We were lucky enough to get to see Chris’s daughter, my step-daughter, who is such an amazing young lady, and take her up her first 14er at 14 years old. Although time was limited, we made the most of it as you have to do in this life! We did a bit of shopping to ensure she had the appropriate shoes and clothing.
We awoke early and made it to the trailhead. I wasn’t sure how Elsa would react to the the elevation as she was only two days in coming from sea level. Well, she rocked the hike, charging it! When we first started, we were excited to see a bull moose taking a morning dip in the lake.
This is my second ascent of Mt. Bierstadt, but it’s such a great first timer 14er so we chose this one. After seeing how Elsa dominated this hike with speed and agility, we retrospectively could have chosen something more challenging, but now we know for the future!
Just like the last time I did Bierstadt in 2016 or 2017? It was crowded! So many people on this 14er, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely, enjoying the wildlife along the way. Moose and then a sweet mountain goat again! Super cool.
After summiting, we started the descent down, and before we knew it we were back at the trailhead and our rental car. We decided to grab lunch in Idaho Springs, at one of our favorites, Tommyknockers for the Jalapeño Burger. We ended the day with Elsa relaxing, then went bowling and played putt-putt. This was such a fun and special ending to our Colorado 14er little vacation. See you sooner than later, colorful Colorado! Keep on adventuring!
When we had arrived in Ouray, we’re discussing other 14ers post completion of Sneffels, and discussing our pathetic rental car for these purposes, CK thought of a fun add on, Uncompahgre Peak. We knew it was close by but our preparations were primarily focused on Sneffels and getting to bed. Being an area that is known for off-roading adventures, there was a Jeep daily rental place just in town. I called and it seemed they had one opening and we secured it, ensuring early pick up for early start the day after Sneffels. Only after quick transaction came the reality of you can’t get there from here. So close but so far away. So we listened to the universe, and decided to give some off roading a chance. Although I was bummed about not doing another 14er, the universe said there were different plans on this day.
We started off near the Yankee Boy Basin just out of Ouray and began exploring Imogene Pass, https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/imogene-pass which is the second highest driving pass in CO. We started where there was a group of friends from all over and they let us tag along which we did sometimes on the journey but sometimes made our own way. The Jeep was actually quite nice, and with CK behind the wheel we navigated some of the narrows of this trail.
There was a cool old mining area to scope out and one that still seemed semi active. Being surrounded by all this beauty was nice and we enjoyed ourselves more than we expected. The pass led us to the iconic town of Telluride, where we stopped and had lunch.
Oh Telluride, you also have a special place in my heart. Looking forward to spending longer amounts of time here on some upcoming adventures. It’s just such a great town and the views are incredible. We made our way onto Ophir Pass, https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/ophir-pass which there was an area that made our hearts beat a bit faster.
It could have been that we saw a car had fallen deep into the slick talus, or just the narrow road with the slick talus, but I was happy when we were off that exposed cliffside. Otherwise, it was pretty easy at the end and we headed back to Ouray, washing the black jeep off and refueling before returning. Our day of Jeep off roading was quite enjoyable, and something I had never really enjoyed, so it was nice to switch it up and enjoy, even though it was not our original plan.
When we returned, we had another surprise for our original plans to reorganize. CK had received a text that his daughter, Elsa would be in Colorado Thurs-Sun morning. So instead of sticking with our original plan to visit with Jason, Alison and Sky in Avon for hiking and tubing down the Colorado River, we quickly reverted to finding lodging and switching up logistics. We started the next day by keeping our interim reservation in Glenwood Springs, and then got up early the next morning to head back down to the Front Range so we could spend much desired time with Elsa. Stay tuned to the next segment- Elsa’s first 14er adventure!
We checked out of our Airbnb ranch, and started the drive through the unique geological formations from Buena Vista to Ouray, CO. Geology is really quite amazing, and we stopped along the way to soak it in. Click on the photos to read about these formations, or you can skip it, but your miss!
One thing I haven’t written much about is well, the cuisine of our trip. It’s hard for my husband or myself to say no to green chili, and for me any Mexican cuisine. Therefore, our diets were not exactly catered to hiking. We stopped at some random place in Montrose for lunch and ate more Authentic Mexican, smothered in of course, green chili. I didn’t take many food pictures on this trip. Perhaps out of shame of how much I consumed, but I can assure you, all the food was delicious, and sometimes necessary.
