August 31st - The Saddle..and hiker trash in town!

Originally, I had wanted to get out of town this past weekend for a nice, long, hard backpacking trip.

I contemplated going up to the Medicine Bows/Snowy Range just over the Wyoming Border or perhaps the Rawahs. Both ranges I have not explored much and see little use.

But my plans changed.

I received a call from my CDT friend (who now lives in Boulder) Love Barge.

LB said how another CDT buddy Skittles is up in Steamboat Springs with Recess. Poor Recess had a case of giardia, needed to recuperate and could not hike for a while.

Long story short: I picked them up in Steam Boat and came back to the Boulder area via Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was great seeing Skittles and Recess. I have not seen Skittles since near Wolf Creek Pass in 2006 when we hiked the CDT. All four of us had fun playing tourist on the road, we enjoyed the sites and we all christened my new apartment (that I moved in 2 days before!) in true hiker style: we ate a lot of food!!!

I still wanted to get in a hike, though.

So Saturday, I had planed to hike Fairchild Mountain. However, the impending clouds made me decide to hike to The Saddle instead. At 16 or so miles R/T and almost 4000' elev gain, it made for a nice, solid day hike.

The park, as expected, was busy.

However, once I was past the main trailhead area, the crowds dispersed.

The hike up to Lawn Lake was easy. I enjoyed the view towards my destination and the high 13ers of the Mummy Range surrounding me.

I continued my hike to The Saddle.

The appropriately named place connects the ends of the Mummy Range together and makes for the easiest approach to Fairchild.

However, with the black clouds building up, the mountain would have to wait for another day.

I enjoyed one last view from The Saddle and headed down.

The rest of the hike was uneventful but was a great way to unwind from the busy week.

I made it back to Casa Mags, we ordered some pizza had two more local hikers visit us and called it a night.

Labor Day was uneventful. But Skittles and Recess did get to finish up some needed chores.

And Tues morning? I drove Recess and Skittles up to Brainard Lake where they planned to go to Pawnee Pass on the Continental Divide, hook up to the CDT again at Monarch Lake and do some sort of flip-flop to continue their journey.

It was hard seeing them off. Not only was it the perfect Colorado Fall day (crisp air, blue skies, gorgeous mountains with a slightly coating of snow), but my friends were able to be on a long journey. Me? I had to go to the office and work. Waaah!

Not quite the weekend I planned, but enjoyable.

All the photos from The Saddle Hike

August 22nd - 25th : Divide Walk Weekend

After a frustrating week of work (and a some frustrating events in my own life in general) and preparing to move into a new place (eating terribly, not exercising enough this past week). I desperately wanted to get out of town for the weekend.

I was invited to a happy hour on Friday. Had another opportunity to "party" on Saturday. But, I wanted the simple joy of being in the backcountry instead.

On Friday, I drove directly to the Moffat Tunnel trailhead. Loaded up my pack and did a leisurely 4 mile hike to Rogers Pass Lake in the shadow of the Continental Divide. I had planned on hiking further to Heart Lake just above treeline. But the storm hanging on the divide convinced me to find a nice campsite in the trees by the lower of the two lakes instead.

The view towards the divide, the rain gently falling on my shelter, a beer I packed in and a good book all proved to make for relaxing and satisfying Friday evening.

On the way to Rogers Pass Lake

The following morning, I woke up to a much more crowded trail and trailhead. The hike out was pleasant if uneventful.

Relaxed in the small mountain town of Nederland over a leisurely breakfast.

Finally drove back to Boulder for part two of the weekend: A walk on the Continental Divide.

I met up with my good buddy d-low, picked up our friend Nira (42 to you AT hikers) fresh from her summer of being an instructor for Outward Bound and we drove up to Guanella Pass Road.

This road was car camping central! Many people; most of whom seemed to be chopping down wood with chain saws, shooting targets (when shooting is not allowed on the road) and generally making lots of noise in what is rather nice valley. Not my idea of fun, but to each their own...

After finding a parking spot, we started up the South Park trail, crossed a creek and quickly left the noise and crowds behind. I suspect most of the car campers would not hike this trail and most hikers are probably reluctant to start a hike in this busy area. Plus, many of the hikers tend to go to the nearby 14ers.

The three of us ended up having this area to ourselves and enjoyed the views towards Bierstadt in the evening light.

We found a decent camping spot, set up our shelters and enjoyed the soothing sound of the brook when we finally called it a night.

