named so due to the fact that if you were to take a tumble you would end up in a nice 2200ft free fall down the Diamond Face into Chasm Lake. We discussed roping up for this section, but we both felt comfortable soloing it as long as we didn't have to do any steep rock climbing with our crampons. Looking down toward the Chasm Amphitheater with Lady Washington across the way....Me making my way up a snowfield...The section after the crux was a mix of snow and class 3-4 scrambling. Josh making the final scramble to the summit...We made it to the summit 6hrs after leaving camp. It was a pretty neat experience being the only ones on top of Longs Peak! View from the top....As we were making our way down the other group was making thier way up. We went down for the most part the same way we went up. We reached the crux and rappelled in two pitches. Josh rappelling the first pitch... We made to loooong hike back to camp, packed up and made it back to the Jeep just as it was getting dark.
This was a great winter climb and intro to technical winter climbs. My list is growing....

Catching Up

2009-01-14T18:37:00.015-07:00

I've obviously gotten a little behind here and did too many climbs to write about individually so, I'm going to do a little recapping of my some of my favorite climbs of 2008 here....if you look at anything, look at the links to Stephanies trip reports (she not only writes great TRs, but these were 2 of my favorite climbs this summer). I ended up climbing 81 peaks in 2008...yes, I might have a problem ;) I'm getting closer to completing my 2 lists: I've climbed 40/58 of CO's 14ers and 59/100 of CO's highest 100 (Centennials). I really came to love snow climbing and ended up repeating quite a few peaks due to their cool snow routes.

I think I left off somewhere in July....

I took advantage of the long 4th of July weekend. Friday I met Colin and we climbed the Navajo Snowfield to the West Chimney and summited Navajo.Colin climbing the chimney
Sunday I did a little solo climb of Clinton and McNamee. Then, met Colin at the Holy Cross TH. We hiked back and camped for an early start to climb the Angelica Couloir. IT was a great climb, despite the mosquitoes biting through our clothes!Mt. Holy Cross with the couloir to the right
The weekend of the 10th-11th I did a solo trip of the ridge outlining Steven's Gulch. Once on top of Edwards it was a pretty mellow ridge. Getting down proved to be the crux as I got stuck multiple times at cliffs and ended up losing one of my trekking poles...it got stuck when I tried throwing them down a class 4 section :( After finally getting down and hiking back up the road to my Jeep I was off to Pyramid to meet Josh for a climb the next day. We planned to do the lesser climbed NW Ridge and descend the standard NE which proved to make for an awesome day.Josh climbing the final chimneyLooking back at Pyramid on the hike out
I spent the following weekend hanging out with Craig and a mountain goat that wanted to drink out Fat Tire, and climbing Kit Carson via North Ridge, Challenger and Mt. Adams. I did write up a blog on this one, if interested.
The following weekend Stephanie and I met Craig & Colin in Aspen and after a drink Craig gave us a little history of a local dive and we headed for the Capitol Pk TH where we planned to climb Capitol on Saturday and finish the weekend off by backpacking on a loop back to the TH. Stephanie wrote up a great trip report on this one: http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4862&parmuser=slynn4_13run&cpgm=tripmain However, you can't mention climbing Capitol without a picture of crossing the infamous knife edge....
Next up was a weekend with Stephanie and Scott to climb Lindsey, Huerfano & Iron Nipple on Saturday. Then a nice mellow hike up California Pk Sunday. I didn't get too many pictures this weekend...I wasn't feeling too well and I had my camera settings all messed up.
The weekend of August 8 was the beginning of a mission for Stephanie, Craig and I and what has come to be one of my favorite climbs of 2008....The Crushed Ice Traverse! Once again Stephanie posted a great trip report that recaps our 3 attempts so I'm not going to bore you with my ramblings: http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=5113&parmuser=slynn4_13run&cpgm=tripmain
My focus shifted for the rest of the summer and fall as I wanted to check off a few more Centennial 13ers, my parents made a trip out and I made my first venture to the Ruby Range. I'm tired of writing :) so I'll finish off with some pics.
Mt Meeker's Iron GatesLooking back at Elks Tooth as it begins to rainSummit of Cascodon't askRuby, Owen & PurpleCraig & I trespassing in the Needle Eye TunnelLongs Pk & the Diamond from Chasm LakeThere is a road there somewhere

9/20 The French Group

2008-09-23T10:13:00.001-06:00

9/14 - Decalibron

2008-09-23T10:12:00.002-06:00

09/13 It's Snowy!!

2008-09-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

8/31 Elk Tooth

2008-09-01T20:20:00.001-06:00

8/30 Meeker, Longs, Storm, Lady Washington

2008-09-01T20:19:00.000-06:00

Huron to W. Apostle and Everything Between Traverse 08/23/08

2008-08-29T10:11:00.001-06:00

Weekend #2 at Winfield

2008-08-29T10:10:00.002-06:00

North Apostle 08/09-10/08

2008-08-29T10:10:00.001-06:00

California Pk 08/03/08

2008-08-29T10:09:00.002-06:00

Lindsey, Heurfano & Iron Nipple 08/02/08

2008-08-29T10:09:00.001-06:00

Capitol Pk & Avalanche Pass Loop 07/26-27/08

2008-08-29T10:08:00.002-06:00

Mt. Adams - 07/20/08

2008-08-29T10:08:00.001-06:00

Kit Carson - North Ridge / Challenger Point

2008-07-21T10:09:00.006-06:00

I've been looking forward to going back to Kit Carson and Challenger, but wanted to do something a little more than the standard route...the North Ridge fit the bill! It's a fun ridge consisting of 1500ft of sustained class 3-4 climbing.
Craig and I met at the TH Friday evening where we did some last minute packing and saw a preview of the sunset....Craig tried to get out of it last minute.......but gave in in the end and we were on the trail by 8:15. There isn't much to look at when you're hiking in the dark, so we were trying to come up with a plan to poach Culebra. We had quite a few good ideas ;) We made above Willow Lake exactly 3hrs after leaving the trailhead and began looking for a spot to pitch the tent. Keep in mind, we were above the lake and treeline in a rocky and willowy area. The good thing was that we were away from the hordes of people and mosquitoes and we were closer to the North Ridge. It was quite interesting trying to find a decent tent site in the dark. We eventually did, pitched the tent and made plans to wake up at 5am. Well, I left my sleeping pad in the car and the ground made it a bit chilly, needless to say I didn't sleep much. After hitting snooze a few times we were finally on the trail a little after 6:00. A look at our climb, the prominent ridge on the mountain top center....We meandered through some willows and did some boulder hopping in search of the class 2 gully. Needless to say, the first one we tried was not it....After a little backtracking we eventually found ourselves headed up the grassy ledges at the base of the ridge. Craig coming up the ledges... Soon enough we were headed up the ridge proper.There was only one spot that gave me cause for pause. I wondered a little too far to the right and got into a spot that was lacking obvious (to my eyes) holds, but after a minute of looking around I was on my way up again. The entire way up the ridge I couldn't take my eyes of the amazing views and loved the sight of the Crestones from the top of KC! The Crestones...Challenger, our next stop for the day....Adams, goal for the next day...After a while of eating and mingling we were headed for the Avenue and Challenger. The Avenue....

to be continued...

Mt. Adams

2008-07-21T10:09:00.003-06:00

Pyramid Peak - NW Ridge

2008-07-13T21:09:00.002-06:00

Minus a Trekking Pole

2008-07-13T21:08:00.001-06:00

7/5 Clinton & McNamee

2008-07-06T19:59:00.006-06:00

I gave up on trying to wake up the guys from their 4th of July celebration enduced sleep and decided to leave without them....but not before helping myself to a few PB&J sandwiches. I ended up not leaving the TH until 8....can't remember the last time I started that late in the morning....the sun was already up! Thanks to my late start I knew I wasn't going to have time to waste as I was meeting Colin in Breck to head for Holy Cross. Most of the hike at the beginning is on an old road and is flat. The only problems on the road are a few ponds that formed on it that I had to bushwack through willows to get around.
Speaking of....I came to one such pond and started heading through the willows. Keep in mind the willows are towering over me and are pretty thick. I stop to look for a way around a swampy part when I hear something walking up behind me! I turned around to see shaggy reddish brown fur coming up behind me. I have know idea what it was and I didn't care to stick around and find out. I broke through the willows like it was no one's business and trotted down the road. I stopped to see if it came out, but it never did. I don't think it was big enough to have been a bear and it was too big to be a marmot ???
Anyhow, the trio that I was headed for came into view....I continued meandering down the road when I came upon this...And it was coming from this...Since I needed to go up eventually I decided to start bushwacking along it and hoped that it would take me to a clear tundra. After my earlier experience, I was also hoping that nothing was going to jump out and attack me! As hoped for, it did bring me out onto a tundra. Looking at Wheeler Peak....This made for some quick hiking allowing me to regain some time lost in the bushwacking maze. This proved to be a pretty picturesque basin....AFter quite a few pictures I started heading up the snow slope into the cirque. I originally planned on wearing my trailrunners, but was glad to have thrown on my boots instead. I wanted to get a pick after I made it to the top of the slope, but my memory card was full. I usually have a spare in my camera case, but it seemed to have disappeared! Irritated I started up Clinton. It wasn't anything exciting just a slog up rock and snow. I wish I had a memory card as the views of the other Tenmile/Mosquite mountains were great! I debated for a minute as to whether to traverse over to McNamee and Traver as time ticking to be in Breck. I decided to make the quick run over to McNamee and save Traver for another day. I made quick work of the hike back to the road. I even found a trail through the willows back to the road! This is one hike I would save for snowy conditions. On the way out I had to stop 100 times for Jeepers coming up the road. I finally made it back to the TH and found a message from Colin...he wasn't going to be in Breck at 2 after all!! I was kinda happy because I never would have made it to the brewery by 2. I made a few stops in Breck to get a bite to eat and a new memory card and was on my way to Holy Cross.

7/6 Angelica Couloir - Mt of the Holy Cross

2008-07-06T19:59:00.003-06:00

7/4 Navajo Snowfield & West Chimney - Navajo Pk

2008-07-06T19:58:00.002-06:00

Last weekend reminded me why I love the IPW, so I came back less than a week later. Colin and I met at the TH at 4:30 and I decided again to get a headstart. Our goal was to climb the Navajo Snowfield to the West Chimney to the summit and then down Airplane Gulley. Cone shaped Navajo & the snowfield....The sun started coming up and I started getting hot. I stopped to delayer when Colin caught up to me. As we were nearing Navajo we had to do a bit of boulder hopping. And of course I had to posthole through the snow down between two rocks....had I not had trekking poles to throw out in front of myself to stop myself I'm pretty sure I would have a broken leg right now. Once I got my foot unstuck, my leg and ankle were throbbing and by the time I made it to the base of Navajo Snowfield my lower leg, ankle and foot had swelled so much that my foot was tingling. We threw on the crampons, helmets and grabbed our axes and started the climb. The climb started out fairly mellow....After maneuvering around some rocks the angle increased a bit....Colin takes bigger steps than my short legs like so I was doing a little kickstepping of my own....this made my leg feel fantastic! We were soon on the ridge and heading between Navajo and Dickers Peck (don't ask).....We stopped to take off our crampons and grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the chimney. The chimney was a short walk up a ramp. Colin navigating up the class 4 chimney....The chimney was a fun climb...wish it would have been a little longer. From this point on we had a little route finding and scrambling to the summit. The obligatory summit shot....Apache (last week's climb)....After taking in the views and relaxing on top for a while we started making our way down to Airplane Gulley. The decent down the gulley was kind of eerie with the plane wreckage still there....hard to believe it has been there for so long. The gulley itself was the typical pain in the a$$ loose scree. Aside from the shooting pain in my leg with each step, the hike out was uneventful. Back at the TH we made our plans to meet for Holy Cross and headed to our 4th of July parties. Like I said, my leg was pretty swollen. Luckily my boot kept my ankle from getting too bad....that is until I took it off. My leg back at the TH.....

Apache Couloir - Apache Peak

2008-06-29T23:19:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I said that I was not leaving the house this weekend. Well, I knew I couldn't follow through on that so I was hoping to do an easier climb. Colin contacted me about heading to the Indian Peaks and climbing the Apache Couloir. Sounded good to me for the simple fact that it was close! Saturday morning I left to meet Colin and Chris for a 4:30am start. Colin had some alarm issues which gave me the perfect chance to get a head start! I was suprised by the big snowdrifts that are still on the trail and how much snow is still up there in general. Chris eventually caught up to me. I forgot how easy the approach is to these peaks compared to what I've been doing. Navajo, Apache & Shoshoni come into view with the morning sun rising.... As Chris and I neared the peaks we started taking our time to give Colin a chance to catch up. Chris monkeying around....There were some low hanging clouds along the way.... Chris and I continued up into the basin below the circque and Colin showed up. A view of our climb ahead, Apache Couloir in the center of the picture....We decended down to a tarn and climbed a steep snow slope before reaching the base of the couloir. The guys heading up the slope....We reached the couloir a little later than we would have liked so the snow was a little soft, but for piece of mind we threw on our crampons and got out the axes. The guys at the start of the couloir....Chris took the lead for a bit....The guys coming up over the steeper section....The couloir spit us out on the ridge between a subsummit of Apache and the true summit. Me on the ridge...We talus hopped to the rather gentle summit of Apache and had great views of the surrounding peaks and of a blanket of clouds over the plains....And two couloirs on Shoshoni that I am definitely putting on the itinerary for next spring....We decided to head over to the Queensway Couloir and glissade down. I should pack my snow pants for this reason! It's kinda awkward to hike with a numb butt after that! The hike out was great. We took our time and checked out some routes on the surrounging peaks and took in the amazing views of the basin. We finished the day off with a beer back at the trailhead...well, until the sherriff decided to show up.
Before I knew what 14ers and centennials were I spent a lot of time in the IPW. Last year I was on a 14er tear and didn't go to the IPW at all. It was great to get back here today to be reminded why it's one of my favorite places! I will definitely be making it a point to get here more often!

East Face Couloir - Cathedral Peak

2008-06-22T21:48:00.003-06:00

No matter how good of a night's sleep I get, 3am is just way too early to wake up and start climbing up a trail! I was feeling pretty sluggish and had my mind made up that I was going to hike to the lake and call it a day. But, once I eyed the couloir I couldn't resist!