We arrived in Ouray, after a typical CO summertime road construction delay, and checked into our Airbnb. This was such a conveniently located location in town but off the main road. We decided to scope town out and stretch our legs, as well as grab any additional provisions for the next day’s hike.
We were on our way to try Mt. Sneffels (14,157 ft)early the next morning! I had Chris drive our rental car, and I didn’t snap a photo as it was dark, but we saw a bear on the drive in. So cool- it set the tone for the day. Our car didn’t make it far past the 2WD area, but the rocky road there is a four wheeling road, so if you have the clearance this hike can just be very short and steep. The walk into Yankee Boy Basin is pretty awe inspiring though before you reach the rock.
There is no denying the beauty of this hike, but as with many 14ers, there is quite a bit of scree to manage, which I found to be the most ‘unsettling part’. The class 3 part was indeed the best just prior to the summit. I don’t have many pictures of the scree, because I was not focused on anything but ensuring any rock I touched, I knew it’s position (strongly stable, stable, medium stable, not stable, watch out that thing is falling). I can say I experienced each of these types of rocks on this climb, sometimes in precarious feeling positions. The focus was deliberate and intense. This is why I do these types of mental and physical challenges. You put yourself in a situation, where you know you need to calculate your movements pretty accurately, or there could be a negative consequence. This is what thrills me to continue my goals and journeys of being a mountaineer in this life. It’s about making your own risk assessment for what works best for you combined with knowledge of the mountain and it’s history, trip reports and other beta (thank you 14ers.com!).
Once we got to infamous V notch, I was really impressed with a couple who had hiked near us for most of the climb up the scree and gully, when the female told me she wouldn’t summit as she was afraid of heights. I was impressed she and her pup had managed the difficult scree which for me was way more difficult.
We made it through the infamous V notch with ease, and up to the summit we went. I almost signed the dogs name into the summit book, but refrained as I thought the doggie daddy could make that decision. The views from this summit are nothing short of spectacular alpine deliciousness.
And then the fun part of the hike if you are talking mental challenge. Descending the scree would be so much easier in the winter with snow and glissading! Instead it was a repeat of ascending with the song Slip Sliding Away playing in my head the entire time. We met a couple on the descent, and I didn’t quite understand where they had come from. Turned out they took the Ridge route and had to bail due to difficulty. Finally, (CK was far ahead of slothy me at this point) I made it down to him, and we were on stable ground again. The walk out was longer than I remember coming in. Funny how that always happens! Victory once we got back to the rental and heading back to Ouray. It was an odd time of day so food options were limited. We found an open spot, and this time I had a burger and onion rings. My body definitely needed it! Our next adventure lay before us- miscalculation in our minds to get to the 14er Uncompahgre trail head from Ouray, turned into a day of Jeepin’ the backroads to Telluride! Adventure on!
Reuniting with friends- is there anything quite like it? Definitely friends who have known each other for a very long time and can pick back up seamlessly even though you haven’t regularly spoken in a long while. That is a very special vibration of life. Life can also bring surprises in a great way. We were going through the small town of BV post lunch and saw our friends DPO were playing. Although we knew we had company and couldn’t catch their show we did get to eat dinner with them and catch up on life. Always a pleasure to see friends even if it’s just a short visit.
We spent Saturday evening catching up, playing games, watching the stars, and laughing. Sunday, sadly Jason, Alison, and Sky had to leave and get back to Boulder for work and school. After we had a great breakfast, we said our “until we see you on this trip later” farewells. As the weather was forecasted to be potential storms in the afternoon, we decided to make it a lazy Sunday and the forecast for Huron looked great for Monday. We headed to Salida, played in the river, shopped around and stocked up on supplies for Sarah and Ebin’s first 14er experience!
We left the house at 6am to ensure we got hiking by 7am. Due to a headache with Hertz rental car when we arrived (a sea of unhappy folks and a 2 hour wait), and the entire Seinfeld reference of “you know how to take a reservation you just don’t know how to hold a reservation, which is the most important part.” This meant instead of a proper 4WD or AWD vehicle, we had some dumpy Equinox Chevy SUV which was hardly an SUV, therefore we were forced to park at 2WD TH, adding distance up the road. We started out on our adventure, which ended up clocking in around 10.5-11 miles depending on device and 3600+ elevation gain.
