Centennial Sunday – California’s West Ridge
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. 
Way back in 2011 I made my first trip into Glacier Gorge and like most folks who exit their vehicles at the trailhead, I was there to see something called Alberta Falls. Don’t get me wrong, Alberta Falls is great. Heck, I even took my Grams there later that summer, but let’s be serious now. Some risk takers may even get a little crazy and go as far as the Loch or Mills Lake, also pretty spectacular in their own right. But for those willing to make the 5 mile trek deep into the heart of Glacier Gorge to where the upper plateau begins, that’s where the crown jewel of the park gets real.