Steph posted a great trip report for this climb on 14ers, so I'm going to be lazy and just post the link :)

http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4481&cpgm=tripmain

This is one of my favorite snow climbs to date!

Hopeful Couloir - Mt. Hope

2008-06-22T21:47:00.002-06:00

Drew, Paul, Craig and I met Friday night in order to get an early start for Hopeful. Drew, Criag and I were hanging out at the campsite when we watched an SUV pull in with one of its headlights dangling down towards the ground....Paul hit a deer on his way over the pass....in a rental no less! After a beer and brat we called it a night.
The 4am wake up came way too early. We headed for the trailhead and started getting our gear out when Colin showed up. After hiking with Drew and Paul on Fletcher I wanted to get a head start, that way when we made it to the couloir I would only be a few minutes behind ;) Paul decided to come with me. We crossed the raging creek. We were hiking on a wider trail and passed 2 turnoffs, but decided to continue on the wide one....we ended up back at the campground! What's a hike without me getting off route at some point?! We turned around and headed back. Unfortunately, the rest of the group already left and was now ahead of us. After quite a bit of elevation gain we ran into Drew and after a bit of postholing and route finding we came across Colin. Then we found Craig at the Lake below Mt. Hope. I'm not really sure that anyone actually hiked up together lol.
First look at Mt. Hope and the Hopeful Couloir just to the left of the summit....A closer look....We all made our way to the base of the couloir where we stopped to put on our snow gear and grab a quick bite to eat. Drew and Paul got a head start while the rest of us took our time getting ready. The start of the climb....The angle started out fairly low and gradually steepened as we got higher.At the top the couloir splits. The right side had a nice cornice hanging out, so we obviously took the left branch. Some neat suncups along the way....Once we topped out we had about 150ft of talus hopping to the summit which offered some nice views. LaPlata and Ellingwood Ridge....Huron and the Apostles....After a nice break on the summit we started to head down. We talked about glissading down a nice big snow slope to the saddle and hitting the trail, but the guys wanted to glissade down a smaller couloir for a more direct approach back to the lake. I wasn't too sure about this glissade, but I eventually made it down...in one piece! We glissaded the one in the center....After emptying the snow we collected on the glissade we headed back to the lake where Craig, Drew and Paul stopped to filter water and Colin and I continued back to the TH. We made it back broke out the grill and enjoyed a brats and beer. And after much contemplation we decided to head over Indy Pass and climb Cathedral the next day. After a while we were getting pretty tired and decided to start making our way to Aspen. Craig, Colin and I stopped in Aspen and enjoyed a beer before heading to the trailhead to meet Stephanie. It was going to be another early wake up...3am, so we enjoyed a quick beer, hungout at the TH for a bit and called it a night.

Lost Rat Couloir - Grays Peak

2008-06-15T18:49:00.003-06:00

After a much better night's sleep than Friday night....must have been the beers....we were up and 430 getting ready. We made good time up the trail and it wasn't long before the Lost Rat came into view (the couloir left of center)....It didn't feel like the old winding road was ever going to end, but eventually we made it! Craig and Valerie gearing up at the base of the couloir....Once again, before we even got into the body of the couloir a rock came hurtling by. I wasn't quite as worried today as there were 3 sets of eyes watching. Me starting up the couloir....I could tell my calves were going to be tired after this one, especially after doing Dead Dog the day before. Valerie and Craig following my slow arse....This was Valerie's first couloir! We decided to keep to the left of the couloir as all the rockfall seemed to be coming down the right side.About half way up my calves were pretty tired and Craig was awesome enough to take the lead...he kicks much better steps than me anyways! Looking up about 1/2 way...And looking down....Not far from the top Mike showed up on the ridge waiting to ski down. Mike and Craig peering down on Valerie and I from the ridge...Me topping out....One of the local residents was there to greet us....After watching the goat insanely jump down into the couloir and up the side, Mike dropped in and started his ski decent and Valerie, Craig and I started the long trudge up the ridge to Grays summit. Valerie and Craig enjoying the views and food....We spent a while on the summit then headed for the saddle and a nice loooong glissade down. It was a nice hike out until we got a little off route....sorry. Back at the TH we enjoyed a beer and a bite to eat while we packed up our gear.
It turned out to be a great weekend....2 fun snow climbs, perfect weather, great friends....would you rather be doing anything else!

Dead Dog Couloir - Torreys & Grays

2008-06-15T18:48:00.003-06:00

The plan was to climb Dead Dog on Saturday with Colin and Dave. Dave and I were going up Friday night and Colin was going to join Saturday morning. I arrived at the TH just after 8 and found a place where we could fit a few tents and pitched mine. Talked with Adam and Mike for a while, two other loaners in the parking lot and decided to call it a night. I ended up letting a young couple from Tennesse sleep in my tent and I slept in the back of my Jeep.....it was much warmer there! The alarm went off at 4am. A few other had arrived during the night and it's always kinda neat to see the headlamps getting ready to go. I was hanging out talking to Mike and waiting for Colin and Dave who never showed and couldn't get intouch with me since I was already at the TH. So, at 445 Mike and I set off. Not long after the sun started to come up and Torreys came into sight. Alpenglow on Torreys and the Dead Dog Couloir (the snowline just to the right of the summit)....We caught up to a group headed for Kelso Ridge. After a quick chat with them I headed for the couloir and Mike and his skis were head for the saddle. Adam from the night before was the first on Dead Dog and he was already half way up. I headed for the rock on the bottom left of the pic and threw on my crampons and helmet and grab my axe and soon became the second.The snow was still pretty hard making it a little difficult to kick good steps. As I was walking up to the body of the couloir rocks were already zooming by. This made more a little nervous given how early and hard the snow still was....I hated to think about what the rockfall was going to be like once the snow started softening! At one point a bird flew over and I jumped when I saw the shadow because I thought it was a rock coming at me! Looking down about half way up.... And what I had left.... At this point the snow started to soft and I was able to kick better steps. A few people were finally heading for Dead Dog also. I continued up kicking steps and dodging rockfall. I topped out on the ridge a little before 8 roughly an 1 1/2hrs after I started. Looking down from the ridge....Looking up the remaining ridge to Torreys summit....As I was heading up Mike came into view on the top. He was hanging out waiting for the snow to soften so that he could ski Dead Dog. My hero shot with Grays in the background....After pics and a bite to eat I bid Mike a good ski and headed off. I was pretty pumped for just doing my firt solo couloir and it was a beautiful day, so I decided I would head over to Grays even though I was going to do it the next day with Valerie and Craig. Along the way I was checking out the cornices that were cracking and pulling away from the mountains....In no time I was on Grays. The snow on the saddle was still hard from a wind that wouldn't go away, so I hungout waiting for it to soften so that I could glissade down. After patiently waiting....After a nice hike out I fought with my stove which wouldn't lite so I took a nap. Then enjoyed a beer with Mike. Soon Valerie showed up and Craig soon followed. Craig broke out the grill and the 4 of us enjoyed brats and beer before turning in.
Dead Dog was a really good climb, although I was expecting it to be a little steeper. Still a great climb and a beautiful day!

Castle & Conundrum - The Long Way

2008-06-08T13:50:00.012-06:00

I'm finally getting around to posting this past weekend's happenings. I wrote a trip report on Summitpost if you want to read the details, like us missing a crucial turn and ending up in the wrong basin...imagine that ;)

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/410973/Castle-Conundrum-Never-Cut-the-Switchbacks.html

I'm just going to give more of a picture blog on here.....

Catching an amazing sunrise....unknowingly from the wrong basin ;)

The basin we ended up back tracking too. We climbed the deep inset couloir (Castle Moat) that tops out at the low point of the ridge....

Looking up at the towering walls of Castle Moat...

Craig climbing....

Looking back down....

Me climbing up....

Looking towards Castles summit from where we topped out....

Our summit/hero shots....

Conundrum Peak, our next stop....

Looking back at Castle from Conundrum....

A fun glissade....

Our slight detour made for a 14hr day and a long slog back to the car. Still a great day in the mountains!

Pacific Peak

2008-05-31T21:08:00.025-06:00

In April one of my objectives when heading up Crystal was to take a look at the North Couloir on Pacific. I've been wanting to climb it for quite a while now. Craig and I have been talking about it for a few weeks and decided to meet up and do it this weekend.
Pacific and the North Couloir (taken in April)We started up the road from the winter trailhead which is at 10200 and I was suprised to see how much snow was still on the road. We made it back to the diversion damn and headed off on the trail. We felt like we were making decent time, but we also knew the lower portion of the couloir got the early morning sun so we needed to be starting up the couloir pretty early to avoid the snow softening causing slides. There were parts of the approach where the snow was so hard I wished I had my crampons on. We came across some old cabins along the way. Seeing the sun coming up I was starting to doubt we would be able to climb the couloir. As we were hiking we discused how after reading all the route descriptions neither of us picked up on how long the approach was going to take. It seemed like it was going to be a fairly quick and easy one...not the case. Pacific's summit eventually made an appearance.That view confirmed that we still had a ways to go and the sun had been shining for a while, so we decided to make this a scouting hike. After more hiking and climbing we came out onto a relatively flat and snowy basin that we started across. We decided to get a closer look at the bottom portion of the couloir then see if we could find a good route that we could climb to the ridge of Pacific and then head to the top.The bottom of the couloir is to the left of the rock pinnacle in the center of the pic. Taking a hard left just past the rock pinnacle takes you up the main branch, unfortunately it can't be seen. Going straight at the pinnacle is the easier right branch. And you can see the huge cornice at the top. We both agreed that we wouldn't want to start up at this point with that nice cornice looking down at us! I was wondering if the cornice from April was still at the top of the left branch. We grabbed a bite to eat and took in the impressive view of Pacific and the other mountains that lined the basin. Craig picked out a good mixed route to the top. We threw on our crampons and helmets and exchanged trekking poles for axes and started the climb.
Making our way up...Looking back down the top portion of our route...Where we topped out and what we had left to go...We ditched the crampons, snowshoes and skis and began the talus hop with the occasional snowfield to the top. The views confirmed how much snow there still is. Crystal doesn't look any different than it did when I did it in April...The obligatory summit shot with the snowy Gores behindSince we were unable to get a view of the left branch of the North Couloir we decided to scramble down to the notch to get a look. Looking down....After a nice long break taking in the views from the summit and contemplating scrambling over to the big cornice and jumping up and down on it we made our way back down. As we were getting to the main ridge we spotted two guys hiking to the base of the couloir. We were hoping at this point in the day they weren't going to start up. We made it back to our stashed gear and grabbed a bite to eat and watch what they had planned. After about a half hour of sitting in avy runout they started up. Considering it was 1:30 and the couloir had been getting hit by the sun all day, not to mention the huge cornice hanging out above it seemed pretty risky. We packed up and started down the ridge to some snow slopes that we eyed earlier in the day. Craig threw on his skis and made some good turns. I sat down and got a nice glissade.I was pleasantly suprised by the lack of runout. We made our way across the rest of the basin and started down into the trees. We started down a steep ravine so I took off my snowshoes to heel plunge down. At the bottom Craig started to the right where it would be easier to ski. I followed behind. The next thing I knew the ground dropped out from under me....literally!I'm not really sure how I didn't go all the way down. My feet weren't touching anything....pretty much just dangling there. Craig had to ski back over and I had to take my pack off to get out of it. This definitely brought a new meaning to postholing! This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was about 6.5ft deep.After crawling out I got everything back together and we trudged on. Other than a slight ;) route finding issue the rest of the hike out was uneventful. We finished the day with a little Mexican in Frisco.
Even though we weren't able to do the North Couloir the day still ended up being a great one. Definitely be going back for the couloir.

Blanca Peak

2008-05-18T18:10:00.021-06:00

The plan was to hike back to Lake Como Friday meet up with a few people, do Blanca & Ellingwood Saturday, Little Bear on Sunday given that the hourglass wasn't icy and head home. Well, I woke up Friday morning couldn't hear out of my right ear and it was hurting pretty bad. I was able to get into the doctor in the morning to find out I had an ear infection. This year has not been good to me so far!! After a quick stop at the pharmacy I was on my way to Lake Como. The smart thing would have been to stay home, but....
After reading all the horror stories about Lake Como road, I was a little nervous as to what I would find. I ended up making it a little over 2 miles up. Got everything ready and started hiking. It was pretty warm starting out but there was a breeze blowing to keep it cool. There were some old cabins along the way.I think my Jeep could have made it over this!As the sun started going down the wind started to really blow and then wouldn't you know it, it started to snow! Luckily it only took me another 1/2hr to get to the cabin by the lake. I love putting up a tent in the wind! I have to admit, I am getting better at it! Thanks to the wind my ear was really hurting and I didn't get much sleep. The group that was staying in the cabin woke me sometime after 3am as they were getting ready. I had my alarm set for 430. I wasn't sure if the group I was meeting made it up or not, and when my alarm went off I decided to try and sleep a little more. I woke up at 6 feeling pretty miserable. I debated whether I even wanted to leave the tent, but decided to at least hike up to see the peaks. It was a chilly morning and this was the view of Little Bear from camp.I'm not sure that I followed a trail. I more or less meandered through the trees. This looks like a fun way to climb Ellingwood.I met up with Mike, we watched these guys top out and then headed off. He was headed for Blanca and I decided to hike up with him and see how I felt. Here's looking at the saddle between Ellingwood and Blanca.We followed a trail from a group that went up Ellingwood and broke away to hike around the bowl...probably not the smartest move, but it was still cold and the snow was looking good. Even still we decided to head up to the ridge. Kinda looking back to ridge towards Ellingwood.I really wasn't feeling well at this point but my stubborness/stupidity kicked in and on I went. We decided to come off the ridge and traverse around the knobby part then head up to the summit. This made for a few attention grabbing moments with snow and ice. Looking back part way around the knob.I was soooo happy when I made it to the top, I was even contemplating heading over to Ellingwood! Here are the obligatory summit shots.I was pretty impressed with the views from Blanca, and it was a cloudy day. I bet their even more amazing on a clear day.
Mount Lindsey
Northern Sangres
Little Bear
EllingwoodNo sooner did we start down and the sun came out and it was starting to get pretty warm. The warm sun was sending little avalanches down from the Ellingwood/Blanca saddle, and with the snow were some pretty large boulders. This put an end to any thoughts of going over to Ellingwood! At this point I was just hoping we would get down without triggering a slide. We did make it down without any major slides, but we did make a mess.This pic is looking up at some of the slides triggered by the heat of the sun. In the center of the pic you can see the boulders that come down with it.We watched slides come off of Ellingwood the rest of the way out. A little postholing on the way out, otherwise it was pretty nice. I got back to camp and found a nice rock by the lake and ate. And had a clearer view of Little Bear.After I ate I went in my tent and went to sleep. I ended up sleeping until midnight, woke up for a few minutes and went back to sleep. I decided to hold off on Little Bear. It's definitely not a mountain to climb the way I was feeling. I woke up in the morning to blue skies and got this panorama of Little Bear and the west ridge.I packed up and started down the road. The sun was hot! And my feet are going to be glad when they can wear trail runners again!