Huron is a beautiful peak, we took it slow and saw marmots and wildflowers still along the way. We didn’t expect the best part though (minus all in our party safely summiting) and that was an awesome mountain goat to greet us at the top!
After we descended, and finally got back to our car, we were on to food and relaxing! Eating at a farm to table eatery that was still there we filled ourselves and then headed back for the last night at the ranch.
Chris and I had not made lodging arrangements, but decided to head to one of our favorite places in CO, Ouray, and challenge ourselves with an attempt at my first class 3 14er, Mt. Sneffels. Lodging reservations were complete. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and laughing with Sarah and Ebin, then started our road trip the next day. Stay tuned for the next 14er adventure- Mt. Sneffels!
Someone was going to turn 40, and it was time to get back to Colorado, where my husband has spent most of his life. I was fortunate enough that his childhood best friends and other friends could join us. I found an Airbnb just outside of Buena Vista at the base of Mount Princeton with gorgeous views with an Alpenglow each morning.
I was curious how my body would adjust to hiking at altitude. The weather was quite rainy the day we arrived, so we did a test hike of Ptarmigan lake trail.
It felt pretty good, so the next day while Chris and Jason went rafting, I decided to attempt my second solo 14er. I debated which 14er I wanted to try. There were many options available, but I decided to try Mt. Belford. It was a test to begin with in the trip for how my body would react to steep elevation gain at altitude, as the hike is 8 miles with 4500+ ft of gain. I had my Garmin In-Reach, tons of hydration and snacks, and off I went while friends rafted the Arkansas River, and some hung at the Airbnb ranch.
I started Belford a little later than intended, and began hiking around 7:00am. I met up with some folks that lived in Denver, and they made me start mentally doubting my choice. “You’re doing Belford, ugh, that’s a horrible one up and down, especially from sea level”. Although I had the seed of doubt, I kept going for it, stopping and taking breaks as many times as my body told me to do so. I found the hike beautiful, and the trail so easy compared to the ADK. Once I turned the corner and could see the summit I felt so fulfilled with joy!
The walk out was so nice and easy! Although I know to complete the 14ers at sometime in this life, I will have to walk this way once again to grab Missouri and Oxford, so we’ve not seen the last of each other! Stay tuned for the next part of the Colorado adventure, Huron Peak…
Finding hiking openings to continue the journey to 46 presented some challenges from a scheduling perspective. When you have a goal, sometimes you are willing to sacrifice other things to make it happen! I had a work event which required a six hour + drive to make this a possibility, and I’m so happy this adventure included two bad ass wonderful ladies, Becky and Laura. Knowing I had a 3am wake up for travel on Monday 15 Aug, we started out from Saratoga super early, departing my casa at 2 am and began our 18+ mile journey at 3:45 am from Upper Works Trail System.
Beginning with headlamps, we kept a good pace for the hike in heading to Cliff first. Our strategy is always the same, knock the more technical/difficult out on fresh legs as long as you can! The journey up Cliff was a good adventure, unfortunately, the trek into the cliffs of “Cliff” were as advertised and we were in pretty decent ADK mud. We navigated our way up and reached the summit successfully. These two peaks have a somewhat of a negative reputation due to no summit views, but I found the views along the way to be very pleasant (sans bogs naturally).
We reached the summit after some tricky sections. There are some work arounds, which we did utilize due to the mud causing slightly sketchy conditions. However, we all managed just fine, and hit the summit of Cliff to check this peak off the list.
Descending was deliberate and careful. I always say, I can’t get out of an ADK high peak hiking day without a little blood, bruising, and of course mud. Cliff delivered all of this for me, and on to Redfield we went. These two peaks are herd paths, so not maintained, but pretty well defined.
Ahh, Redfield, a very pleasant but up and up you go beside a gorgeous river, that I dunked my head in. Tela would not have been able to manage Cliff, but she would have loved the hike up Redfield! Steep rocky terrain, with plenty of water all along the trail.
We finally hit the summit of Redfield and enjoyed a moment of refueling and celebration of our last peak of the day, now to descend and start the typical long ADK hike out!
