Looking northwest from the summit. The Crestones on the left, Humboldt to the right, Milwaukee and Pico Asilado are below in the foreground. Click to enlarge. It’s been a little while since we made a trip to the Sangre de Cristos. More than two years ago, when Christy was making a push to finish skiing all the 14ers, we headed down to this range for seven weekends in a row,...
From the summit of Storm King Peak. It’s wild back here. Last weekend, Christy and I went down to the Weminuche, in the heart of the San Juans. It’s an incredible place, one of our favorite spots in the state. The Weminuche Wilderness handily takes the award as Colorado’s largest wilderness area. At nearly 500,000 acres in size (Maroon Bells/Snowmass is 181,000 acres by comparison) it is so vast, with...
Just the three of us on top of #100– Ted, Christy and our good friend Nicholas Feuillatte. Christy and I climbed Gladstone Peak on Saturday, a 13,913 ft. scree covered mountain in the San Juans, and with that summit, Christy has stood atop the 100 tallest mountains in Colorado. So I will say once again (and for the umpteenth time this year), congratulations Christy. For some background on the 100...
It’s all downhill from here, or at least from a little farther up. Neal climbs up from Taylor Pass. “Thirty-seven.” That was his answer to my question as to when he thought he had reached his top form, and after which he first noticed his speed, stamina and general physical condition begin to deteriorate– in other words, when things started going downhill. I didn’t think it to be an inconsiderate...
North Apostle, Ice Mountain and West Apostle, left to right, frame the valley on the hike in, under cloudy but dry skies. Lake Ann and the west peak were our destination. The wilderness rehabilitation continues and for the second week in a row, we managed to escape the summer crowds and find a little peace and quiet. Well, it was quiet at least with regards to the lack of people,...
Dirk and Christy on the col after descending the West Ridge of South Maroon Peak. We’re cresting the hump of the summer season, that busy time of the year when the crowds around town and the craziness at work can wear you thin if you’re not careful. So with no big events and an open weekend, we opted for a short backpack/peak climb to get away from it all, if...
Christy and Lissa on the ridge, seen here form the summit of North Traverse Peak. The route heads to the highpoint out to the left, Grand Traverse Peak. Christy, Lissa and I did the Gore Grand Traverse the other day. Not to be confused with the popular ski race, the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse, often discussed here on the blog and which was a grand disappointment this year, the Gore...
Nice toss Christy! I’ve played disc golf at 17,200 feet (Everest Basecamp- see below) but horseshoes at 14K? It was a first for me. Click to enlarge. After a string of fall storms brought snow to much of the state, winter has been on everyones mind. Usually we’re excited to pull the stuff out of the closet and head up to Castle Peak’s Montezuma Basin for some early season skiing...
Atop Emerald, Italian phrasebook in hand. The wedding has finally arrived. In the last free days before family and friends began descending on Aspen for our big weekend, Christy and I headed into the woods to recharge the batteries. A secondary goal of the last minute escape was to tag the summit of Emerald Peak, 13,904 feet, Christy’s 96th summit of the 100 tallest peaks in Colorado. Only four peaks...
South Maroon- just the five of us– (l to r)Kent, Lissa, Christy, myself and “Pat” the goat. I couldn’t discern it’s sex so, like the SNL skit, I named it “Pat” (photo courtesy of Lissa’s camera shot by some solo guy from Gorky, Russia). Click all pics to enlarge. Christy, Lissa, Kent Harvey and I did the Maroon Bells Traverse on Saturday, twice. And I came home with a lot...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