Cristo Couloir

2008-05-10T18:33:00.007-06:00

Cristo Couloir (taken 2/29/08 from North Star Mountain)
It was another slow snowy drive on I70 this morning. I met up with Shawn, Dave, Colin and his friends Scott and Brett. We got our gear ready and started the hike up the road. I planned on skiing Cristo, but the integrated bindings on my skis make them way to heavy so I ditched them at the damn. We threw on our crampons, helmets, goggles and a few extra layers and started up the couloir. I resized (or so I thought) my crampons for my ski boot the night before, but made them one size too big. I had to stop and tried to readjust them without taking them off. It didn't work too well, but I figured I would just deal with it. So far up we ran into a BMS class that I would end up following for most of the day. The weather was like a blizzard so I only took two pics the whole day, both of which were at the beginning.All of the fresh snow that was falling was making the climb slow going. The guys all made it around the BMS group fairly quickly. After messing with my crampons I caught up to the group when they had stopped. I made my way around them and stopped for a quick drink, and of course the class started moving again. I figured I would just follow them and make my way around at their next stop. The wind was blowing harder the higher we went, the fresh powder was getting deeper, at one point we watched a small slide of slough go by us. The class finally stopped and I decided to not pass them and just hang out with them. The guys were about 100ft above us, the visibility was pretty low and the slide was still fresh in my mind so I figured it was best to stay with a group than head off on my own. At the next stop we were thinking of turning around. I saw the guys coming back down. They made to 13700 and said it was pretty loaded from that point on. We made decent time ont he way down and got a couple of good glissades in. I pulled my skis out of the snow that they were almost buried under and skied back down the road to the TH.
We were stopped about 500ft short of the top, but we all had been on Quandary before so no big deal. And we still managed to get 2000 feet of snow climbing in!

Fletcher

2008-05-04T16:42:00.012-06:00

I drove up Blue Lakes Rd and was pleasantly suprised to find the road open to the damn. We were stopped about 3/4 short due to some drifts that blew across the road. Collin, Craig and Craig's friends Drew and Paul were already there getting ready to go. I wasn't too thrilled with the cold wind that was blowing when I got out of the car. But it still looked like it was going to be a beautiful day!We made our way up the remainder of the road and were climbing up the side of the damn in no time. After a little route finding we started climbing to a plateau.My legs were feeling like they weighed a ton....guess I shouldn't have taken such a long road ride yesterday. Speed demon Drew made it to the top well before the rest of us.At the top of the slope I was happy to see a relatively flat tundra of talus and snow...my legs were pretty happy too.
We're getting closer....The wind was really playing with us...one minute it was freezing so I would put on a few extra layers, no sooner would I do that and it would get pretty hot. After trudging across some deeper snow, we were on our way up Fletcher. As we were getting ready to climb the last 50ft or so Craig, Collin and I crossed paths with Drew and Paul as they were coming down. Craig and Collin heading up the final pitch...The wind was almost nonexistent on the top, the sun was shining and the views were awesome. I could have sat up there all day. Some of the views....
The ridge to Atlantic, Pacific and Crystal
Quandary's West Ridge
The GoresAfter enjoying the views Craig scoped out a line to ski down and Collin and I started the down climb. The hike back to the vehicles went fairly quick and painless. We found a few good glissades along the way. It was a nice, not too long day. I still made it home in time to watch the Penguins win in OT!!

Many Miles to Nowhere!

2008-04-26T20:48:00.007-06:00

Well, after dodging a crashed vehicle on I70 and a few slippery spots I made it to the TH for an attempt at Fletcher. We would have been better off starting later today due to the weather, but I needed to be home in the evening. Matt and I hiked a little over 2 miles to the damn in head on winds and occasional whiteouts where we met up with 2 groups that started ahead of us. They were turning around. Considering the avy potential in the area and the complete whiteout above the damn we figured it would be best to save this one for another day. I was a little irritated that I woke up and drove all that way to hike 4.5 miles down a road. And of course by the time I got back on I70 the skies were blue and the sun was out. Why not take a little detour and do a little scouting for a potential trip in 2 weeks....off to Peru Creek.
The beginning of the Peru Creek TH was packed down. I figured I would leave my snowshoes in the Jeep and go until I started postholing. Well, I made it all the way back to Horseshoe Basin and hardly postholed! I made pretty decent time....9.2 miles in 3.5hrs....that's with stopping for pics and a bite to eat, talking to the lady with the spunky Irish Setter, having no snowshoes and a heavy pack. Add that on to the 4.4 miles towards Fletcher and it ended up being a good workout atleast.
Here are some pics form Peru Creek...

Argentine Peak

Ruby Mountain

Edwarda & the top of the Edwardian Couloir

Crystal Clear Day on Crystal Peak

2008-04-19T22:12:00.010-06:00

I woke up to an alarm clock that had already been going off for a 1/2 hour...oops! I quickly got ready and made my way down I70 to Mayflower Gulch. The weather looked nice during the drive and I hoped it would stay that way all day!
The temp was pretty warm when Matt and I started off, sans snowshoes. We followed the trail of a few people that had left not long before us. We were hoping we could get quite a ways without our snowshoes. We postholed thigh deep a time or two in the trees, otherwise it wasn't too bad. Nothing could take away from the amazing weather!
We gradually made our way up the slope below Mayflower Hill. Near the top we noticed a bit of a cornice on Mayflower.We started making our way across the basin below Pacific Peak's impressive North face. We had been following a skier and snowshoer's trail, but never saw them until half way across the basin. They were climbing up the face of Pacific. Heading across the basin Crystal can be seen looking out from behind the false summit.We were still resistent to putting on snowshoes. At one point I literally crawled on my hands and knees because I was postholing. We were so close to talus leading to the saddle, we didn't feel like taking our snowshoes off our packs and putting them on for just a few minutes. For the most part we were able to stay on the talus up to the saddle between Crystal and Pacific and on the way up to the false summit. The wind started picking up at this point. Pacific Peak was an impressive sight from the false summit. The North Couloir looks inviting!!Looking towards Crystal's true summit, I suprised by how much snow there was.But it made for a fun ascent. The wind was in a playful mood today. One minute it was gusting so we would put our jackets on. Then it would stop and it would get hot. I gave up and just left it off. We reached the summit and found a couple that had skinned up to the ridge between Peak 10 and Crystal and hiked over. After they left we had the summit to ourselves. Aside from the wind, it was so nice I could have stayed there all day and taken in the views.Unfortunately, we eventually had to start heading down. Aside from the wind now blowing directly in our faces, the hike back was uneventful. We did have to give in and put on our snowshoes going across the basin. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Weekend of Skiing

2008-04-13T17:34:00.003-06:00

Since the avy forecast wasn't looking to favorable from this weeks snow dump, I decided to take advantage of it and spend the weekend at Mary Jane. Considering it's mid April the snow on Saturday was awesome powder....not the typical wet spring snow. We spent most of Saturday up on Parsen. It was pretty windy up there. Towards the end of the day it was so windy we were skiing in total whiteouts.....made me a little dizzy. A few times I had no idea which direction I was going in, only thing I new for sure was that I was headed down.
Today the weather couldn't have been better....blue skies and hot. We decided to pick up where we left off on Parsen. After about the 10th run we saw some untracked powder from the lift and decided to head in that direction. After skiing the initial skied off section I didn't adjust too well to the powder. As soon as I hit it I pretty much catapulted face first into the snow and plowed down the slope. When I finally stopped and dug my head out, my goggles were around my chin, my jacket was full of snow, one ski was about 20yds up the mountain. After getting myself back together and retrieving my ski I found it a little painful to turn my head! I did 2 more runs and decided to call it a day.
It was a great end to the season!

Cupid and Grizzly

2008-04-05T21:00:00.008-06:00

After an expensive and crappy week, I was ready to hit the mountains! I was looking at a few different peaks, all of which had a few avy potential spots that would have been fine, but I more than likely wouldn't be coming down them until the temps warmed. I was going solo this weekend and with the way my week had gone I didn't feel the need to press my luck. So, I opted for the safer ridge to Grizzly. Not to mention not needing snowshoes was rather appealing!
The day started under mostly blue skies with a bit of a breeze blowing at the top of Loveland Pass. Here's Grizzly from the pass....The hike up to pt 12915 was suprisingly a bit steep. The snow was well packed from use and wind, so it was a little slippery in spots. The wind got stronger the closer I got the top of 12915. And when I did make it the wind almost knocked me over a few times. I stopped to exchange my sunglasses for goggles and get out my mittens. Cupid, Grizzly and Torreys form 12915....At this point the blue skies were giving way to the clouds.As I was making my way to Cupid I was tripped countless times by my treking poles. The wind was blowind so hard from the side, everytime I picked up my right treking pole to advance it the wind blew it in front of my legs. At the low point of the saddle between 12915 and Cupid there was snow that the wind was blowing that sandblasted my face...this is one thing I definitely won't miss come summer time! Once I made it to Cupid I was starving. After a quick bite to eat I took a few quick pics. Torreys and GraysThe remaining ridge to GrizzlyA snow devil that never went away!After attempting to change my batteries in the camera and having one roll between a couple rocks, I trudged on. The snow devil was as windy and painful as it looked from Cupid. Kinda took your breath away, not to mention my face! On the other side I was able to do a short glissade down to the base of pt 12936, the last bump before Grizzly. After making my way up and down 12936 I was looking up at the remaining ridge to Grizzly....looking kinda steep. The hike up Grizzly wasn't as bad as it looked once I got started, but I was starving again by the time I got to the top! I pulled out my pb&j and took in the nice views of Torreys and Grays...think I'll give Torreys a try from this route someday and the ridge to Lawanee Mtn looks kinda fun too. The coming clouds weren't looking very pleasant so I decided to be on my way. Aside from the fact that I had to reclimb everything and the wind, the hike back to the pass was uneventful and long!
This was definitely a good hike to burn off some of the weeks frustations!

Atlantic Peak

2008-03-30T10:26:00.018-06:00

Matt and I decided to head to Atlantic Peak yesterday for a fun climb on it's snowy ridge. I know the calendar says spring, but mother nature was still talking winter. Once up on the ridge it became pretty blustery and the views well, there really weren't any. Once on the summit, every direction you looked was white.
Here's a look at Atlantic and the west ridge.
Matt and I took off from Mayflower Gulch on a nice well packed road. We didn't need our snowshoes until we were ready to cross the gulch. Old mining cabins that sit in the gulch at the base of Fletcher Peak.After crossing the gulch we headed up a slope through the trees. At the top we grabbed a bite to eat and noted the wind that was picking up. We had one more slope, then the flat before reaching the main ridge. Here's a look at Pacific Peak as we were headed up the next slope.The wind really picked up on the flats. Here is another group headed for Atlantic with the ridge looming ahead.Matt headed up the first part of the ridge.Next came one of the knife ridges. From this point on the snow started falling and the wind continued to blow. We made our way up the ridge over knife edges, a few easy scrambles and a few spots where the snow was pretty solid. I don't think I'm completely over the flu yet....I was nauseus most of the climb, so I was happy when we reached the top. We weren't really sure that we were on the top. This is why. We roamed around a little just to make sure. We stayed just long enough to make sure we touched the top and started back down. Now the wind and snow were blowing more into our faces. Pic of a nice cornice.A wind scupture.A pic looking down on the ridge where the knife edges are.Looking back up at the summit you could see a ceiling of clouds hanging out.As we made our way across the knife edge a strong wind came out of nowhere and almost blew us off the other side. And of course it wasn't just a gust, it continued the whole way across the ridge. We had a fun glissade down one of the snow slopes and a nice hike back to the car. It was a great day to be out, even with the wind and snow!

An Epic Day on Mt Princeton 3/8/08

2008-03-09T15:24:00.005-06:00

I posted another trip report on 14er.com, so here is the link:

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4095&parmuser=heather14&cpgm=tripuser

A panorama of the sunrise...

It was a long day. I was a little tired when we reached the top. I more or less fell right into a pile of snow, my pack worked like a nice chair!

North Star Mountain

2008-03-01T20:30:00.005-07:00

I posted a trip report on 14ers.com....so instead of typing it again, here's the link:

http://14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4081&cpgm=tripmain

Me on North Star

Tagging Tigger 02/23/08

2008-02-24T09:43:00.015-07:00

I'm 0 for 2 in February on the 14ers. We intended to do Princeton today, but the weather gods weren't going to have it. I left the TH around 6:30 and made good time on the road, but I have to admit, I kept wondering where those radio towers were! Not far from the towers one of the avy chutes I wanted to avoid could be seen off in the distance. At that point I decided to cut up through the trees to avoid it. After a bit of trailbreaking up the slope I popped out onto the road. I was going to keep heading up the slope, but decided to give my legs a quick break and trailbreak on the horizontal road for a few minutes before continuing up. I started looking for a good place to start heading up again, but saw 3 guys off in the distance and waited for them to come over. Turned out that one of them was Ryan, whom I was suppose to meet for the hike. Back up the slope we went.I was really getting tired of postholing. A few times I was up to my waist and it felt like my foot was just hanging, not even touching the ground! Not to mention the wind was really picking up and blowing snow around. We finally made it to the top of the slope and were greeted by a very strong sustained wind. We quickly went behind some rocks and took a quick break to eat. You really couldn't talk because of the wind. You could see the person's mouth moving, but all you heard was the raging wind. After a few hand gestures and head nods we were heading for Tigger.The wind was relentless. You had to keep yourself braced against the sustained wind, then the gusts came and there was nothing you could do. Thank god for my heavy pack, it was the only reason I wasn't blown off the mountain. After struggling for a while we started to question how safe it would be to go across the ridge to Princeton with the wind. A look at Princeton and the ridge from Tigger.We went a little farther and decided to get to the top of Tigger and call it a day. Not only would the wind have been dangerous on the ridge, but we were using so much energy fighting the wind going up Tigger we were getting tired. There were so many false summits on the ridge, after the 4th one our motivation was starting to blow away in the wind. Ryan and I decided to continue on and the others turned back. Ryan below yet another false summit. I'm not sure if stopped for a break or if the wind knocked him over.My stubborness took over and I was turning around until I got to the top of something. After what seemed like forever we made it to the top. Me with the Sangres in the background.Princeton right before it disappeared.Even though this is a pretty insignificant mountain, I was pretty happy to be on top! After a few pics and a quick bite to eat we headed down. We were both tired of being on the rocks, so Ryan led us to a nice big snowfield on the other side of the ridge. It was perfect for heel plunging and glissading! This helped to get us down a little quicker. We found that our trail from earlier in the day had blown full of snow. We couldn't see any reminents of it, so it was back to breaking trail.The hike back to the TH was one of those hikes that didn't want to end! All considered, it was still a great day!