And so, we completed our 13 hour day in time to be home at a reasonable hour, wrapping up August’s ADK high peak adventures for 2022 for me. Looking forward to the next challenges of exploring CO again this week and what adventures the next weeks will bring my way! Hike on, adventure on!
Life has been moving pretty fast, but I would be remiss not to reflect on these two adventures on my journey for all 46 peaks of the Adirondack Mountains in NY. Just a bit of an opening on how amazing this journey has been for me so far. It is a different type of hiking in the ADK than I have done before through other mountain ranges as it really is a full body experience with all the rock scrambles and the mental and physical endurance to manage these very long hikes.
On to the journey of the Seward Range 30 Jul 2022… when Becky and I planned on knocking this one out of the way, we were determined to knock the entire range off the list. Most sane folks break this up into two days, but we both work on a limited time schedule, and the Seward Range is a 2.5 hr drive from my house, 5 hours for Becky, so we didn’t not want to orphan anything. We are such great hiking partners and I am grateful for our synergies to get that early start set a time and meet it like we were Swiss, lol. We departed my house around 2:20 am, and off we went. There are two ways to do these four peaks in one day, but in research, I was worried about having the Seymour and Seward for last as I thought I may run out of gas as it’s a 20+mile hike, and over 6300 ft of elevation gain. So, we agreed we would tackle Seymour->Seward->Donaldson->Emmons. We begin our hike at 5am, had a moving time of 11:22 minutes with an overall time of 16 hours and 26 minutes. Needless to say, we started and ended with headlamps!
Going up Seymour the weather offered few views, we were pretty socked in with clouds. But it was Becky’s halfway point 23/46, so we were thrilled with that. We descended and then started our way to summit Seward.
Seward, ugh, I’m not even sure I have many photos of the trip up Seward because having a phone out was not really ideal. It is very steep, and I was extremely happy not to have to go down the mountain in this direction. I much rather climb up than down climb wet rock. This range is notorious for always being wet and muddy, no matter the weather forecast. We were pretty mentally ready for that, but we were not really ready for the bogs we encountered. One tried to eat Becky, which was really a scary moment. Like quicksand, except a hug bog of mud had trapped her leg! Thankfully, she able to escape undamaged minus being insanely muddy and changed her socks and on we continued. When we reached the summit it had started to lightly sprinkle, and we met other hikers who were only doing the 3 normal route (Donaldson, Emmons, Seward).
What is always a vote of “You can do this” is when you see a 70+ year old woman trucking up the mountain you are descending. I hope to be able to still rock these mountains as I age! I love seeing that. Talk about motivation!
Down Seward on the backside to Donaldson and Emmons we went. The bogs and mud were everywhere, there was no escape. It was surrender to the mucky-muck. I felt like I was navigating the Coventry Phish show sludge at that time except I was also navigating rock mantle moves on ledges and a trail that is all herd trails but quite remote. Becky and I reached Donaldson, which the sign was not available, and the sprinkles had stopped by this time. We pushed on to Emmons. We both knew it was long way that was ahead of us. So we continued to navigate ledges and other fun obstacles but did have a few views in route which were nice.
We were both mentally and physically feeling the challenge to get to Emmons, but made it for my 23/46 halfway there! And Becky’s 26/46 peak. Then we had to re-climb Donaldson to get back down. Oh the ADK, you have to get up to get down and sometimes more than once. I love your challenges, but not this mountain range! The third picture gives the sentiment of how we both felt during this one. The relentless bogs and mud, not desirable. We were so happy to have knocked this range out, unlikely to ever return again. I would not recommend to anyone not looking to complete their 46/46 journey.
Going down and the walk out was long. By the time the sun went down and we were in headlamps we were definitely like, c’mon man, when we were still hitting tons and tons of mucky trail. We finally completed and were exhausted!! My Strava app told me this was a “Historic Massive Effort”, and I was like, um, genau.
On to Giant and a first for this MS Warrior!
As we get closer to a trip to CO, with a plan to hike some 14’ers, staying in hiking shape will be key to deal with that excellent challenge of altitude to deal with. So for the first time in my life the day post infusion, thanks again for the medication, Chris, Tela and I embarked on something he wished- short and steep. The weather has been really hot and humid, so I was mentally prepping for the hike, my infusion side effects, and a desire to get down as early as possible to try to negate the heat.
