Not much hiking these days. I’m mostly focusing on fixing up the house. Plenty of work in the basement, some work in the yard but mostly spending my time in the attic these days fixing the electrical and redoing the entire insulation. I’ll post photos of that eventually. In the meantime…
A 12h hike on the Loft Route of Longs Peak to check things out. A fun hike going down the Kelso Ridge of Torreys Peak and some off trail scrambling up Atlantic Peak & Pacific Peak via the mayflower trailhead.
Thanks to a fairly cold & wet year Colorado has been quite green. The fall colors near longs peak are splendid.
Loft Route of Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park.
The famous “knife edge” of the Kelso Ridge coming down Torreys Peak.
Start of the Mayflower Gulch Trail. I wasn’t really paying attention to the trail and forgot to turn somewhere so I just went straight up the gully to reach Atlantic Peak. It worked.
Trying to stay in shape after the Climb of Mount Rainier earlier this month. I gave myself a week off then…back to the gym. And of course some mountain climbing on the weekends.
No summit of Mount Meeker but good training. Gully up the loft had about three feet of stable snow + a few inches of not so stable snow. Had to turn around about 150ft from the left turn out below the cornice.
The goal is to go up the snow on the right and turn left before the last big rocky bloc.
Another climber going up another gully on the left
May 4th, 2019 – Successful summit of Mount Rainier, WA at 7:05am after a five hour climb from camp Muir. Hiked back down 8000ft to trailhead arriving at 2pm. I climb with RMI Expeditions. It was their first successful climb of Rainier for the season so I’m quite happy about that. The weather was fantastic. I got to learn a lot about rest step technique, pressure breathing and other things. Practiced self-arrest too which is always good.
Finally sorted all the photos. I used a lighter old camera (Sony Nex 3N) for this short expedition instead of my usual Sony A7R II
It was a short five day expedition.
Day #1 – Meeting and checking climbing equipment
Day #2 – Practice near Paradise Trailhead
Day #3 – Hike to Camp Muir at 10,188 ft elevation
Day #4 – Active / Rest day with a little climb to Ingraham Flats
Day #5 – Summit day + Hike Down
Mount Elbert being the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains it was an obvious destination for my current training.
14,440 ft / 4401 meters
Hiking along the Black Cloud trail.
(note: photo of the full moon above Mt Massive the next morning. Shot from Leadville, Colorado)
Great view of Rinker Peak (center) and La Plata on the right
Reaching the ridge. Mount Elbert is still 2.1 miles away (right) along a ridge full of false summits.
Finally reaching the summit after seven hours and forty five minutes
Great views from the summit. La Plata Peak is the giant massif in the center.
Still training for the climb of Mount Rainier, WA early May. Current routine is to be at the local gym between 4:30am and 6:30am for a two hour workout. Alternating cardio and weights.
Climbed Grays Peak starting from I70 since the road is mostly impassable. 13 miles round trip. 4400ft elevation gain. Very windy during most of the day with zero visibility from the summit.
Will try to do two more 14ers before leaving for Washington at the end of the month…
After hiking up Bear Peak, Boulder last Saturday and Morrison Peak last Sunday I thought I’d climb my first 14er of 2019
Guanella Pass being closed I had to start at Naylor Lake Trailhead so it took a little bit longer than usual; 7:30 hour total for a 10.5 miles RT
Cold & windy. About 0 degree Fahrenheit with a windchill at -17F at the summit. Deep snow in the plain. I was sinking 2ft into the snow even with snowshoes on.
Hike along th South Mesa Trail near Boulder, Colorado
Photos of the Full Moon from last night
Also, trying out my new bread machine (Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso) with this recipe
Flour 447g Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread
Water 260ml
Heavy Cream 40ml Horizon Organic
Salt 10g Morton Sea Salt
Yeast 9g SAF Red Instant Yeast
Salted Butter 45g European Style Salted Butter
Diastatic Malt Powder 10g King Arthur
Dec 25th / Dec 26th
16 miles RT of snowshoeing along the Cascade Trail towards Crater Lake. The goal was to get a winter photo of Lone Eagle Peak but the weather turned badly yesterday so I couldn’t see any of the peaks. I’ll try again soon…
Note: I’ve never seen that much snow in Colorado.
Square Top Mountain is not quite a 14er at 13900ft but great 7.5 mile hike nonetheless. It was actually more difficult than Mount Bierstadt for some reason. Fantastic views of Grays & Torreys from the summit.
Sunrise over Mount Bierstadt
View of Square Top Mountain in the distance from below the lake
Summit View
Argentine Peak in the foreground. Grays and Torreys Peak in the background.
Mount Bierstadt, Sawtooth path and Mount Evans on the other side of Guanella Pass.
I rarely plan my vacation time in advance but I’m making an exception for 2019
I just signed up for an expedition to climb Mount Rainier in Washington.
I remember the first time I saw a photo of a mountain called Cerro Aconcagua in early 2009 my first thought was; “I have to climb that mountain.” After 5 months of training (2 hour daily workout + 20 Colorado 14ers) getting my weight down to a ridiculous 132 pounds I went for it and reached the summit at 22,841ft on December 17th, 2009.
Mount Rainier is a much simpler and easier climb but it should give me some good snow experience. The end goal is to climb Mount Denali, Alaska in 2020.
Cerro Aconcagua (The very same photo I saw in 2009)
Along the trail to Grays Peak. I turned around about a mile away from the summit at 12500ft. I wasn’t really expecting that much snow. Towards the end I was knee deep in snow if not worse. Time to start carrying winter gear I guess…
I’m glad I have that Jeep. The road up to the trailhead was a bit challenging…
Old house is still standing after all these years…
There are 58 Peaks of +14000ft in Colorado. I’ve now hiked / climbed 57 of them. Culebra Peak (the private 14er) is left. I have mixed feelings about paying $150 for the permit and the place is closed for the season anyway so I have to wait for October 1st.
Little Bear peak is a whole different animal compared to the other Colorado 14ers. Very short in terms of distance but very steep. There are essentially three parts;
1) An 800ft climb in a steep gully full of rocks
2) A long hike on the southern slope going up 1000ft
3) Final climb through the infamous ‘Hourglass’
I met a group of climbers on my way up so I had some good company for most of the climb.
Since I’m finally on vacations I thought I’d start by a weekend in the mountains. The plan was to hike / climb Ellingwood Point and Blanca Peak on Sunday and do the infamous Little Bear peak on Monday to avoid the crowd. Still lots of smoke from the recent forest fire so the sky wasn’t particularly blue but overall a great weekend…
Let your walks now be a little more adventurous – Henry David Thoreau