Sky Pond

2008-02-16T19:50:00.021-07:00

After having my butt kicked on Yale last weekend and Princeton looming next weekend. I thought it would be a good idea to get out this weekend! I decided to go to RMNP and head up to Sky Pond. For the most part the first part of the trail was well packed. Snowshoes just provided good traction on the uphill. It started out as a beautiful morning.I've made the hike up to Loch Vale many times. In the winter the trail goes up a creek bed and I new this would be a great little climbing workout!Looking back down....Almost there...Finally, the Loch.Is it ever NOT windy here?!There were quite a few calf burners on this hike.Not too far from here the blowing snow was filling in the trail and it was hard to figure out where to go. And there's not too many things more irritating than climbing up something, then realizing you went the wrong way!Back down I went. I started making my way through the trees again and ran into others who were as clueless as I was. I started to have thoughts of turning around, then I met Laura and Ryan and we all decided to keep going. We came to a fairly steep hill on the right that we could climb or we could go left around a rock outcropping. I was a little afraid of causing a slide going up the hill, so we went around the rocks. There was a little section that was steep and required all 4's but we made it. These guys were probably wondering what we were thinking.After a little hiking we made it. Here's Laura & Ryan on Sky Pond...Looking up Taylor Peak & Glacier...We decided to hike across the lake.....looking back...When we returned to the point where we decided to go left around the rocks, we saw that someone else chose the hill.It wasn't a big slide, but I still wouldn't want to be the one standing at the bottom. We stopped for a few picks in the trees.You have to love frozen lakes and the shortcuts they provide.The coming snow that eventually caught up to us...It was a great day to be out!

Mount Yale 02/09/08

2008-02-10T19:59:00.008-07:00

Sorry, didn't get too many pictures on this one. We were a little pressed for time and then I was just too tired to even care! After sleeping in a nice warm bed, Valerie and I headed to Avalanche Gulch to meet Colin and Craig. Unfortunately the road wasn't plowed all the way to Denny Creek this winter, so we had to add 6 miles roundtrip. On the bright side, they keep the road groomed for the snowmobiles which keep the road packed. Here's Valerie and Colin running down the road....Once to the Denny Creek TH the fun began....trailbreaking.This went on for a loooong time. After bushwacking through some trees we came out into a nice open meadow. We could either continue breaking trail through the trees or head up a nice steep section to a ridge. The ridge definitely sounded more appealing however, getting there pretty much kicked my butt! The snow was sugary...everytime you took a step you would slide back a foot. I didn't feel bad until the last 20yds then I just hit a wall that finished me for the rest of the day. After a quick break at the top, we continued climbing....me at a snails pace. Colin, who had climbed both Friday and Saturday was running out of energy. Valerie and Craig were going strong and were well on their way to the top. Colin and I decided to go as far as we could until 1:00 and then start back down. 1:00 came around and we had made it to about 13,000ft. We decided to take some pics and enjoy the amazing view. Her are a couple of pics.....It was a looong hike back down. I kept thinking those 3 miles down the road were going to feel like 100. After being tripped up by my snowshoe and sent face first down the trail, I had enough. I heard the snowmobiles off in the distance and made up my mind! Colin had the same thought in mind. As soon as the next group of snowmobiles came by we thumbed a ride!

I'm Ready For A Day In The Mountains!

2008-02-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

After spending a week back home in PA....(my brother & I, the morning after a long night)...as usual I came back to Colorado sick. The first weekend back I didn't do anything, well, I was lazy if that counts. The second weekend I still felt miserable, but couldn't stay away from the mountains. I figured I would go skiing, that way I could ride up the mountain...I was miserable. I finally feel OK and have quite a few plans for the rest of the winter.....

Chief Mountain B 01/12/2008

2008-02-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is a little overdo, but here it is....

I was looking for a nice quick snowshoe trip for the day. I needed to get home, pack and catch a 6:00am flight back to PA the next morning. After talking to Mindy, we decided Chief Mountain B would be a good choice. Plus Squaw and Papoose were options to add if we felt inclined. Not to mention, we could sleep in!!

We met, really can't remember the time now, but it wasn't early and headed up Squaw road. We were at the Chief Mountain turnoff before we knew it. It was a nice little trip through the trees, simply because they blocked the wind! Here's Mindy showing off her snowshoes...And Chief Mountain B...After we made our way out of the trees it was windblown and the trail disappeared. At this point we just started making our own trail. We stashed our snowshoes under a tree and head for the top. Mindy making the final climb...A few pics from the top...A little snow falling to the west....Pikes off in the distance....We didn't stick around long on the top, it was pretty windy. After finally finding our snowshoes, we were back in the trees and running into more and more people. Here are some nice drifts....Before we new it we were back at the cars and headed home. I even had enough energy leftover to pack when I got home!

Start of the New Year

2008-01-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Since, it was forcasted to be windy once again, I didn't have high hopes for today as far as hiking. I even brought my skis with me in case conditions didn't look too favorable, I could just head down the other side of the pass to Mary Jane. I was hoping to do CO Mines Peak and traverse over to Flora. Here is the eye soar that is CO Mines from the parking lot.It has definitely been windy. We were skiing up there 2wks ago! I started debating whether I wanted to take my snowshoes. With Saturday's events still fresh in my mind, I decided to take them. The road through the trees had quite a bit of fresh powder collected.A little reminder of what was to come when I got out of the trees...And here it was. What little snow there was, was pretty hard packed from the wind.AT this point I decided to leave the road and head straight up. The wind was definitely starting to pick up. And by the time I reached to the top, it was a pretty strong sustained wind!It was one of those cold winds that took your breath away. I took shelter behind one of the buildings to put on my goggles and balaclava, and throw handwarmers in my mittens. At this point I was having second thoughts about heading over to Flora. I took some pics while I made up my mind. (They're not the best pics. It was too cold to take off my mittens while taking them.)
Here's looking to the other side of the pass...
Looking north to the Indian Peaks and RMNP...
Looking to Flora...
If I were to go to Flora, I would be walking right into the wind....that didn't sound to appealing! Not to mention everytime I inhaled my nostrils felt like they were frozen together. So, I decided to call it a day. Looked like some lucky people were getting a few good turns on the other side of the pass.It was a nice hike back to the car. By this time the parking lot was filling up with skiers and snowboarders out to enjoy some bc powder. I think I'll come back to this one in the spring and do the ridge from CO Mines to Bancroft.

DeJaVu

2007-12-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

All week I had been planning to hike up CO Mines Pk and Mount Flora. But, I've been staying up late studying and getting up early to workout before work, so needless to say, I've been a little tired. And at some point last night I unknowingly turned off my alarm. By the time I woke up it was a little late....just because I would have gotten stuck in the ski traffic on 70, so I decided to stay a little closer to home...again. After last Saturday what better mountain to try again...Niwot. As I was loading up the Jeep I could see the big cloud of snow covering the IPW, but this time I knew what I was in for...or so I thought.
I got to the trailhead and was putting my boots on when a big gust of wind came through and slammed my door shut....it's going to be a long day. The beginning of the trail was pretty packed down from use and wind. It didn't look like the IPW got as much snow from this last front that went through. I probably could have gotten away without snowshoes for the first part of the hike.I was pretty disappointed there was no trail to be broken....little did I know that this would prove to be a blessing later. The wind had definitely been going strong all week. There were a lot of new mounds of snow on the trail that weren't there last week.I was the first of the day to venture all the way to the reservoir.Looks like I would get to do some trailbreaking after all.But not for long....The wind had blown all the snow away, but luckily there was a packed trail that formed a bridge across. At this point the wind started to pick up, which was a lot earlier than last week. The great views were once again nonexistent, but even more so today. Here is a pic from last week...Here is a pic from today, from the same spot...This area was wind scoured last week! It's amazing how quickly and to the extent the terrain can change in the winter!You can see in the pic that the snow is breaking off in slabs. If it's the same on the high peaks, it could make for interesting snow conditions this winter and spring. This was a pattern I noticed through most of my hike. I thought this would be a good point to throw on the balaclava and goggles too...and it was one of the few good decisions of the day. Once I broke out of the trees I found pretty much the same conditions as last week. My first look at Niwot Mt...As you can see from looking at the trees, wind is the norm here.I had to start encouraging my camera's shutter open. Looking at the frozen reservoir.I was so glad to have made it to the other side! Now it was a matter of making it through the trees to the top. The trees would be a good shelter from the wind and the top would probably be windy, but not as much blowing snow. Upon entering the trees, I wasn't really happy about what I was finding...keep in mind there is no actual trail up this mountain, that I'm aware of!
So, where does all of this blowing snow go? I've never really thought about it, but I got an answer today...in the trees!! I was postholing in knee to thigh deep snow in most places...with snowshoes on. The only purpose my snowshoes had at this point was to get tangled in the branches that were burried deep beneath the snow! This continued most of the way up. Once the trees started to thin out, so did the snow...thank God!!! I was exhausted!!! People tell me I'm stubborn, I like to call it determined :) Once I got out of the trees I took off the snowshoes and rock hopped as it was nice and wind scoured. I was so happy to make it to the top!! However, my camera was finished and snowshowers started moving in ontop of the blowing snow. I've heard that there are amazing views of the high peaks in IPW and RMNP from here. Guess I'll have to come back this summer to see them, because I'm definitely not doing this again in the winter!! My time on top was short lived. The hike down the mountain was pretty much the same story. I went most of the way through the trees without my snowshoes. Yes, I did posthole, but at least I wasn't getting tangled in the branches below the snow!! Once out of the trees it was a nice hike back to the car. Needless to say my jaunt through the trees left me exhausted!!! Unless there is trail I don't know about, I would highly recommend waiting until spring to do this one!

A Breezy Day in the Mountains

2007-12-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

After spending the past few weekends hitting the slopes it was finally time to breakout the snowshoes. I decided to head to the Indian Peaks and hike up Niwot Mountain and then possibly go over to Unnamed 11557. As I was driving Hwy 72 the wind was blowing snow all over, and I was beginning to have second thoughts. This is what I found at the TH.I was beginning to think I was crazy for even considering leaving the car....but I did. I was the first of the day to head up the road to Left Hand Reservoir. It's a great morning when you are out snowshoeing and breaking trail! Even with my snowshoes on I was postholing almost to my knees in some spots.The snow felt like it was in layers. On top was a couple of inches of powder, then a thin layer of crust and another layer of powder under that. The trees were helpful with blocking a majority of the wind. Once the trees started to thin it became a different story. The road had some bare spots and mounds where the snow had blown to.It was easy to navigate around these spots with a little detour through the trees. There are usually really nice views of the higher mountains in the Indian Peaks along this hike, but they were shrouded in blowing snow today.Not far from the reservoir the road disappeared into a snowy abyss.And in it I went. There was a horrific sustained wind with big gusts. My face felt like it was being sandblasted by the blowing snow. I got just below the reservoir and had to stop and turn my back to the wind to give my face a break. I grabbed a few pics while I was stopped. The first is of Niwot Mountain.At this point I decided I really wasn't that crazy and would save Niwot Mountain for another day. I found that it didn't take long for my trail to be filled by the blowing snow.The hike back to the car was uneventful. I finally started passing other snowshoers and xc skiers. Once I got home I jumped on the website for the Niwot Ridge research area and it showed winds of 51 mph with gusts of 62 mph.

A Cool Sight

2007-12-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

I spent Saturday skiing at Mary Jane. It was COLD!!! They opened Parsenn Bowl and I nearly got frostbite on the lift. We had just gotten out of treeline and they stopped the thing for some reason. My nose was sooooo cold, I thought for sure it was going to have frostbite! Needless to say, I was extremely happy when it started to move again! Otherwise, it was another great day of skiing.
On the way to MJ as I was driving up Berthoud Pass I saw a pretty cool sight.This formed a complete ring...it wouldn't fit in the frame. The ring was actually a rainbow. By the time I found a place to pull over the rainbow wasn't quite as visible.

Been Skiing

2007-12-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I should give a little update. I've been spending my weekends skiing lately. The snow hadn't been great, actually almost nonexistant. It was pretty icy...I felt like I was back home in PA skiing! Then last week/weekend it snowed, snowed a little more, kept snowing, snowed again....and dumped a couple feet in the mountains. I couldn't get to Winter Park fast enough on Saturday....literally! It ended up taking 3hrs due to the traffic jam on I70! When I finally did make it, I found some of the best powder I have ever skied in (not on) at a resort...and it snowed the whole day! It was definitely one of the best days, as far as conditions go I have skied in.
Unfortunately I don't have any pics from skiing yet. It was either too icy and I didn't want to risk falling on my camera or it was just to awesome to stop and take any! I've been getting the urge to do some snowshoeing, so we'll see what this weekend brings.

