Joel, a friend I met through another friend, was visiting his parents in CO from his home in Switzerland, and wanted to chip away at the centennials during his stay. I convinced him to accompany me to get not only Rio Grande Pyramid, but also its less lofty neighbors outside of the top 100 or even 200 or 300, for that matter. Read more…
This trip kind of came together at the spur of the moment so I had my concerns of diving into the relative unknown. I needed one more round trip on Southwest for A-List next year and when my plans to visit an old friend in Kansas City fell through I needed to find an inexpensive alternative. I intend to take the family down to the Grand Canyon as soon as the little legs are strong enough to get them out of it so I thought a recon trip would be appropriate. Southwest was nearly giving away flights to Phoenix so the balls were in motion. Read more…
As summer winds down, it gets increasingly more difficult to find the motivation to get out. It should be the opposite, as, strategically, one might think the best plan of attack would be to hit it hard in the Spring, take a break for the first few weeks of summer, when there isn’t enough snow to ski, but just enough to make it annoying to hike. Then as the monsoon winds down, you’d wind up your trips, but any mountain man knows all too well the undeniable call of the wild and one’s insatiable desire to head back in to the hills – time and time again. Keep reading…
It took me 3 tries, but I finally was able to stand atop my nemesis peaks in the Gore Range and nab another 12er in the process. Peak Q Attempt #1: The TR can be found here but, long story short, a side trip up Keller before packing into Slate Lake is not recommended. This trip was also before Cooper’s Scrambles Book increased the popularity of the basin so I couldn’t find any resemblance of a trail beyond Upper Slate Lake. It was Gore bushwhacking at its purest. Keep reading…