We left our house at 3:20 am, and begin our hike up Giant mountain at 4:57 am. This is a mountain I will be hiking on the frequent post 46ers journey. It’s steep, short (6.22 miles) but the views are fantastic. I found it not challenging at all, despite dealing with my infusion side effects, and we were done quickly.
I think my soul also needing a cleansing after the Sewards Range.
Becky and I plan to tackle Redfield and Cliff next to knock those off our list. The puzzle is becoming more complete and the strength, confidence and character these mountains bring out of you are just amazing. Now 24/46, over halfway there, I can’t express my love for this challenge and the ADK wilderness. Happy trails and a wonderful summer!
Last weekend was infusion weekend, which means, nausea, migraine, but due to aligning of schedules, I decided to push myself a bit so I could have an always needed hiking adventure. ADK bound! Becky and Laura came on Saturday evening and we were in bed by 6pm. Thank you sleep medicine as we set out from my casa at 2:30am on Sunday 11 Jul, towards the ADK LOJ parking area. The goal for Becky and me was to summit 46ers- Algonquin, Iroquious and Wright. Laura had already checked off Wright, so she had agreed to kindly hang with Tela as the last 0.4 miles to the summit are steep granite scrambles.
I didn’t know what my body would manage but with great company and wilderness, it all worked out. We started out with headlamps, and watched the sun rise as we climbed. We gained some good elevation, and were on our way to the summit of the second highest peak in NY state, Algonquin.
Up and up we went and with the help of Becky and Laura, we navigated some challenges for Tela to ensure safety. Teamwork makes the dreamwork! Once we reached the summit of Algonquin, I could see why this is considered a favorite of others. I would absolutely hike this again when in top form. The open rock face of the summit, 360 views are just stunning. I was so proud of my 11 year old aging pup to rock this hike!
Next stop Boundary Peak, which is not actually one of the ADK 46ers, although it stands at 4,829 feet tall, it is considered a sub-summit of Iroquois. The trip over to Boundary was easy, there was some single path typical ADK mud up Iroquois. We made it and then had the Type II fun of going back up and over to once again reach the summit of Algonquin. By this time, we could see the line of folks coming out, so happy we had that first summit basically to ourselves. However, the summit is so vast you could easily have a crowd and seek your own solitude.
The decent down to the connection to Wright took a bit of time as the scrambles and rocks were steep. We made it successfully to the trail head and we as many others dropped our packs. Laura was an amazing sweetheart as always, kind enough to hang back with Tela and gave her rest, snacks and water and waited for Becky and I to get up to Wright and back. This hike was definitely too steep for Tela after hitting Algonquin, Boundary, Iroquois. So up Wright Becky and I went! Steep city! I was happy to be slack packing.
After descending Wright and meeting back up with Laura and Tela, we began our hike out. It was Becky’s 28th Phish Anniversary so we rocked a little Tweeprize for motivation. An awesome part of hiking from the ADK LOJ was that we were able to grab food to replenish at the Hungry Hiker. Tela chose ice cream, and some of my bacon cheeseburger. 19/46 complete on this journey! Love my hiking buddies and this vast wilderness to play in! Hike on Opt outside, push yourself!
This trip was going to be extra special. Becky had come up with an idea to do a traverse, which completely was brilliant as we both have to drive seperate cars to the ADK. We would leave one car just outside AMR at Roaring Brook Trail overnight and get an early start from the Garden Parking area.
We began hiking at 4:29 am. It was forecasted to be pretty warm, so I knew I had some personal challenges to overcome. Heat and MS= nothing good can come from this, add actively hiking, scrambling up granite, and gaining almost 5K of elevation… so I was mentally prepping. Focus. Hydration and refueling were key things to keep in mind throughout the journey.
So off we went on a Traverse from the garden, up Gothics cable route-> Pyramid Peak->Sawteeth-> Rainbow Falls->Indian Head then back out via Lake Road/AMR/ Roaring Creek to Becky’s car.
It’s funny what you recall and what you don’t. I had completely forgotten about all the ladders to Gothics. But we were reminded 😂. Pictured below was 1/3 of the section of ladder.
