It’s not the sexiest of locations, but I gained an appreciation of the southern Sawatch this weekend. I can’t imagine I’ll be spending too many dry months exploring the area, but where these mountains lack in individual aesthetics is made up for by the quantity of peaks in such a concentrated area. Add a blanket of snow on them and the area truly comes alive. Keep reading…
When I think of playing outside in February in Colorado I generally think of powder skiing at Monarch and touring around low angle terrain at Berthoud Pass. But this year things are a little different as February has felt more like May (minus the snow). In the spirit of trying take what Colorado has been giving, and with yet another warm, sunny stretch of days in the forecast, I decided to head down to the desert this past Monday to take a stab at Bicentennial Twin Peak A north of Fort Garland. Read more…
I get excited every time I visit the San Luis Valley. How could you not? It is a 122 mile long, 74 mile wide, vast high desert plain surrounded by mountains. And not just any mountains. To the west, the Sangres rise up like nowhere else in Colorado. Going from 8,000 to 14,000 feet in a matter of 2-3 of miles just never gets old. On every trip I am stunned by the relief off of the valley floor. The fact that most of the high peaks are as rugged as they come only adds to the appeal. Keep reading…
After consuming 834 of Grandma’s Italian Christmas cookies (homemade and delivered all the way from NJ I might add – Thanks Gram!), I made a game-time decision to remove my fat@ss from the couch. So what does one do on the Saturday after Christmas when the high is predicted to be infinitely negative, travel in the high country isn’t very safe, and most importantly, you’re almost all out of cookies. Find some 11ers? Why not… Sam got my text at 8 PM on Friday night and by 8:04 he had already rented his snowshoes. Keep reading…