Neal jokingly referred to it as the "Outward Bound Course in a Day" loop. I'm not exactly sure how long it is, but our estimates put it in the 40-mile range. It had 11,000+ vertical feet climbed over five passes and it took all day (about 12 hours with stops). (more…)
It's a loop that we hadn't done before-- Capitol Creek to Avalanche Creek to Hell Roaring Creek. Though friends say it's longer, we figured it to be about 26 miles, with 7300 feet of vertical gain. (more…)
It's pretty chaotic around Aspen these days, and since the typically quiet trails are teeming with summer visitors, we decided to head back to where we always find solitude, the Sangres. A quick look at our favorite map of the area pointed us in the direction of North Crestone Lake. It's a couple of valleys north of the ever-popular Willow Lake and just south of some of our more recent...
We hit up a section of the snake-like Sangre de Cristo Mountains this past weekend for a combo trail run/peak bagging jaunt. For background, we spent a weekend in the area last summer, exploring nearby Rito Alto and Wild Cherry creeks, running the valley trails and then climbing onto the broad ridges (more…)
Last Saturday, Anda, Christy, and I went on a little St. Patrick's Day ski tour that circumnavigated our local Star Peak. The 20-mile "Star Peak Traverse" loop is a pretty obvious linkup of established local trails. Start at Ashcroft and head up towards the Tagert and Green-Wilson huts, following the snow covered jeep road all the way to Pearl Pass. (more…)
When last weekend’s weather forecast wasn’t looking conducive to outdoor activities around Aspen, Christy and I decided to head to Moab.
Totally psyched and somewhat surprised to have actually pulled it off, Neal Beidleman and I sat on Pyramid’s narrow summit in the afternoon sun and processed it all. It wasn’t that we thought it couldn’t be done. Through the years there have been scattered reports of groups completing different sections of this traverse. Our concern had to do with the time and weather. The horseshoe-like ridge is so long, with...
On Saturday, Christy and I got out on our favorite local linkup of trails and passes, the Four Pass Loop. According to some friends who had been out there earlier in the summer, the lingering snow and high water levels, the theme of summer thus far, had made the trip pretty challenging. But it seems that summer's persistence has finally won over spring, as we knew it eventually would, and...
Spring snows and June skiing aside, the summer running season is here. Jumping right into things, Christy and I ran the Dirty 30 last Saturday, a 50K course run along the trails of Golden Gate State Park, located northeast of Blackhawk, CO. Now in its 3rd year, the event hosts three races-- a 7, 12, and 31 miler (50K)-- and in addition to being really scenic, very hilly and just...
(Christy here) The new Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race is right around the corner, so in an attempt to scout out the complex course and get some time in our new Dynafit ski mountaineering race setups, Anda Smalls and I went out this weekend for a little familiarization. (more…)
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
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