Twig Adventures

Thursday, September 19th, 2024CO 14ers: 39 & 40 of 53Distance RT: 18Elevation gain/loss: 6,700′Starting Elevation: 10,350Summits: 14,021′ & 14,318′Rank: 49 & 6 of 53Location: San Juan Mountains, outside Lake CityRoute: 0.7 miles before Matterhorn Creek Trailhead to Wetterhorn Southeast Ridge (Standard Route, Class 3), back down and across basins (red line) to Uncompahgre South Ridge (Class 2), retrace steps to Matterhorn basin and car. This was my 8th time (not including my triples) hiking two 14er’s in one day. But it was by far the longest I’ve had to hike to connect 2 peaks. Once again, I didn’t set out planning to hike both, then a half day turned into a very full one! To be exact, 18 miles, as[…]

Wednesday, September 18th, 2024CO 14ers: 36, 37 & 38 of 53Distance RT Redcloud/Sunshine: 12.3 milesDistance RT Handies: 7.5 milesElevation gain/loss: 4,800′ & 2700’/3700Starting Elevations: 10,400′ & 11,300Summits: 14,037′, 14,004′ & 14,058′Rank: 45, 53 & 39 of 53Location: San Juan Mountains, outside Lake CityRoute 1: Sunshine Peak via Redcloud Peak via Northeast Ridge (R1 to S1, returning same way to Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch TH, Class 2)Route 2: Handies Peak via Southwest Slopes 1 from lower American Basin TH (Class 1), then down the East Slopes 2 to Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch TH (Class 2) In days the preceding, Alex and I drove to Lake City, where we met up with Alan and several other CDT/CT hikers. We split a cabin and had[…]

In between 14ers, I went to CDT SOBO Trail Daze in Leadville, held appropriately on Friday the 13th. This was the event’s 5th year, but I wasn’t able to attend while hiking the CDT SOBO in 2019, as I was already somewhere in NM. There were a lot of Trail Day events that hadn’t fit into my SOBO hiker plans, so in the past 2 years, I’d made a special effort to finally go to the 2 big ones: AT and PCT Trail Days. Thus, while I was already in CO and had wheels, I wasn’t about to miss this one. What a contrast! As opposed to thousands of attendees and hundreds of vendors, this cute little gathering had about[…]

Tuesday, September 10th, 2024CO 14ers: 34 of 53Distance RT: 7 milesElevation gain/loss: 4000′Starting Elevation: 8,900′Summit: 14,200′ Rank: 19 of 53Location: Sawatch Range, near Buena VistaRoute: East Slopes, Class 2 Mt Princeton is a massive and attention-commanding peak. It had been on my short list for a long time… I actually can’t believe it took me so long to finally hike it. I’d been staring at it since I was a little kid, on my way to ski at Monarch. My family also went to the hot springs at its base on numerous occasions. I remember being mesmerized by it’s prominence. I guess I simply saved the best of the Collegiates for last. I ‘car-rested’ at the trailhead overnight, which was[…]

Monday, September 9th, 2024CO 14ers: 31, 32, & 33 of 53Distance RT: 16.5 milesElevation gain/loss: 7460′Starting Elevation: 9,650′Summit: 14,202′, 14,158′, & 14,071Rank: 18, 25 & 35 of 53Location: Sawatch Range, near WinfieldRoute: Missouri Gulch Trailhead to Mt Belford (Northwest Ridge B1), Mt Oxford via Mt Belford (O1), back to Mt Belford junction, Southwest Slopes (B3), then up and down Northwest Ridge of Missouri Mountain (M1), then back through the valley to Missouri Gulch Trailhead, Class 2 In the morning, I bid a quick farewell to Alan. He was still in his tent as I pulled away…lazy thru-hiker. Haha, just kidding. I always enjoying giving him a hard time, but he’s a pretty good thru-hiker, despite my distractions. I had to[…]

Sunday, September 8th, 2024CO 14ers: 30 of 53Distance RT: 12 milesElevation gain/loss: 4100′Starting Elevation: 10,300′Summit: 14,006′ Rank: 52 of 53Location: Sawatch Range, near WinfieldRoute: Lulu Gulch to Middle Mountain to Browns Peak to Huron Peak (North Ridge #3), then back down Standard Route (Northwest Slopes #1), Class 2Companion: Alan We set off directly from our dispersed camping spot in the morning. Alan left most of his stuff in my car again, planning to day hike to the summit. The CDT and CT also pass through this valley, between Hope and Lake Ann Passes. I went right by these mountains twice on my thru hikes, on too tight of a schedule to bag peaks. Not Alan…he had all the time in[…]

Saturday, September 7th, 2024CO 14ers: 29 of 53Distance RT: 10.5 milesElevation gain/loss: 4700′Starting Elevation: 10,000′Summit: 14,344′ Rank: 5 of 53Location: Sawatch Range, west of Twin LakesRoute: Northwest Ridge (route #1), Class 2Companion: Alan I hiker-napped Alan again and made him go over another 14er. He came along pretty willingly, I’d say. He’d just summited CO’s highest peak, Mt. Elbert, the day before, so I think he appreciated the extra challenge of adding more 14ers to his list. La Plata was his 4th in Colorado. This was in lieu of going over the much easier Hope Pass, which is the official CDT route. I offered to slack-pack him, since there was a thru-route going over La Plata, which connected back to[…]

Friday, September 6th, 2024, 0500-1200CO 14ers: 27 & 28 Distance RT: 8 miles (not including the 5 miles I got a ride down…which I still later added on with my hike at Independence pass)Elevation gain/loss: 4600′Starting Elevation: 9,850′Summits: 14,274′ & 14,037′Rank: 10 & *45-46 of 53 *Conundrum doesn’t technically meet the 300′ prominence standard to be considered a separate peak, but I’ve included it in my count as its prominence is 225’…close enough!Location: Elk Mountains, south of AspenRoute: (Route #1 & COMBO), Difficult Class #2 After spending some time in Leadville and Aspen the day before, I car-camped along Castle creek, ready for an early start. Incidentally, this was the first time I drove all the way over Independence Pass[…]

Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, 1700-2000CO 14ers: 26 of 53Distance RT: 4.5 milesElevation gain/loss: 2150′Starting Elevation: 12,000′Summit: 14,043′ Rank: 43 of 53Location: Mosquito Range, east of LeadvilleRoute: Iowa Gulch Trailhead, West slopes (route #2), Class 1Companion: Alan I took a long hiatus from 14ers. The last one I’d hiked was in 2022, when I joined my awesome PCT friend Suvi/Spacegoat for a section hike on the CDT. She was thru-hiking and it was a great honor to summit the highpoint of the trail together: Grays Peak. I continued to hike all the way to Leadville with her, and we had such a great time! Grays was a repeat peak for me (1st summited in 2019 when I was thru-hiking the CDT),[…]