Humboldt Peak 11/18/2007

2007-11-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

The day, or should I say morning started out well. I drove to the Springs and picked Mindy up and we made our way to Westcliffe and S. Colony Lakes Rd. Since they made some "improvements" on the rode we planned to drive as far as we felt comfortable then hike the rest. We were hoping to cut at least a couple of miles off the roundtrip. After about 2 miles we came to a hill. You could see ice going down, so I wanted to stop and check it out too make sure we would be able to get back up on the way out. As I turned around to go back to the Jeep I saw the back passenger side tire was flat!!! Knowing that we were going to have a looong hike before we had cell service, we thought we would try and change it ourselves. Now, my dad showed me how to change a tire 15yrs ago....then my mom bought me AAA. So, needless to say neither Mindy or I had ever changed a tire. I backed up to a pull off and the work began. After a 1/2hr of jumping on the wrench to get the nuts loose the fun of jacking the Jeep up began. Apparently the manufaturers didn't account for the possiblity of a flat tire on an incline......because the jack was too short!!! So, we tried a few different spots on the jeep and improvised with some large rocks.I'm gonna leave it at that. The important thing was we did get the donut on. Suprisingly, we made it out the rode and to Westcliffe with the donut, which was more like a piece of air filled rubber. The next miracle, a garage (probably the only garage in Westcliffe) was open on a Sunday! They patched up the tire and we were set to go. At this point it was 11:30. But I did not wake up at 2am and drive all that way to have a flat tire stop me, and Mindy was in agreement. So, back to S. Colony we went. We made it just over 3 miles back before we hit a rough spot in the road and I didn't want to push my luck anymore! We started our hike at about 12:30. The best feeling was when the Crestones came into view and we felt like we were getting somewhere.We didn't get too many pictures, as we were racing the clock. Luckily the hike up wasn't too eventful. Once we made the ridge to Humbolt the wind really began to pick up. Looking at a false summit from the ridge.After a lot of rock hopping through the cold wind we made the summit at 4:30. Just in time to see an amazing sunset behind the Crestones! A few summit shots...It was great to get off of the ridge and out of the bitter cold wind. Then it happened, the rucksack with Mindy's coat in it came loose and went bouncing down the mountain. It was dark and our lights weren't bright enough to see through all of the willows, so after searching unsuccessfully we headed for the Jeep. This felt like one of the longest hikes out. It was dark and once we got back on the road we were skating on a lot of ice. It seemed like someone kept moving the Jeep farther away!!! It was one of the best feeling when it came into view. I dropped Mindy off in the Springs, and of course going through Denver there were 2 accidents I had to sit through and I finally made it home just before 1:30am. Perfect, time for a couple of hours of sleep before work!

Snowdrift Peak.......Attempt

2007-11-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Snowdrift Peak has been on my to-do list for a while. It's about a 16 mile roundtrip, 10 of which are above treeline so I really don't want to do this in the summer with the afternoon storms. So, I thought I would give it a try today. Let me start by saying I tried to print the route off of my computer, but ran out of ink! Since it is such a long hike and it gets dark earlier I planned on being on the road by 5:00am......I ended up getting out of bed at 5:00! Luckily I had all of my stuff in the car and just ate my bagel on the way. Once I got into the park I saw a huge herd of elk. I really don't get excited about elk anymore, but I've never seen a herd this big before. (I couldn't even get them all in picture)I left the TH at about 7:15. It was actually pretty breezy and cold...I guess it is November. I've been up Flattop a hundred times and I usually make fairly good time...not today. The trail in the trees had quite a few patches of slippery hardpacked snow and plain old ice!

I couldn't wait to come down it! Once out of the trees the snow became hard from the wind, but you could walk on it without slipping. Here is a look at Hallets Peak and Tyndall Glacier.After kick stepping up some hard snow I made it to the top of Flattop and got my first look at Snowdrift (center of pic)...it really is that far away!I started to make my way across the tundra and this is where I went wrong. Since I couldn't print the route description and bring with me I was trying to remember it. You can see in the pics that Snowdrift has 2 ridges and I couldn't remember which to go up. So, I headed straight across the tundra in the middle of them to get a better look. After making my way across the tundra it looked like the tundra cliffed out before reaching the ridge on the left. The ridge to the right looked much more promising, however there was a mountain I had to climb to get to it. (the cold wind was making my shutter stick) I did remember that the route description said hike 3 miles across the tundra, drop 500ft to the base of Snowdrift. No where did it mention climbing a peak to get to Snowdrift. But that looked to be my only option from where I was. I'm guessing that this little hike across the tundra took me about 2 miles out of my way! After a nice hike across more tundra I made it to the base of the mountain, which I found out when I got home is an unnamed peak 11,415ft.I'm going to call this unnamed peak "Little Snowdrift" because part way up I was postholing in drifts up to my knees. Needless to say I had to stop and put the gaitors on. After quite a bit of postholing I was happy to make it to the top of this beast!The summit of Snowdrift is to the back left. I decided to hike down the opposite side of "Little Snowdrift" to see if I could make the ridge. I could definitely make the ridge, but the snow that was on the ridge all the way to the summit was going to add some time...probably at least another 1 1/2 hrs maybe 2.It was already 11:30 and I was a little nervous about it getting dark earlier...I really didn't want to be by myself in the mountains in the dark! So, I decided to sitdown and enjoy my Snickers and the solitude then start back. Here are some random pics from "Little Snowdrift"...Well, I postholed just as much on the way down as I did on the way up.After getting back to the tundra I found the Tonahutu Trail. I thought this would make the hike back easier. And it was until I found myself on a little island of dry ground in the middle of a big sheet of ice! To my right...To my left...After maneuvering through the ice without falling it was a fairly good hike back to the trees. Then I had the ice and slippery snow in the trees to contend with. After what seemed like forever I made it back to the TH just past 3:00. Had I gone on to Snowdrift I definitely would have been pushing the light issue. The day wasn't a total bust, at least now I know how to get to it next time! I think I'll put another attempt at Snowdrift on hold until next year!

First Ski Day!!!

2007-11-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

I had a rare weekday off today and what else would I do with a day off....head to the mountains! Dane, Emily, Justin and I headed for Loveland. It hasn't snowed in the mountains in about 2wks, so the snow wasn't anything to brag about (although Loveland has done good with what they've got) but the weather made up for it a hundred times over! Blue skies, sunny, warm....awesome! Being that it was Thursday and early season we would do a run and get right back on the lift. Needless to say we were ready for a break after a couple hours. So, we went and enjoyed a Sam Adam's. Then we did a few more runs and our legs were done. Had an apres ski Sam Adam's and drove home. The best part about the drive home...I70 was like an actual interstate, not 5mph! Ski season is finally here!

Repeat of Sherman 10/28/2007

2007-10-30T21:28:00.000-06:00

After getting some sleep at the TH Saturday night we started for the top of Sherman at 6:30.The plan was to head over to Gemini after Sherman. It was a little cold and windy when we started.And from the look of my eyes I wasn't quite awake yet! Not long into the hike the sun came up and warmed the air a little. (not sure why I have 2 extra suns ?)After hiking up the switchbacks we had to cross some snow.At this point the wind started to pick up a little. Then, we made it to the ridge and there was a very cold wind blowing with gusts that made it hard to stand. After fighting the wind we did make it to the top. Some pics from the top (all taken by Mindy) and yes it really was that cold!!Not really sure who Mike, Hayley, Ella or Marina are, but we added our names. The freezing cold wind and my upset stomach were enough for us to decide to nix our plans to head to Gemini. So, after a few quick pics and signing the snow we headed down. After getting off the ridge we decided to cut down a snowfield instead of going down the switchbacks.This would have been a great glissade had the snow not been so hard. And just to show how cold it was, here is Mindy's Nalgene.Not too far from the TH we ran into 3 people, the first we saw all weekend! It turned out to be a great late October weekend in the mountains!

Awesome Day on Antero 10/27/2007

2007-10-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

The weather for the weekend was looking great, so why not squeeze a few 14ers in! The best thing about the weather...it was not only looking to be a great day, but the threat of afternoon thunderstorms is pretty much over. That meant we didn't have to start before the sun came up and I could "sleep in"! I left the house a little after 4. It was really foggy for part of the drive...could hardly see the road in some areas, but it eventually cleared up. Here is a pic of Antero from the road.I arrived at the jeep trail early so I decided to take a little walk up it to see if it was drivable...if so it would cut our hike in half! It was snowy in spots and a little icy. Since the road is narrow and doesn't really have anywhere along it to park I was hesitant to drive it, especially not knowing what conditions were like up higher. Mindy was at the TH waiting when I got back. We figured since it was going to be a beautiful day we would just hike the whole thing. And I'm glad a little ways up the road there were two big patches of ice with no way around, and it definitely would not have been fun driving over! After hiking for a while we stopped for a bite to eat. While we were eating we were visited by two Grey Jays. These birds will take food right out of your hand!
After feeding them half of my Goldfish we headed off again. It was a nice hike up the jeep road and a cross a few streams. Once out of treeline we thought we were looking at Antero, but of course it wasn't.It's actually Cronin Peak, a Centennial which I will be back for. Now the fun began....switchbacks....many of them. This is looking back at a few of them. We followed the jeep road all the way to about 13800ft where the actual summit and final ridge to the summit came into view.It was just a hop, skip and a jump on the rocks the rest of the way. Some pics from the top...After about 45mins on top we started back down. This is where I realized I forgot to put 2 pair of socks on! After hiking in trail runners all summer wearing boots for the first time was a little uncomfortable...and resulted in a few blisters. We stopped for a little fun on the ridge. I bumped this rock as I walked by, luckily Mindy was there to catch it!Aside from a few stumps disguised as animals jumping out at us, it was a loong hike back to the cars! We finally made it back just after dark.We didn't see another sole the entire day! After a quick stop in BV we headed to Mt. Sherman TH for the night.

Third Time's a Charm

2007-10-14T12:13:00.000-06:00

I'll preface this blog with a quick explanation of the title. Mount Massive has been on my to do list this summer and I've tried to do it 2 previous times. Both of these times I never even made it to the TH! First time I was going to meet Dane and a few of his friends to do the traverse of the 5 Massive mountains. I camped along Halfmoon road and would meet them in the morning at the TH. Woke up to drive to the TH and my Jeep wouldn't start! After having it towed all the way to Boulder (thank God for AAA)I found out something had chewed a wire to my electrical system! The second time was just a few weeks ago. I was on I70 at 3am and the roads were horrible, so I turned around and went home. Which brings us to the 3rd attempt.
Bill drove up from the Springs and we met at the TH at 6am...yes I made it to the TH this time! The time is definitely changing, we started a little after 6 and it was dark for about the first 1/2 hour of the hike. After a long hike through the trees we were met with a great view at treeline.We were headed to the Main Mount Massive which is the one on the right. The weather was perfect. It actually felt warmer here than it did when I left the house. After hiking up the tundra the rest of our route came into view.We would hike to the saddle on the left and then to then up the ridge to the top. On our way to the saddle the wind started to pick up and it started to get a little chilly. The saddled offered some amazing views.The second picture is part of the 5 mountain traverse....I still plan on doing this sometime. Here is the next part of our hike, looking at one of the false summits.On our way up this section we encountered the first and only person we would see all day! Here is a pic of the true summit.I don't know if it was because all of the surrounding peaks had fresh snow on them or what, but I thought Massive offered one of the best views I've seen from a 14er in a while.And of course the summit shot....The sky was so cool. You could stand on the summit, do a 360 and see clouds dropping rain or snow all around us, when you looked right above Massive the sky was blue! It would stay this way for most of the day. The wind calmed and the temp got warmer on the way down. This hike out was one of those that seemed like we would never get to the back to the TH. We stopped at one of the creek crossings and grabbed a few pics.On the way out we seemed to be the only living things in the woods....no other people, no animals, not even any birds chirping. It was a little unsettling...the weather was definitely on the way. And it came just in time for the drive home. It ended up being a great hike! And I finally got to the top of Massive!!

A Day in IPW

2007-10-08T22:23:00.000-06:00

Well, as if I didn't have enough hiking on Saturday, on Sunday Dane and I headed to IPW with a goal of traversing Niwot Ridge to Niwot Peak to Navajo Peak (I'm beginning to think I may have an OCD issue). At the TH his car thermometer read 24 degrees! Before heading off we threw on some extra layers. The swithbacks through treeline and across the tundra were actually really nice and gradual, there really weren't any super steep sections....which I was extremely grateful for! Once out of treeline we were greeted by some nice views.This is the ridge and peaks we were shooting for.
After hiking across part of the tundra the trail came out onto a small dirt road. Now in the route descriptions the all warn about watching where you are going because part of the ridge is off limits for research. You would be fined heavily and possibly be put in jail for trespassing. And no where in any route descriptions was a road mentioned. After stopping to think about it we figured we would go for it...it's Sunday, noone would be there...we hoped! Luckily we were still on the trail. Did I mention it was very windy and the wind was very cold! We stopped and threw on more layers and I exchanged my fleece gloves for my ski gloves. It was lightly snowing at this point, and would continue the rest of the day. After our long trek across the tundra we finally made it to the ridge.We decided to traverse across the top, although we did drop down a few times. It was an awesome class 3 scramble with a few class 4 moves. Did I mention it was cold ? Checkout how the snow was frozen on the rocks (can't remember the technical name for it)....And it was so cold my camera batteries died! Here are some random pics of the traverse across the ridge and of Dane and I.After making our way to the top of Navajo we were going to make our way down a gully and head out past the lakes for a nice loop, not to mention this would be faster than traversing back across the ridge. After getting a few hundred feet down we began to encounter some pretty slippery snow and ice. And of course neither of us brought our snow gear. At this point we were both a little beyond our comfort level and decided to head back up to the top. After a few close calls we made it back up and decided our safest bet would be to traverse back across the ridge. This definitely made for a longer day. Did I mention that it was a bit cold. I had to throw on my heavy coat! Aside from Dane getting his trekking poles stuck in a few pine trees :) we made it back to the TH in one piece! Now the thermometer read 15 degrees!!! We were both tired and starving, so we stopped at the Blackforest in Nederland for a delicious dinner, Oktoberfest and apple struddle!