The following morning we followed the trail to the ridge and the Red Cone jeep trail. Early in the morning, the normally busy trail was deserted. We enjoyed the above treeline views towards the divide, the not-so-distant 14ers and the nearly cloudless sky.

Myself, Nira (42) and d-low

Our route to Red Cone

After summit Red Cone we followed the jeep road a bit to the physical divide and then followed a use trail up to a series of 13k foot peaks.

Funny. We could see Grays and Torry's peaks, Evans and Bierstardt at some point throughout the trip. All very busy and popular peaks because they are 14ers. Below us, we could see a fair amount of jeep traffic on the roads below.

On this gorgeous day, with outstanding views along this ridge? We were the only people. Using the logic of d-low, I am glad so many people get wrapped up in "bagging" 14ers. It leaves the other peaks to us.

I love ridge walks. And being on the Continental Divide, with mountains all around us, is about as good a ridge walk you can get.

We took a leisurely break on our last peak and headed down to Lake Josephine for lunch.

The lake was tranquil and provided a good look towards where we had been all morning.

A storm started brewing, so we packed up our gear, and headed down one last jeep road to make our way to the car.

The jeep road walk was actually pleasant. Nice views, a meandering creek and so quiet. Almost all the campers were gone. The valley was again quiet. It was easier to appreciate the beauty of the valley without listening to guns, chainsaws, loud music and other types of noise we experienced the previous day.

The rain opened up. Luckily we were two minutes at the most from the car. We changed into dry clothes, drove off and again had another enjoyable weekend playing in Colorado.

All the photos

My Cheesy Backpacker Magazine cover.. ;-)

Though I like this photo, I'll be the first to admit it looks like something out of a bad cover for Backpacker Magazine:


Being the sarcastic twerp I am, I gave the photo this caption:

I can see the titles on the cover: DON'T GET LOST..TIPS FROM EXPERTS! TOP TEN SECRET PLACES THAT WE'LL RUIN! EXPENSIVE GEAR YOU HAVE TO BUY!

Dlarson over the BPLITE.COM took my idea and ran with it:




Too funny!

He also Photoshopped one my other photos and made an old time looking post card as a joke:



Never knew my photos were so inspirational. ;)

August 16th and 17th - A Change of Plans

All summer, the weekends have been hot and dry. The weekend where I plan two 14+ miles hikes (one of which a full moon hike to Longs Peak), it rains and snows! :)

The weather forecast was such:

RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EARLY IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN SHOWERS...SNOW
SHOWERS LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE LATE
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE
IN THE HIGHER PASSES.  LOWS 36 TO 42. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 60
PERCENT.

Needless to say, hiking above treeline (and later on, hiking above treeline at night!) was not exactly the brightest idea.

I've always said "I will not cancel hikes..but I will modify them" :)

So I modified the hikes.

I just did some local hikes in Boulder on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was a drizzly, New-England-esque stroll. Perfect day for a solo, contemplative hike.

From the west ridge, I could see the very cloudy, socked in continental divide. What little of the mountains I could see were covered in a layer of fresh snow.

Sunday a friend joined me for a hike with some beer at the Southern Sun afterwards. My friend had never been to the SoSun; I could not pass up the opportunity to bring a friend to one of my favorite places in Boulder. :)

The hike itself was up Gregory Canyon to Green and back again. The weather was actually nice in Boulder..but the divide was still socked in the clouds.

Not quite the weekend I planned, but enjoyable. The nice thing about living in the Boulder area is that even the local hikes are fun, challenging and offer a good experience in the outdoors.

Not too bad...

August 9th - Deer Mountain, RMNP

Deer Mountain is one of my favorite "view to effort" ratio hikes. A wonderful hike that is fairly easy, but with great views even from the trail head! The hike features great views of Longs Peak, the Mummy Range and the continental divide.

View of Longs

Not wanting to do anything too epic, I decided to do this hike with a friend.

It was relaxing, enjoyable and we had a rather nice picnic on the summit. Watch out for aggressive chipmunks if you do go, though. Man..were they fearless!



And Sunday? Celebrated Avery's second birthday.

A rare weekend where I took it easy. Rather enjoyable. Next weekend I'll make up for it, however. :)

August 2nd and 3rd - Indian Peaks Wilderness backpack

There are some places in the mountains that I've returned to many times. Places that are beautiful and stunning and always seems to call out to me.

Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire. The Wind River Range in Wyoming. The canyon country of Utah.

