The Long's Peak Triathlon
Not bad for an adventure that started and ended in my kitchen. Krz and I set out late in the night on our bicycles and headed up the 40 miles to the Long's Peak trailhead. We then boogied up to the base of the Diamond and simul-climbed The Casual Route in 3 cool pitches. Spoiler: it didn't feel so casual after ~6 hours of night movement but was all kinds of fun. The bike ride back from Long's Peak trailhead back home is an absolute joy - nothing but free-wheeling all the way to Lyons. Krz tried to teach me the art of drafting. I don't think I mastered it - learning is hard after 90 miles of multi-sport motion - you can't win 'em all!
A Collection of Alpine Adventures
Kasparov Traverse (Shoshoni to Apache to Navajo)
Will and I headed into the Indian Peaks to traverse the ridgeline from Shoshoni over to Apache, climbing the chessmen as we went and then finished on Navajo and descended Airplane Gulley, where we found old engine parts and the wing box of the C-47 that crashed there in the 1940s. We biked in from the lower parking lot and then hiked up, scrambled across and ran down. Things were hurting after the 40+ mile run I had done with Johnny and Ethan in the Chicago Basin less than a week before.
Zowie
My first time climbing with Alejandra, we went up to RMNP and climbed Zowie. We were doing some weather watching as thunder was for sure closing in as we were approaching the top of the tower but we were done with the rappels before the rain started briefly. Fun day with mellow climbing, alpine lake swimming and good snacks.
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Challenger Point
Andrew and I simul-climbed about 1,500' of the route called Septem Virtutum Anima Mea and then did the epic ridge traverse up to Challenger Point and across to Kit Carson. We were celebrating Andrew's 28th birthday! The big-horned sheep greeted us at many points on our journey. The day was not over after the second summit as we needed to descend a steep snowy couloir using rocks as ice axes. Andrew battled a case of the "screaming barfies" like a champ when the blood rushed back into his gloveless hands part way down the couloir.
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Spearhead
Petit Grepon
There's no bad day for a party climb. Five of us (me, Brynn, Kjersti, Jimmy and Abe) piled into one car for an alpine start and climbed the South Face of the Petit Grepon. Jimmy, Brynn and Kjersti climbed as a party of three and I led Abe (in town from San Francisco) up for his first alpine route. One other pair came up behind us without the correct length of rope for getting off the summit, so with a storm rolling in, all seven of us rode our ropes to the ground. If it was a party climb, it was definitely a party descent.
Kit Carson
Hallett Peak
Krz and I figured we could get in one last late season alpine route if we moved efficiently to beat the rain that was forecast. We decided on the classic Culp-Bossier route on Hallett Peak. While it did start showering just as I was starting up the last pitch, we are calling it a win in terms of staying dry enough!
Lone Eagle Peak
The Colorado 14ers... Not a Short Term Project
When I moved to Colorado, I started to think that a cool way to get familiar with my local mountains would be to summit all of the peaks above 14,000 feet in the state. I think there are officially 53, so when there are 53 photos in this section, I will have done them all. Seems kinda far off!