Two for Two in RMNP

2007-10-06T20:50:00.000-06:00

This is the second weekend that they were calling for bad weather, so I decided to stay close to home again. If you read my last post, they were calling for bad weather so I decided to go to RMNP and it ended up being a beautiful day. I figured I would try my luck there again. I met Sarah at the Beaver Meadows Visitors Center where we hopped in her car and went to the TH. This would be Sarah's first hike at the higher elevation, so I figured Flattop Mnt would be a good direction to head. The morning started out great. Aside from a few gusts of wind when we got above treeline and a few small spots of snow, the weather was perfect and the sky was blue. Sarah on Flattop with Hallets in the background Once on Flattop the weather was still looking great, so we decided to continue on to Halletts Peak with the possiblity of doing a loop down Andrews Glacier and back to Bear Lake. After some boulder hopping we made it to the top. Here are some pics from the top. The yellow Aspen off in the distance... Snowdrift Peak...my next RMNP climb.We hopped back down Hallets and started our trek across the tundra towards Otis. It was a nice hike...the wind had died down, the temps got warmer, not to mention the grassy tundra is much nicer than boulders to hike on. We reached Otis where we got a good look at Andrews Glacier.The glacier looked good and you could see where others had gone down, so we decided to go for it. So, another hop down to the tundra. We were greeted by this sign at the top of the glacier.Not deterred by the sign onto the snow we went. The snow turned out to be like spring snow....wet....perfect for glissading! This is a short section at the top (in front of Sarah) that I decided to ride down.In the next pic the trail to the left is a long section I did not intentionally glissade down.I stopped and was talking, next thing I know I'm on my butt headed down the glacier. Luckily it was a wet snow...it built up infront of me and slowed me down! I actually fell about 15yds above the line of dark snow. Here's a pic at the bottom looking back at the glacier.With the backside of my pants soaking wet we made our way down. The hike down to the Loch was really nice. We decided to take the trail to a lake then back to the TH. Other than losing the trail a few times we finally made it back to the car without incident lol. I think we did about 16miles. The storm that they were calling for never came! It turned out to be another beautiful day in RMNP!

An Awesome Day in RMNP

2007-09-22T20:03:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day since mid May that a hike I had done did not have the top of a 14er in the planned route! The weather forecast looked pretty gloomy for the mountains, and since I have made a million trips to the Sawatch and beyond this summer I decided to take my weather chances closer to home this weekend. Last summer and winter I practically lived in RMNP and IPW, but this summer I was bitten by the 14er bug and hadn't been to either. Today seemed like the perfect day to go to one. I didn't get out of bed until 6 today!! I haven't slept in that late before a hike all summer!! And I didn't leave the Bear Lake TH until 8:30! Destination was Odessa Lake. The hike was beautiful from the beginning. The temperature was perfect, sky blue and the aspens turning. Here is Hallet from Bear Lake and the start of the trail. Fall is definitely my favorite time to hike! I was making decent time. The thought of the storms that were to roll in early afternoon was in the back of my mind. In no time I was at the rock crossing. I ran into this guy, but he didn't seem to bothered by me. I passed a few people along the way, but was suprised that there weren't more. This is usually a fairly popular hike. I definitely won't complain! Here is a picture of Odessa Lake below the Gables from the trail. As I was hiking along and enjoying the day I heard this noise down the hillside. I don't know what it was, but it freaked me out! It sounded like a bear...not a growl, but that little crying noise they make ??? I didn't hear it once, but twice. I really didn't care to find out if it was a bear or not! I just hurried along! Before I knew it I was at Odessa Lake! A few pics from the lake... I found a nice rock in the sun by the lake, sat down, had some Goldfish and took in the view. I could have sat there all day, but then I began to think about doing the loop. I made really good time to Odessa, so it was still fairly early and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided to go for it. The next point of interest was Fern Lake. Here is a pic from Fern Lake... So, I stopped on a bridge to take this pic. I propped my trekking pools against the railing....and wouldn't you know a gust of wind came through and they fell down into the water. I had to crawl under the railing, drop down on this little rock and fish them out without falling in....which I didn't (must have been a fluke!), then hoist myself back up onto the bridge from this little rock that both feet just barely fit on! After getting things back together I was off to Fern Falls. The trail was a nice downhill, but I knew at some point I was going to have to regain it. Made it to Fern Falls without incident and met 2 nice couples who were kind enough to take a pic of me. Next came The Pool. I began to see more people along the way. Many hike back to The Pool from another TH and decide to continue upto the falls. Here is a pic of The Pool... A better time to hike to The Pool is in the spring during the snow runoff. It is much fuller and the creek is usually raging down. At this point I started to regain that elevation I lost! I hiked up for about 2 miles before dropping again :( into Mill Creek Basin. This is the first time I've been in this area. I liked it a lot. There were some great campsites to keep in mind. At this point I thought I missed a turn and went to far, so I found a nice little log to sit on and check the map. Believe it or not I was headed in the right direction...this must have been my day! Now the final leg of the hike back to Bear Lake began....and so did all of the ascending of the elevation I lost. You wouldn't think it would bother considering I've done 20 14ers this summer. But I got to thinking, when I do a 14er all of the gain comes in the first half of the hike. 99.9% of the time the second half of the hike is going down. Today, here I was climbing at the end of a long hike and my body was not use to it and it was kicking my butt! Crazy!! I finally made it back to the car at 2. And believe it or not the sky was still blue! I haven't had a chance to look at the map and add up the miles, but I think it was around 16 miles....not too shabby. Weather wise, this had to be one of the best day I have had hiking in a while! And it was good to get back to RMNP!

Huron 09/16/2007

2007-09-16T21:49:00.000-06:00

Friday Dane sent me a text to see if I was headed to the mountains. I had planned to do a road ride and be lazy the rest of the day, but I can never turn down a chance to head to the mountains. We decided to do Huron on Sunday. We met at the Morrison exit at 3am and made good time to the TH. Driving the 4wd section of the road in the dark is the crux of this mountain. The directions mentioned a junction where we were to stay left, didn't see it. It also mentioned another juntion with 3 roads where we were to stay in the middle, didn't see it. We finally came to a pulloff where a few vehicles were. We decided to park here and walk up a little to see what was ahead and hopefully figure out where we were. Amazingly, we made it to the correct TH! So we got our gear together and started hiking. Shortly into the hike it started to rain. This ended up being the theme for the day. I think I took my rain coat off and on at least 6 times. Fall is finally here! The leaves are changing and the fall grass is in full swing...my favorite time of the year! I wasn't feeling too good today. I ate a handful of Tums on the way to meet Dane and felt a little better, but once we started hiking I felt aweful. It felt like I had the flu, but I didn't care to drive down that road again anytime soon so I was determined to get to the top if it took me all day! And now that I'm home I still don't feel to good. Once we got out of the trees a cold wind began to really blow. This would continue the rest of the day. We slowly made it to the ridge between Brown's Peak and Huron and the wind really picked up here. The top of Huron was surrounded by some fast moving clouds that were leaving a fresh dusting of snow!!! Here is Dane and I on the ridge.After talking to a pretty nice guy from Cheyenne (didn't exchange names), we started the final push to the summit. It was really windy for the first 150ft, but then suprisingly the wind died down until we got to the top. There was also a nice dusting of snow from the ridge up....can't wait to start skiing!!! Here are a few shots from the top.After hanging out on the top for a while we started to get a little cold and decided to head down. We met quite a few people on their way up. Most had started from the Winfield TH and a few accidently came over Brown's first. The wind continued to blow until we reached tree line where it warmed up just a little. Not long after taking our rain jackets off it started to rain....again. The nice thing was it never rained for too long....just long enough for us to get our raingear on lol. We made it back to the TH and I had to get a picture of this lake. Aside from being nauseus the entire hike lol, it was a great day!

Redcloud & Sunshine 09/02/2007

2007-09-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

On the drive to the TH I finally learned what a shelf road was. Previously I just thought it was the name of the road, but it's more like a single lane road with a huge dropoff! I was kinda glad it was dark when we were driving it! We met Ben at the TH. He had a great spot picked out where we pitched the tents.After pitching the tents we made some sandwiches and enjoyed some star gazing. I'm always amazed at the view of the night sky in the mountains. We woke up early and after Ben quickly ;) got ready we were on the trail. First on the list for today was Redcloud. Once again the trail was really nice.We started our ascent up the switchbacks to the ridge. Once on the ridge we had great views of the opposite gulch and Redcloud.After quite a few switchbacks........we made it to the top.Our next destination was Sunshine. It's farther than it looks in this picture.Sunshine was farther than it looked, but it was easy hiking so it wasn't so bad. Here is Mark and Ben on their way up.And the summit shot.We met a couple that was doing Redcloud and Sunshine and renewing their wedding vowels on the summits. To get back to the TH we could either reclimb Redcloud and follow the original trail or we could cut down a scree slope on the ridge between the two mountains. The latter would cut off some mileage and time. We chose to take the scree slope. This slope ended up being very steep and loose! This pic is looking back at the slope.It took about an hour to get down this slope, but it did end up being quicker in the long run. After the slope the trail was pretty nice. It turned out to be a great weekend! I can't wait to do it again!

Uncompahgre & Wetterhorn 09/01/2007

2007-09-09T16:56:00.000-06:00

After fighting the traffic I made it down the 2wd section of the Matterhorn Creek Road, although some sections were questionable, at midnight. It was a little dark and I couldn't find Mark and Kathy so I pulled off and slept in the back of the Jeep....too late and tired to pitch the tent. After waking up at about 4:30 and getting ready to go and find them, I decided it was cold and my warm sleeping bag was pretty nice. At about 6:00 I was woken up to a light shining in my Jeep...it was Mark and Kathy. We climbed in Kathy's Xterra and headed up the 4wd section to the TH. The plan was to head to Uncompahgre first and hit Wettorhorn on the way back.The trail to Uncompahgre was pretty nice. We were above treeline most of the day which was pretty nice. After the Wetterhorn/Uncompahgre trail junction we followed a pack trail most of the way to Uncompahgre. The trail wrapped around the far side of mountain. We were looking for a shortcut, but the only one we could see was a scree slope that didn't look to appealing to go up, but we did keep it in mind for the way down. The trail did steepen a bit on the way up Uncompahgre, but was still pretty nice. I'm not sure what time we make it to the top (forgot my watch)but we made it.We took a few pics, had a bite to eat and decided to start heading towards Wetterhorn. On the descent we decided to take that scree slope we were looking at on the way up.(Kathy & Mark headed down the slope). It actually wasn't that bad, compared to most scree slopes that I've done. Once down we were on our way to Wetterhorn. Here are a few pics Mark took on the way. The first pic is of Kathy and I off in the distance....we thought we were taking a shortcut, but it wasn't lol. As we were nearing the trail junction the sky was starting to get dark. There was no thunder or lightening so we decided to start up the trail and see what the weather was going to do. Not long after it started to drizzle. We stopped to put on rain jackets and continue. Kathy had some things to do at home, so she deciced this was a good time to go. Mark flew in from Texas and Wetterhorn was the mountain I wanted to do the most this weekend, so we decided to try our luck and keep going. After about 15 mins it stopped raining and blue sky broke through the clouds.We weren't sure how long the weather would hold so we hurried on. The trail was a little hard to follow, but it made for some fun scrambling and route finding. Here are some pics of our scramble. Mark took all the pics of me. After a lot of fun scrambling we made it to the top. Wetterhorn is definitely my favorite 14er to date!We stayed long enough to get some pics and enjoy the views, but didn't want to stick around too long since we weren't sure what the weather had planned. This is definitely one mountain you don't want to be going up or down in the rain. On the way down Mark got this great pic of the sheep that we could hear the whole time we were on Wetterhorn.If you look close you can see 2 lines of sheep headed up the mountain. I've seen a lot of sheep in the mountains, but I've never heard them before. The whole time we were ascending and descending Wetterhorn all we heard were these sheep down in the valley. It has too be one of the funniest things I've ever heard while in the mountains, we laughed about it the whole time. It was a long descent, but we made it back to the TH, packed up the Jeep and were on our way to the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch TH to meet Ben.

Weekend in the San Jauns

2007-09-03T19:58:00.000-06:00

I spent the long Labor Day weekend in the San Jauns. I left Friday after work. My drive was extended by a few hours because most of the front range was headed to the mountains, but I eventually made it....at midnight! I met up with Mark, Kathy and Ben for some great hiking/climbing. Aside from a few sprinkles and dark clouds, we couldn't have asked for better weather the entire weekend. I'll write more detailed posts in the next few days, but here is a preview of the mountains we did....
Uncompahgre

Wetterhorn

Redcloud

Sunshine

La Plata 08/25/2007

2007-08-26T20:55:00.000-06:00

Solo again. I have a friend who was suppose to start hiking with me after the summer class session was over....she has yet to go! I won't mention any names, you know who you are! ;) And everyone else was busy with other things, so off I went. However, like most Saturdays in the Sawatch you are really never alone. I decided to do the Northwest ridge simply for the sake of my Jeep, it has been a trooper this summer (be sure to read my next post), and the TH is right off paved hwy 82. As I was driving I realized the days are definitely getting shorter as the sun is coming up later. I was on the trail at 6:55. The trail was really nice. Here are some pics of water crossings. All the route descriptions describe this route as the steeper one....they weren't kidding. Not long after crossing the water you start heading up. CFI put in some nice log steps at one point....I couldn't imagine doing that section without the steps, it was steep! After hiking up for what seemed like forever you broke out into this nice meadow. Did I mention it was flat! But not for long. As you start hiking up the hillside a beautiful mountain came into view in the distance at the end of the meadow. Everyone, myself included took a hundred pictures of this mountain because we thought it was La Plata....it wasn't! La Plata wasn't even in view yet, and wouldn't be for a while. So up the hillside we went. As I was hiking up the thousand switchbacks I couldn't help but wonder when we were going to start heading towards that mountain. I finally made the ridge and saw the real La Plata and just laughed. I made my way across the ridge and began the boulder hop up. I was kind of following a few people infront of me and we ended up losing the trail...imagine that! A guy named Lou from 14ers.com ended up catching up to us and we decided to just hop up the boulders. We ended up running across a trail. We switchbacked our way to the top which we reached at 10:35. It was windy! Grabbed a bite to eat and took the usual summit shots. Ellingwood Ridge is behind me in this pic. I would love to do that traverse someday. After a 1/2 hour Lou and I decided we had enough of the wind and headed down. The wind actually kept up all the way down to the treeline. Other than the wind and the unrelenting switchbacks it was a pretty uneventful, yet nice hike down. The weather was gorgeous. It was a great day. Now I had some time to kill, as I was meeting some friends to do the Tour d Massive the next day and just staying at the Massive TH.

