In mid-August Steve and I packed into the Weminuche and spent three nights camped on the shore of Sunlight Lake to the northeast of Sunlight Peak. Of course the main focus was to climb the 13ers surrounding the basin, but we were equally enamored with the idea of simply visiting this particular place given the lore around it.
Ever since my first pack-ins to the Weminuche I’d always held Sunlight Basin as this sort of mythical, rarely visited place. For many years it had a reputation of being so difficult to get to, people would look for alternate ways to hit the peaks in the area so as to avoid Sunlight Creek. Before his passing, John Fielder called it his favorite place in Colorado, and I’ve heard that same sentiment echoed by others who have made the trek in there. Needless to say, it had long been on the bucket list. Indeed, to get there is no easy task. While there are a few different ways to do it, Steve and I ultimately chose to head in from the Vallecito Reservoir, north to the Sunlight Creek confluence and up to Sunlight Lake from there. Keep Reading….
Residing deep in the Rio Grande National Forest east of Piedra Pass, South River Peak is known as one of the peskier Colorado 13ers not by it’s technical rating or loose rock, but the length of its approach from any trailhead. There are essentially 2 options – a shorter, steeper route from the north involving some bushwhacking below tree line, or a longer, more gradual route from the south that passes by a natural hot spring along the way. Keep Reading…
It wound up to be sort of a lean year for me on the spring ski objective front. A combination of life, work schedule, weather and snowpack made it so. But one of the half-dozen days I was able to get out and ski a new peak was certainly one to write about. In late-April Dave Bourassa and I realized a dream ski of ours after talking about it for years but never getting around to pulling the trigger until this year. Namely, a ski descent of the northernmost peak in the Gore Range, Eagles Nest A. We ended up picking a perfect day with everything falling into place, allowing us to ski two different lines off opposite sides of the peak.
In terms of skiing, Eagles Nest is about as obscure of a descent as they come in a range that’s already known for obscure descents. There’s not much that’s been previously written about this one, and neither of us know anyone else who has skied it either. That’s not to say it’s never been done, this is Colorado after all. But regardless we knew we were in for an adventure into the relative unknown. Keep Reading….
Almost 20 years ago I took a family vacation to the Big Island. I love my memories from that trip. The Big Island is a very, very unique place. Between its scale, oceans, beaches, resorts, rainforests, culture, history, mountains, and active volcanoes, it has almost everything you could ever want in terms of both relaxation and adventures. I had always wanted to go back.
The chance came early this year thanks to some killer direct flight deals from Denver to Kona. The prospect of a week away sans children (something that’s literally never happened since we had kids) in Hawaii sounded pretty dang great to Katie and I. At the top of the adventure list was a trek up Mauna Kea. There is a lot to love about this remarkable mountain. Keep Reading…
