Twig Adventures

2022 Year In Review

I wanted to do recap of all my hiking in 2022, which is something I should’ve been doing since I started this blog in 2017. Maybe I’ll do some back-posts over the next winter season to cover years 2017-2021. I like collecting stats in one tidy place. Call it ego or whatever, really I just want to keep track of everything for personal reflections. 2022 was a pretty busy year! I thru-hiked one specialty route, the Mogollon Rim Trail (MRT, courtesy of Brett Tucker and Melissa Spencer) and also one official National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT). These 2 thru-hikes were quite different from each other and afforded a very wide array of habitats, conditions, and experiences. They[…]

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CDT/CT Bonus 2022: Grays Peak, Argentine Spine, & Searle and Kokomo Passes to Leadville.

September 15-20, Thursday- MondayDay 1: Hermit Gulch TH to Grays and Torreys TH, 6.7 miles, 1600′ gain, Elevation 11,245′Day 2: Grays and Torreys TH to Webster Pass, 17.5 miles, 7100′ gain, 6500′ loss, Elevation 11,500′Day 3: Webster Pass to bench near Blair Witch Trail, just before Breckenridge, 24 miles, 3900′ gain, 6300′ lossDay 4: 5 miles into Breckenridge on the road, then 1 mile outside of Copper Mt ski resort.Day 5: Copper Mt to Tennessee Pass, 22 miles, 4000′ gain, 3700′ lossDay 6: Leadville to Denver via car This is trip report of a hike I did with my friend Suvi, who I first met on the PCT in 2018. This year she was hiking the CDT southbound. My pit-stop[…]

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#11 of 20: Mt. Yale 14,196′ & Trail Angels on the CT/CDT

06:30-13:00, Sunday, 8-02-20 CO 14ers: 16 of 53 Distance RT: 10 miles Elevation gain/loss: 5,000′ Starting Elevation: 9,400′ Summit: 14,196′ Rank: 21 of 53 Location: Sawatch Range, Collegiate Peaks, west of Buena Vista Route: Avalanche Trailhead, north on CT, up East Ridge, down Southwest Slopes to Denny Creek Trailhead/HWY 306, Class 2. I was feeling pretty good after our marathon of 5 14ers in 2 days, that is until the 3rd day. Then I felt like this: After Bierstadt and Evans, we decided to head for Buena Vista for the night. The plan was to hike one of the Collegiate Peaks the next day. After dinner and a night tenting at a KOA, none of us were too excited about[…]

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2020 Colorado Trail Segments 4-7 & Tramily Reunions

Before I get back to the 14er’s, I wanted to provide some highlights from a section hike of the Colorado Trail and reunions with Tramily members. Here’s a quick summary of the hike: July 18-21, 2020 CT Sections 4-7 (Bailey to Copper Mountain) Miles: 66 To start this hike, I got a ride from my cousin’s house in Denver to the beginning of CT segment 4 at Rolling Creek Trailhead, outside of Bailey, CO. I was meeting up with my friend YoYo on the Trail, who had come to Colorado to finish the CT. I’d first met him back in 2017, the very first day on the CT. We’d hiked together off and on all the way to Twin Lakes.[…]

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#3 & #4 of 20: Mt. Shavano 14,229′ & Tabeguache Peak 14,155′

06:00-13:00, Sunday, 6-14-20 CO 14ers: 8 & 9 of 53 Distance RT: 11 miles Elevation gain/loss: 5,600′ Starting Elevation: 9,750′ Summits: 14,229′ & 14,155′ Rank: 17 & 25 of 53 Location: Sawatch Range, Collegiate Peaks, north of Salida Route: Shavano East Slopes then 1 mile ridge hike to Tabeguache, Class 2 Companion: Wind Photos from 14ers.com Suddenly peak-bagging had become a thing I was doing this summer (for various complicated and sad reasons I explained in an earlier blog). Achieving these feats was the positive measure I needed in my life at this time. A short-term goal and focus. A big reward. 14ers.com had become my new shopping list. It’s a webpage outlining all the routes and details of climbing[…]

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Colorado Trail, Week 5, Collegiate West Section, Monarch Pass to Twin Lakes, Segments CW5-1

Day 1: August 18th, 2017, Monarch Pass to abandoned road camp, 11.5 miles, Segment CW5-4. Less that a week after finishing the trail with PBR and Sofie, I was anxious to hike the Collegiate West section that we had missed in lieu of doing the East. Hiking these extra miles would also kind of make up for having missed CT segments 7 and 21 (both of which I’ve since completed as part of the CDT). My companions had flights home but I had another week to kill. Plus, the weather looked spectacular over the next 5 days, with little to no rain! I decided to go NOBO (northbound) on this section, so I started about 5 miles from the end[…]

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Colorado Trail, Week 4, Part 2, Molas Pass to Durango, Segments 25-28

Day 28: August 9th, Molas Pass to Cascade Creek, 15 miles, Segment 25. We enjoyed the town visit but were anxious to get back on the trail early the next day. Partly because the hostel and town weren’t all that great but also because we only had 3-4 more days before we were finished! As a bonus, the weather forecast showed a little bit of a break from rain over the next few days. Let’s hit it! My companions were very ready for this trail to be done with, but I was grappling with mixed feelings. I was really enjoying myself and didn’t want it to end. I came to terms with this by telling myself I could hike the[…]

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Colorado Trail, Week 4, Part 1, Lake City/Spring Creek Pass to Molas Pass/Silverton, Segments 22-24

Day 24: August 5th, 2017, Lake City/Spring Creek Pass to Colorado Trail Friends Yurt, 9 miles, Segment 22. Thus began our last week, a full-on assault of the San Juans…or was the assault on us? We were none too eager to get back on trail after drying off in Lake City, so we compromised by booking spots at a yurt. We read in our trail notes that it was along the route, only about 9 miles into Seg 22. During breakfast, Sofie sent an email inquiring if we could book the yurt same-day. To our amazement, the manager responded right away and said there was room for us. $20 a night per person, sold. We made reservations for 4—us plus[…]

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Colorado Trail, Week 3, HWY 50 to Creede/Lake City, Segments 15-20

Day 19: July 31st, HWY 50 to Silver Creek, 18.3 miles, Segments 15-16. It’s Monday, so back to work! We had a great stay at my parent’s but were eager to hit the trail again. We started off on a very positive note. On the drive up the Arkansas River canyon, we spotted a herd of bighorn sheep. These herds are closely monitored, as they are a species of concern. We were close enough to see that several sheep were sporting tracking collars…which didn’t appear very ultralight or comfortable. Another surprise came as were were driving to the trailhead. We spotted a BAM! We all screamed his name, nearly causing my dad to veer off the road. We had last[…]

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Colorado Trail, Week 2, Part 2, Twin Lakes to HWY 50, Segments 11-14

Day 12: July 24th, Twin Lakes to Clear Creek, 12 miles, Segment 11. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to accept a ride from Matt to travel around the lakes. It’s mostly a long, hot road-walk. Yes, it was cheating but I wasn’t yet into the continuous footpath tradition of thru-hiking…it became my style later on. Mt Elbert and Mt Massive can be seen in the background. PBR, Sofie and I picked up the trail on the south-eastern shore, quickly coming to the intersection of the Collegiate West and East routes. We decided to take a side-trip of about a mile to visit the Interlaken Resort. A historic point along the trail, this was a ritzy resort in the late[…]

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