Longs Peak 08/12/2007

2007-08-12T20:23:00.000-06:00

I moved to Colorado 3yrs ago and practically everyday since that time I have been staring at Longs Peak in hopes of getting to the top of it someday. (A pic from the back yard. Longs is the tallest mountain to the left of the sun.) I finally got my chance this weekend. Samantha(samantha), Dane(highalta) and I met in Boulder at 1:00am and headed for the Longs Peak TH where we met Mindy(msc118). Surprisingly there were quite a few parking spaces left in the lot. I've heard stories of how even at 2am the parking lot is full and people have to park along the road then hike to the TH. After getting gear together and our hiking shoes on, we were on the trail at around 2:15. I'm really not one for crowds, but it was kind of neat to see all of the people at the TH in the middle of the night getting ready to hike up a mountain and then getting a ways out of treeline and turning around to see all of the headlamps of in the dark distant. We reached the Chasm Lake junction fairly quickly. We stopped here for a few minutes to grab a bite to eat, watch some meteors and grab a few pics.(pic to the left taken by Mindy)The meteors that we saw were amazing. I've never seen meteors the size of some of these. And what made it even more amazing was seeing them fly above the silhouette of Longs and Meeker. We headed towards the next landmarks of the boulderfield and keyhole. We made the boulderfield just as the glow of the sun was lining the horizon and after a lot of boulder hopping we reached the keyhole at around 6:00. We stopped here for a few minutes to put on a few additional layers. Up to this point it was a pretty easy hike with some tedious boulder hopping through the boulderfield. This is where the fun part of the hike begins, that I'm sure we were all looking forward to! We made our way through the keyhole and began across the ledges. As we made our way across the ledges we were greeted by views of the glow from the rising sun.As we made our way across the ledges we had time to stop for more pics.Next came the Trough which consisted of some steeper bouldering.This section was a little tiring towards the end as it got steeper and the rocks seemed to get bigger. After reaching the top of the Trough we were greeted with a stroll along the Narrows.Aside from a few boulders we had to crawl over it was a good section for our legs to recouperate for the climb up the Homestretch.The Homestretch consisted mostly of slabs we had to climb up, not boulders like the previous sections. I found it easier to "run" a few feet, stop rest my legs, "run" a few feet, stop rest my legs and continued this cycle the rest of the way up. We finally reached the top at 7:30. Finally, after numerous drives to work looking at this mountain, I was finally standing on top! Here are some obligatory summit shots.....ignore my evil look in the group pic.

After spending an hour on the top enjoying the views we began to head down. As a said before the Homestretch is basically big slabs. On the way down we realized it seemed like some one polished them....they weren't only smooth, they were also extremely slippery. We found it much easier to employ the crab walk to get down this portion! On the way down we were all in high spirits, even with the knee jarring Trough and boulderfield to contend with. As we made our way through the boulderfield the weather was perfect....we couldn't have asked for a better day! We decided to hangout on a boulder by the campsites, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the sun and blue skies. The rest of the hike down was just a matter of continuing to move...if we stopped too long my legs became very stiff! I found that it was easier to just let gravity do its thing! We made it back to the TH around 1:30. A few key things I learned this hike: 1. I love hiking in the dark....I don't seem to get tired! 2. I'm not made to walk like a crab....my shoulders are very sore. 3. If you plan on hiking in the middle of the night you are further ahead to sleep in the morning before, because you won't be able to take a nap before....when we got back to the TH I was awake for a total of 31.5hrs and I still had to get home! Longs Peak was an all around great hike! It was a great hike with great people and perfect weather. This one definitely ranks at the top of my list of 14ers completed so far.

Quandary 08/10/2007

2007-08-10T16:36:00.000-06:00

The last 3 14ers have not gone my way, but at least I made it to the top of one today. So, I had a rare Friday off and wanted to take advantage of it! Quandary's standard route is an easy walk up and I wanted to do something a little more. I researched the west ridge and thought it looked fun. It wouldn't take all day, which is good since I have plans to do Longs this weekend also. I posted a thread on 14ers.com looking for someone to go with because route finding is tough on the west ridge and I didn't want to get my self stuck on an exposed class 4 or 5 if I soloed. I received a reply and we were going to go Friday morning. I called Thursday night just to finalize everything when he told me he could no longer go!! I thought hard all night about soloing it, but for reasons stated above I thought better of it. Standard route it was. The weather forcast looked good so I decided to sleep in and ended up leaving the TH at 7:25am.(Quandary from the road)You are only in the trees for a short time before popping out into some grassy fields. I didn't get too many pics on the way up because there were so many people and then the wind also started to pick up and by the time I reached the summit at 9:35 it was not only blowing hard, it was also cold. It was a pretty uneventful hike up aside form the enormous amount of people and the wind.. I sat on the top and had some goldfish and suprisingly met quite a few people from Pennsylvania, and they all weren't together. This pic with my shoes is the only summit shot I have. I accidently erased the one a guy took for me. In this pic I'm looking towards Fletcher Mountain and the West Ridge (the route that I was initially suppose to come up). I was pretty bummed I didn't do this route, although for as windy as it was I was also kind of glad I didn't. Aside from the wind, the day could not have been more beautiful. I finished my goldfish, took a few pics, talked to all of the people from PA and started heading down around 10:20. Coming down the first pitch was hard on the knees, even with trekking pools. That trail get so much use it is just loose rock and dirt, and I slipped quite a few times....maybe I would have been safer on the West Ridge! There were some not so bashful goats on the trail. (Ignore my face in the first pic, I thought the goat was cute though) I have hiked 17 14ers and numerous 11, 12,& 13ers and can you believe these are the first mountain goats I have seen! The rest of the hike down was pretty uneventful. I got back to the TH at 12:00. Finally had a perfect weather day for a 14er!

A Sweet Road Ride

2007-08-06T11:48:00.001-06:00

After my failed attempts at 14ers the past 2 weekends I decided to stay close to home and head to the Indian Peaks and do Apache Pk. I had my alarm set early since the storms seem to be moving in early lately. My alarm went off, but I couldn't seem to get myself out of bed...so I turned it off and went back to sleep. My biking this summer has mainly consisted of short/quick rides in the evening after work, so I decided to take a nice long one. Usually I have a destination/route in mind because I tend to be a little indecisive at times, and I always have my computer so I can monitor my speed and mileage. I decided to go against the grain on this ride. I decided to just hop on my bike and go and leave the computer at home! I left at 10:43(yes I still wore my watch)and headed towards Gunbarrel. About 2 minutes into my ride I had a horrible experience. A car passed me and up ahead I saw what I thought was a piece of trash blowing in the breeze form the car. I didn't pay any attention to it until I was practically on it....it was a fat snake slithering across the road!! As I came to an abrupt stop I couldn't get my shoe unclipped from the peddle fast enough and almost fell on top of it. Luckily it got off the road and I got my foot free from the peddle! At that point I was ready to turn around and go home, but didn't. It turned out to be the perfect day for biking as the sun was going in and out of the clouds, so it didn't get too hot. Not too mention I passed a few people! And that is saying a lot when biking around Boulder! (Age and make of bike of those passed is not pertinent! ;) ) Once through Gunbarrel I headed out through the country side to Erie. After a 10min stop at Conoco for some peanut M&M and a cold water, I got back home at 1:18. And of course I couldn't resist jumping in my car and measuring the distance, which turned out to be 41.3 miles. Not bad considering I've only been averaging about 20 miles this summer. I'm definitely going to hop on my bike and go without a destination more often. It was really nice! Then I enjoyed a BBQ and some drinks at the neighbors. I guess this wasn't a bad alternative to doing a 14er.

Not Quite Kit Carson/Challenger Point

2007-07-30T21:30:00.000-06:00

So, I was really excited for the hike this weekend to meet some people from 14ers.com and hike Kit Carson and Challenger Point. I met Mindy and her friends at the TH a little before 4:00 on Saturday and we were soon on our way. We were headed for Willow Lake to meet up with the 14ers.com group and do Kit Carson/Challenger the next day. About 20 mins into the hike it began to rain. We're not talking a drizzle or the common 10 min shower, we are talking torential downpour for the next 2.5hrs! After 2hrs of hiking we knew we should be close to Willow Lake. Finally, I heard Mindy and the guys excited to see the lake. I saw the lake, but not the majestic waterfall and cliffs that were in all of the TR pics and Bill's route description. I casually asked where they were and all 3 gave me that look, and I laugh everytime I think about it. We were at South Crestone Lake! At this point we were all soaked to the core and it was getting late and cold, so we decided to hike back down to an area of pine trees, pitch the tents and build a fire to dry out. Luckily the pine trees were so thick we were able to find a lot of dry branches for the fire. I was so cold my hands were shaking when I took the pic, so it's a little blurry. After standing by the fire for a few hours we decided to call it a night and decide what to do in the morning. We decided to hike back up to the lake and get a better look at things. The jagged peaks that encircle the lake make for a very dramatic scene.We definitely picked the right trail to be wrong on. The South Crestone Lake area is beautiful and there is solitude, I think we only saw 3 people the whole weekend. Once at the lake we decided to go a little further. At this point Mindy opted out and decided to go back. I was tempted to join her, but the mere fact that I drove 4hrs made me want to keep going. So, the guys and I headed around the south side of the lake and started up an extremely loose gully. (Looking back down the gully we just climbed)
After a lot of scrambling and dodging rock fall we made it to a ridge between, I believe "Montana Mujeres" and "West Mujeres". I was hoping to get a look at the opposite drainage to see Willow Creek, but there were a lot of low hanging clouds and I couldn't see a thing.After playing around on the ridge for a while, we decided to head down so that we didn't get caught in another downpour. We thought we would be smart and look for a different way down to avoid the loose gully. We found ourselves in class 4 and maybe even a spot or 2 of low class 5 downclimbing.The first pic doesn't look to difficult, but it was the hardest part of the downclimb. You can't see it, but right below the overhang was a section with no holds and water was dripping off of the overhang making it nice and slippery. We actually took our packs off while standing on a ledge and dropped them down. I don't know how we didn't slip down that section! We finally got back down to the lake and down to the campsite to get our gear and eat before heading to the TH.This was the view from our campsite! The whole way out we were trying to find a possible junction to Willow Lake that we may have missed, but didn't see anything...until we got back to the TH! We were never on the correct trail from the start! At the beginning the trail splits in 2. The beginning of Willow Creek Trail is the size of a small road, not to mention there is a sign pointing to it!!! I still don't know how we missed it...it couldn't have been more obvious! I'm pretty bummed I didn't get to meet the 14ers group or hike K.C/Challenger, but it was a fun weekend nontheless and makes for a good, and embarassing story now. And just an FYI...if you take the insoles out of your shoes to dry by the fire, they begin to shrivel up when the get too hot!!

Mount Elbert 7/14/07

2007-07-14T21:33:00.000-06:00

Well, so much for taking a weekend off! I decided to hike Mount Elbert today, the highest peak in CO. I had my alarm set for 2:30 but hit snooze until 3:15. I made it to the TH at about 6:15. I figured with the later start that the parking lot would be full, but suprisingly there were only about 15 cars. Left the TH at 6:34 and it was a gorgeous morning. I made it up through treeline and up to the base of the first false summit in relatively good time. It's funny, when I'm alone I get into this rythm and just go....or maybe it was the Starbursts I was eating on the way up ??? Once out of treeline I was reminded why I like to start early!! There were sooo many people on the trail! I think it was a first for many, some didn't even have packs! After weaving in and out of people I finally made it to the first false summit. The 2 false summits (pictured respectively) didn't seem to bother me today. Maybe it's because I knew they were there.
Once I started the first false summit my energy seemed to disappear and I really had to push myself to get up it. Once up I stopped and had a bite to eat before tackling the second false summit. Once up the second false summit the true summit finally came into view and I reached it at 9:45. I couldn't believe the number of people at the top! I forgot that there were 2 other trails that people would also be coming from. The views as usual were great, especially of the Massives and Ellingwood Ridge to La Plata (would love to try this route when my technical skills get a little better). Here is the notorious summit pic and some random pics.

I was suprised that the clouds started collecting before I reached the top, and they brought a nice cool breeze making it a little chilly at the top. Since it was chilly and there was definitely a lack of solitude I headed down after 30mins. The descent went fairly quickly...I found the faster I went the less pressure I put on my big toe and the less it hurt lol. On the way I passed 3 guys pushing their mountain bikes up....crazy! I guess it might be a nice ride down, but there are too many people, not to mention that would stink to push the bikes up that! Got back to the TH at 12:25. This was the first 14er I have done in a while that I wasn't completely exhausted after doing, although I did have a huge craving for soft serve ice cream ??? It was a great day on Elbert!

