What: Kelso North Couloir. When: June 5, 2013. Who: Ben and Rick. How: Parked at the base of the couloir where the run out hits the road. Wearing trail runners with boots and skis on our backs, we set off at 5:40pm, crossed the creek (Ben more “gracefully” than I) and headed up the lookers right ridge. Keep reading…
Gerry Roach describes the South Ridge route on Meeker as “one of Colorado’s finest tours” that is seldom done due to its length. He goes on to say that after decades of mountaineering, this mountain remains one of his favorite places. With that paragraph and a willing climbing partner in Andrew, I already had both feet out the door. We set out from the Copeland Lake TH in Wild Basin at about 4 AM. Keep reading…
On Friday night Shulman sent me a texter that said “KC and Challenger?”, to which I responded, “Grays and Torreys, it’s closer?”. Nine hours later he was shivering on my doorstep and we were moseying on over to Loveland Pass. At about 6:30 AM we exited the warm comforts of the jeep and headed for Point 12,915. This point is about a mile and 1,000 feet vertical from the pass and the remainder of the trek is along the Continental Divide. Keep reading…
The last time Rick, Mike and I got together in Rocky Mountain National Park before this trip was a 17 hour epic on the Kiener’s Route on Longs. The climb was “as advertised” and for me, one of the better days I’ve ever experienced in the hills. I remember the bacon bleu burger from Southern Sun like it was yesterday. Fast forward to the summer of 2012 and we found ourselves plotting another masochistic stroll through the park. Ben and I had done 80 to 90% of the “Glacier Gorge Traverse” (depending on who you are talking to) from Chief’s Head to Taylor the summer before. Keep reading…