All places that are far from my current home. Places the require travel time and often vacation time.

But there is one place near my home that I always return. A place that is full of alpine views and lakes. Abundance of wildflowers in the summer and golden leafed aspen in the autumn. This place is in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Or more specifically a two pass loop that encompasses going over to the Continental Divide and continuing on to the remote feeling Western side of the Indian Peaks.

After the enjoyable, if hectic, social backpack of last weekend, I again needed a "real" backpacking trip. More hiking and less camping. A chance to walk all day and really feel immersed in the mountains I love.

Originally, I was going to make this trip a solo one. However, I received an e-mail from d-low and he expressed interest in the trip. As it is one of my favorite loops, and one I love to share, I readily accepted the company of Wendy and d-low for the weekend.

The hike started on an already sultry Saturday morning in Boulder. I was glad to leave town and head into the mountains where it would be cooler.

The three of us drove to the already busy Brainard Lake recreation area and started our hike.

The hike to Lake Isabelle (with its commanding view of the divide and Isabelle Glacier) is a very popular one. It is easy to see why. With Gazing across the lake, looking at the divide with its permanent snowfield it looks like EXHIBIT A from an example of Colorado hiking. Simply stunning. It is an easy hike in as well.

We continued up the trail to the equally popular Pawnee Pass on the Continental Divide. The view is dramatic to say the least. Looking west, you see mountains that call out to be climbed and explored.

We enjoyed the view for a bit and climbed down the pass. We could see our lunch destination at Pawnee Lake.

Once on the western side of the divide. The crowds thinned out..and the wildflowers could not be believed. Bright reds and purples. Blue columbines everywhere. With all the snow in the mountains this year, the wildflower display we saw was beyond memorable.

The hike continued in this vein; much to our delight.

After a bit, we came to Cascade Falls. The rushing and cool water and the dramatic sights and sounds proved too good to pass up. We enjoyed sitting by the water and taking in the raw power of the falls.

After hiking a bit more, we came to the confluence of two creeks and spied a wonderful camspite down in the valley. It was sheltered by the trees and had a good view to the ridge above us. A small campfire, with a bit of wine, proved a great way to end the day.

The following morning we continued to make our way up to Buchanan Pass on the Continental Divide. The area is very remote feeling. No was around and we could see no sign of "civilization".

Fox Park proved to be stunning with fields of wildflowers and the ridge of the Continental Divide above us.

On top of Buchanan Pass, I enjoyed the views West and the solitude while waiting for Wendy and d-low. I knew once we crossed over to the Eastern side, the hike would change. Still gorgeous, but a bit more people. I always find it fascinating how the Continental Divide parts now only the waters, but the people as well. On one side is developed parking lots and many people flocking from town to enjoy the mountains. On other side, I can gaze to the mountains and see no around. Just me, the sound of the wind and the stark looking peaks.

We continued our climb down and made it Coney Flats where we had lunch. The distinctive view of Sawtooth was seen. I could see the pass from where we just hiked. I was reminded of my many ski tours in this area with this exact view. The warm sun reminded me it was August and not January, however!

After a bit, we started our climb up to the shoulder of the 13k+ ft Audubon. Unfortunately, I reached the high point of the shoulder just as a thunder and lightning storm moved in for the afternoon.

Normally, I wait at junctions for my friends. In this case, I made a quick beeline to the trees. The above tree line stretch was short..but I did not want to hang around too long!

Going down the trail, I had one last view towards the mountains. A reminder of what is waiting for me on future weekends.

I made it to the trailhead just as a monsoon (or so it seemed) moved in. Luckily, the thick tree cover kept me dry as I waited for Wendy and d-low. I had a little wine to help pass the time, too.

Once my friends showed up, we made our way to the car. Another weekend was finished. Another weekend spent in the mountains. Another weekend spent in a place I love.

All the photos

Ten Years Ago today...

Ten years ago today, I reached the summit of Katahdin after five months on the Appalachian Trail.

Ten years later, the experiences and effects from my time on the trail are very much part of my life. A desire for simplicity. A desire for living life that makes me content. A desire to have all aspects of my life be as fulfilling as the walk I took ten years ago. A high goal to strive for; but a gold worth working at.

Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail was also what gave me the chutzpah to pack up my belongings and start a new life in Colorado. If I had stayed in Rhode Island, I doubt my life would be as satisfying and enjoyable as it is now.

Taking that first step from Springer Mountain and following the white blazes led not only to Katahdin, but also to my current life.