Of the 46ers I have summited thus far, my favorite one has been Gothics. However, we didn’t fully enjoy the famous cable route during our initial ascent, because we did Gothics a bit by ear, and had Tela with us, so she needed help. If you look in the second photo, that is me navigating this scramble with focus. So much fun and enjoyable! Up the cables we went and then veered towards Pyramid Peak.
Pyramid had fantastic views, as described, this peak does not disappoint!
Next stop Sawteeth! We managed some nice wet scrambles which were much easier descending than expected. Views along this traverse were pretty nice, and had quite of a bit of forest shade taboot!
Next stop as the day begin to get warmer was Rainbow Falls! We decided to soak our feet and refuel and put on fresh socks. Ahh, a little baptism of the feet. We had the waterfall all to ourselves with the exception of one couple. It was divine!
I dipped my head and wet my insect repellant headband, and off to our next stop, Indian Head we went. On the way there, we met a few younger ladies. One had a smaller identical colored Osprey backpack, headband and braid. Just as we parted, her friend told her, “that’s you in the future”. LMAO. I’m not sure if that was a compliment or insult, but yep, I’m 46, working on my 46er, and I feel just fine about that.
Indian Head did not disappoint! The picture is iconic for a reason.
We refueled and then began our descent. Becky turned and realized she had accidentally left her car keys in my car at the Garden (about 10 minutes away by car). We clocked in 15+ miles, but thankful that was all. Very thankful for Neil, the awesome ADK ranger at the AMR who gave us a lift back to my car at the Garden, we learned a lot in that 10 minutes. Support your rangers and the ADK! They save a lot of lives out there everyday! Another adventure in the books, with great company to ease the worries of the world right now. Peace, love and hike on!
It was going to be a big day! I didn’t know starting exactly how long that day would actually be though! We woke up at 4 am, and begin to hike around 5:15 am. We didn’t stop hiking until about 8:30pm..so 14 hours of hiking in the amazing wilderness of the ADK was simply perfection, exhausting, exhilarating, and a big self challenge, this one goes to 11! I knew Tela would not be suited for this journey, due to elevation gain (~7000ft) and length 18+ ADK miles.
We watched a bit of the sunrise on our walk in for my first time through the AMR. The hike up Colvin was slow to begin with, as I was really adjusting to my new pack and the extra weight. We made it to the windy summit, but hey, we therefore had no bugs or black flies abound, ate a sandwich, drank some electrolytes and took in the view we would get twice on this hike. Not a bad view to have to earn twice.
Next we began our way to Blake. Blake has a negative reputation as an ADK 46er. I found the trail to Blake nice as you can still have views around you. The summit however, compared with the other peaks we hiked this day offered no views.
The worst part of Blake, however is the fact you have to re-hike back up and over Colvin. What goes down, must go back up! Once we hit the summit of Colvin again, we refueled and took some Advil, and started our way to Nippletop.
Nippletop was one of the more technical peaks we did this date. It consisted of many steep rock scrambles, but we navigated the narrows and hit our (technically 4th summit of the day). We were at the summit eating and enjoy the amazing views, and heard a grandmother and her two grandchildren behind us. They had just came from Dial, where we were heading next. They were super kind, and we took each others photos, and we saw them again when we got to our cars at 830 that night!
After resting a bit on the summit, we made onward way to Dial. This was one of the easier hikes of the day, and I was happy we had chose the route we did to tackle these amazing peaks. We summited Dial with a victory selfie and started our descent out.
That indeed was a super long descent. It was a little up and down so just when you thought you should be lowering in elevation you would climb a bit. We finally hit Bear Den, but sadly saw no bears. Ahh the joy to our feet to arrive at Lake Rd no more rocks soft flat surfaces! Becky asked me if I had looked at the time lately, and I couldn’t believe when she told me it was 8pm. As we were heading out of the AMR gate and trail sign in, the ranger came out and talked with us, asking us basically what didn’t you hike today 😂. He commended us on a job well done, and we made it back to our cars. It was such a good feeling to be able to take my shoes off. When I arrived home, I was greeted with a meal at 10pm of steak, potatoes and brussels. Thank you to my dear husband!
14/46 complete. Our next adventure is on Sunday! Hike on! Opt outside, wilderness therapy for the win!
Adventures in this thing we call Life 