Harvard & Columbia 7/7/07

2007-07-09T21:39:00.000-06:00

Is there a limit to how much you can type per blog, because this was a loooong day. I'll try keep to the abbreviated version. So, I met Mindy at the TH at 4:00am and we were off at 4:11. Our destinations: Harvard and Columbia. We started out in the dark with the headlamps, which I'm beginning to like more and more. The trail was easy to follow and was actually nice and I'm very glad because I was pretty tired, think I was still recovering from last weekend's excursion. As we broke out of treeline we were able to turnoff the headlamps as the sun was coming up, but the basin was still shaded and chilly. Here is a pic of Horn Fork Basin from Harvard (Columbia to the left). The climb up to Harvard was kind of nice, especially the scrambling at the top. Little did we know that this would be the easiest part of the day! We reached the top a little after 9:00 and were greeted by 2 people camping in the basin on the other side of the mountain, and also a not so shy marmot. He walked right up to the packs to see what he could find.
Here is Mindy and I on the summit of Harvard. After a few pics and a bite to eat we were off to Columbia. And let the fun begin! It started out fairly good. We did some route finding across the ridge of Harvard and for the most part stayed on course. There was an occasional cairn to show the way. It made for some easy/fun bouldering. Then we came out onto a nice grassy area for a few miles of easy hiking. The flowers were starting to bloom and made for a great scene. Here, Mindy is playing the part of Maria in the Rocky Mountain rendition of The Sound of Music. As we made our way across the nice easy grass a few hikers/runners caught up to us and we started to follow them...bad idea. We started boulder hopping and lost the trail. It led us to a crazy steep slope of loose talus and scree. And it was basically the only way down. This took quite some time because you had to wait for the person in front of you to get far enough ahead so that you didn't start a rockslide on them. Finally after making it down we had to decide on a course to Columbia. We were going to climb back up a little and scramble across. Just as we started a storm moved in...thunder, lightening, sleet...it was great. Fortunately, it didn't sleet too much, just enough to make the boulders nice and slippery. The lightening cloud seemed to just sit on top of Columbia for quite some time. We were starting to think we wouldn't be able to summit, so our focus changed to just getting back to the TH (we were in the opposite basin)! We could either take a chance and go across the ridge below Columbia or we could back track all the way to Harvard. Neither choice was very appealing. Thankfully the clouds started to move away and we were able to summit! Me happy to FINALLY be on top of Columbia (Harvard in the background with the clouds lingering)! Unsure of what the clouds were going to do, we only stayed long enough for a few pics and were on our way. Descending Columbia was pure torture....nothing but loose scree on tiny switchbacks that went on forever!! I'm not sure if I was the happiest to summit Columbia, get to the bottom of Columbia or get back to the TH. We made it back to the TH just after 7:00pm....a 15hr day!! I'm sure we climbed 6000+ft!
All in all, looking back it was a great experience....one that I don't care to have again. Well, maybe I would, just on a smaller scale. I got to hike with a great new hiking partner, got to do some fun bouldering and scrambling, not to mention I finally lost my goofy sunglasses somewhere along the traverse, so it was a great day!!

Fullmoon Hike 6/30-7/1/2007

2007-07-04T14:01:00.000-06:00

(Again, I'll post pics later) After Missouri I think I slept for 1 1/2hr before cleaning up the camp and heading back to the TH for the fullmoon hike at midnight. The parking lot was full, people were parking along the road. I think the count was at 25 people when we left the trailhead, with more camping along the way and joining as we past by. We started at midnight, but by the time everyone signed the register it was probably well past. Everyone started out with quite a few layers on, but it was a suprisingly warm night. I ended up in a long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pulled up to my elbows!
I think I need to do the rest of the 14ers at night because this was the best I felt all weekend! I felt great going up the switchbacks at the beginning, that killed me earlier in the day on our way to Missouri. We used headlamps through the trees, but once above treeline and in the gulch the moon was so bright we turned them off and hiked by the moonlight. A goup of us stopped for a pic at the trail junction and headed towards Belford. Before I knew it we were beginning the endless switchbacks...not an exagerration, I didn't think they were ever going to end! It finally started to cool off the further up we went, but I still only put on gloves and left the rest in my pack. We finally reached the top of the switchbacks and the summit to Belford was in view. After a little hike and snowfield crossing we were there! We made it by 3:30! We stopped for some pics and a bite to eat. It was funny because it was warm up to that point. The cold just seemed to hit you as soon as you stopped. I threw on a fleece and my jacket and was still freezing.
At this point we had quite a while before the sunrise. There was no way we could sit there that long in the cold, so a few of us decided to start over to Oxford. The initial downclimb of the traverse was a little sketchy in the dark, but we took our time and had no problem. Once we got on to the better part of the trail that required no thinking, out of nowhere I got soooo tired. I was literally falling asleep as we were hiking (still moving)!! If we stopped, no matter if I were standing and leaning on my trekking poles or sitting down on a rock, I would go to sleep. I didn't think I was going to make it. Mark prodded me along the way (thanks!) and finally I told him to get going, I would eventually get there! He took off and I sat down on a rock for about a 5min nap. I woke up and couldn't decide whether I want to go or not, but I was that close and knew I didn't want to climb it again. So off I went. At this point my body was just going through the motions and I didn't feel a thing.
Now let me preface this next part by saying I'm not a crier. I make it to the top just in time to see the sunrising and boom, I'm overcome with all this emotion! My eyes are full of tears (I didn't cry, but was very close) for the next 5mins. I was so exhausted and have never felt like that before!!! It was crazy! And the sunrise was amazing!! After enjoying the sunrise and the views and having a bite to eat, we headed back over to Belford.
The descent back to the TH was a loooong slog. I was exhausted and my big toe was starting to hurt with every step. We made it back to the TH around 11:00 where I slept in my car for a while before driving home.
All in all, it was a great weekend which I'm still recovering from! Met a lot of great people, climbed 4 awesome 14ers, pushed myself to some limits....and I can't wait to do it again!!!
Thanks to jimlup and Charla for putting this hike together! It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again!

Missouri Mountain 6/30/2007

2007-07-04T13:06:00.000-06:00

(I'll post pics of this hike later) After Holy Cross we drove to Leadville grabbed a bit to eat and some aloe, then drove to Missouri Gulch. We found a great campsite, pitched the tents, played some cards and I went to sleep. At some point in the night Mark's brother-in-law Ben showed up, but I was sound asleep and didn't hear a thing!
We woke up at 5:00 and Mark's sister (kris) and brother-in-law (steve) showed up and we set off for the TH. We started around 7:00. Somewhere I read or heard that the switchbacks at the beginning are very memorable....I would love to forget them! I wasn't feeling to good at this point. I was tired and my allergies were just horrible....my nose was like faucet I couldn't turn off (not that anyone cares). The switchbacks seemed endless to me. Finally we came out into the relatively flat gulch. The gulch was beautiful at this point in the year. It was so green, the flowers were blooming and the creeks were flowing full. We had great views of Missouri up ahead and the nice long ascent up to Belford that we would be doing at night. At the trail junction we met Jimlup from 14ers.com who helped organize the fullmoon hike.
After hiking through the gulch and crossing a lot of water, we finally began the climb up to the ridge. We were all suprised at how nice and defined the trail was (thanks CFI!). I decided to take this nice and slow....after seeing the hiking we would need to do to get to Belford that night, I didn't want to wear myself out. We finally made it to the ridge and followed it the rest of the way to the top of Missouri. It was another perfect day with perfect weather.
As we were descending the ridge we ran into a group of guys with an older gentleman we had past on our way up, he was going down. Turns out he was lost and went all the way down to Cloyses Lake, had to hike back up and wasn't sure where to go. So he followed us for a while. We learned that he was 66 and Missouri was his 29th 14er. Pretty amazing! After an eventful descent across a snowfield he decided to stop and eat and told us to go ahead because he knew where he was now.
We headed back down through the gulch which seemed to get more beautiful while we were on Missouri. At this point Mark and I wished we would have brought our tents so that we could have camped and met up with the fullmoon hike at the trail junction, and not have to hike back up all of the switchbacks at the beginning! Ben, (this was his 1st 14er) had running shoes on and was tired of rockhopping across the streams and decided at this point to run right through them! I'm sure it felt good as the sun was pretty hot. A side from that, it was a long slow descent back to the TH. We got back around 3:00. Two down, two to go!
Thanks to the group for letting me hike along. It was fun! And congrats to Ben for hiking his first 14er!

Mount of the Holy Cross 6/29/2007

2007-07-03T21:40:00.000-06:00

This is where my Mini 14er Crusade begins. I drove to Tigiwon Road Thursday night and spent the night in my Jeep. I had my windows down when I got there and the mosquitos swormed in!! Needless to say I spent most of the night swatting at them and not sleeping. I met Mark (msc) the next morning to hike Holy Cross via the North Ridge. We left the TH a little after 6:00 and began the day. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the day. The weather was perfect and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Along the way we ran into the usual little critters. (click on the pic and see the 2 marmot in the lower center)

We eventually came to the descent down to East Cross Creek. Now you read about the amount of elevation you are going to drop (and have to reclimb), but you don't fully grasp it until you see it!!
I didn't get a good pic of elevation loss, but here I was looking down at a waterfall that goes down to East Cross Creek that we had to descend to and cross....just to give you a little perspective. Needless to say once you see it, you get it! So we grudgingly continued on our way. But before long Holy Cross comes into view and you forget all about it.
The rest of the route, with the exception of the creek crossing is visible in this picture. After crossing the creek and starting our climb up the other side we decided to stop for a bite to eat in what we thought would be the last shady spot...and it was. At this point a few people caught up to us. As we began hiking we both thought the women looked familiar. They finally caught up to us and it was mtngirl from 14ers.com. And she was on a mission, as we said some quick hi's and she flew up the mountain! It was a nice long hike the rest of the way. Once we reached the base of HC we thought it was going to take a while, but we actually got to the top in no time...we were both suprised when we reached it.

It was a great day and we spent an hour on top talking to a few people and enjoying the gorgeous views. The hike back to the TH was pretty uneventful...and long. We got back around 4:00 ? We hiked nice and slow because we knew we had a lot of hiking ahead of us this weekend! One down, three to go. On to Missouri Gulch.

Mini 14er Crusade

2007-07-02T20:36:00.000-06:00

I'll just give a little summary of my weekend here and post more detailed TR's later as I get pics from others that I hiked with. What a weekend, the word exhaustion has a whole new meaning to me!!! It all started on Friday when I met msc(mark) and we hiked Mount of the Holy Cross...I only got about 2hrs of sleep Thursday night! Saturday we met some of his family and hiked Missouri...the gulch is beautiful! Then Saturday night (with only about 1 1/2hr sleep after Missouri) did the fullmoon hike with the 14ers.com group...hiked Belford and made it over to Oxford just in time to see an AMAZING sunrise!! As you can see the exhaustion factor could be from the lack of sleep...just a thought, not to mention my allergies were horrible this weekend. So in total this weekend I hiked 4 14ers, approximately 33 miles (we did go a little out of our way coming down HC so it's probably a little more) and hiked 15,900ft in elevation (according to route info). I also came away with a bruised big toe nail, sunburn, a bunch of mosquito bites (even with bug spray!!) and a mild case of sleep deprivation!

I would do it again in a heart beat!!

Me on the way down Holy Cross

A Little Biking

2007-06-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

I took the weekend off from going to the mountains. I think my Jeep needed a little break from the elevation and my body needed a break from waking up at 2:00am! So instead I biked both days. Saturday I did a quick loop from Valmont to Erie to Lafayette and back to Valmont. I could probably do this loop in my sleep. Today I left Boulder and biked to Lyons. Started early hoping to make it back before it got hot. I got back around 10:30 and couldn't believe how warm it was already. I didn't do the standard route of hwy 36. Instead I made my way over to hwy 66 by way of all of the side roads and took it to Lyons. It took a little longer, but it was definitely worth it because I didn't have all of the cars wizzing by me like I would on 36. I think this might be one of my favorite new rides in the Boulder area! Other than the biking I did a lot of much needed cleaning and laundry and relaxed...which was also much needed! I have some big plans in the works for this coming weekend. Fill you in on those later.

Catching Up

2007-06-21T20:40:00.000-06:00

I've already done quite a bit of hiking this spring so I thought I would write a little report on the recent 14ers I have done. June 2 I hiked up Mount Sherman. It is one of the easier 14ers, in my opinion so I thought it would be a good one to start off with. I parked at the Leavick Mine TH and sat in my car debating if I wanted to start there or drive to the gate. If I drove up to the gate I could cut off 3.25 miles from the hike, but I decided to stay at the mine and hike it...I could use the extra miles to get into shape. The hike was uneventful for the most part, although I wish I would have driven to the gate like everyone else! There was a lot of snow so it was pretty tiring! The views from the top were amazing and it was great to see them again after a long winter. The fun began on the way down....there were a lot of places to glissade!
The next trip was to Shavano and Tabeguache on June 9. The approach through the trees was very nice, the beginning was on part of the Colorado Trail and then it went a long a nice creek for a while. I did my first snow climb on the Angel of Shavano. And it was awesome!! I can't wait to do more! I probably didn't really need to use my crampons because the snow was a little soft, but I figured it was a good climb to put them on and get used to them. After I got to the top of the angel it was pretty hard to keep on the trail...couldn't really find it so I just picked my way up. At the top I met Rich who lost his dog....glad to hear you found him!! The picture below is of the Angel of Shavano taken from road.

After talking to Rich I headed over to Tab. It looked a little sketchy with all of the snow, but it was actually pretty easy. I didn't stick around to long due to the time so I headed back. I don't know if it was because I climbed the angel on the way up or what, but I was exhausted when I got back to the Jeep...and I couldn't get there fast enough!!!
And finally this past Sunday June 17 I had a last minute whim to go do Mount Yale. The hike up was for the most part uneventful. Once out of treeline I was suprised at how steep the climb got. Usually I curse all of the switchbacks you have to climb, but today on my way up Yale I was wishing there were a few!!! Although, this is probably the best I have felt climbing a 14er...no headache, upset stomach, etc. On top I met Bryce and her friend Nick...and a cute little Korean couple eating Sushi lol. We hung out on top for quite a while. The sun felt soooo good and there was a slight cool breeze blowing...could have sat there all day!
After a few pics we headed down. Bryce and I thought we would be smart and boulder hop down the side of the mountain and skip the ridge because it was getting a little icey. We should have taken the ridge! We ended up in some nice loose talus and scree and after sliding and falling multiple times we decided to go through some snow where I postholed through the snow and jammed my leg between 2 boulders (my lower leg and foot are nicely swollen now!) But we made it and after what seemed like forever got back to the TH.
So that has been the last 3 weeks in a nutshell. This is going to be a great summer in the mountains!

About Life in the Rockies

2007-06-19T22:18:00.000-06:00

Since moving to Colorado in September 2004 I've done so many things that I thought I would only ever dream about doing. I've done a lot of extensive hiking, climbing, backpacking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountains. I've done a little kayacking...no white water yet! I've climbed well over 2 dozen mountains, including 9 of Colorado's 54 14ers. Outside of the mountains I have done my first 1/2 marathon, full marathon, duathlon and have done a lot of amazing road rides along the front range. And throughout all of these things I have met a lot of amazing people.

I hope to keep track of all the things that I do here. And I'm sure it will consist mostly of my outdoor adventures such as trip reports and pictures from hiking and climbing. I'm not the best at putting these experiences into words and as most of you know I'm not very consistant with things like this, but it is something I'm very passionate about so hopefully I'll keep it up to date. This blog is also a way for me to share all of these things in Colorado with friends, family and anyone else who feels compelled to read it. So, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!