Twig Adventures

My Adventures blog

Daily Adventures on the trail

Mt Belford, Mt Oxford, and Missouri Mountain

14ers

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[…]

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Huron Peak

14ers

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[…]

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La Plata Peak

14ers

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[…]

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Castle & Conundrum Peaks

14ers

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[…]

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Mt. Sherman

14ers

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),[…]

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Uinta Highline Trail

Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes, Uinta Highline Trail

Uinta Highline Trail, Leidy Peak to Hayden Pass, Aug 25th-29th. 80 miles. This was the 5th mountain range and 3rd state in my impromptu short hike summer tour (Tetons, Gros Ventre, Wind River Range, Sawtooths, Uintas). I actually planned this hike for my 2023 season finale, but ended up going back to the Grand Canyon to finish the Hayduke instead. So I was really excited for the chance to finally do this hike, as it had been on my list for quite some time. The logistics in getting to the start fell into place perfectly. I utilized the very awesome and affordable Salt Lake Express shuttle to get from Logan to Vernal. Both shuttle segments were on time and had[…]

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Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

The Sawtooth Mountains were the 4th mountain range of my 5 range / 3 state impromptu summer tour, after I pivoted from the GDT due to the wildfires. This 30 mile hike came about because Woody wanted to do a short trip right before he started teaching again. Recall that he was one of my hiking buddies that I met up with at the beginning of July, to begin the GDT. When the fires shut us down, he flew back to Utah and I started working my way south to keep on hiking. He was hankering for some more hiking before the summer’s end, but unfortunately wasn’t able to join Strider and I for the Wind River High Route. On[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 2

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes, Wind River High Route

WRHR NOBO Day 1, Saturday, Aug 10th, 2024, Big Sandy trailhead to Big Sandy Lake west end, 5 miles, Elevation 9700′. I felt a bit defeated after our first attempt at the High Route, but better about our chances on our second go-around. Approaching the the route from the south allowed for more bailout points at the beginning. At first we were just going to do the Cirque of Towers circuit, but then we decided to try for the rest, wx forecast be damned. We brought about 6 days of food and hoped for the best. The biggest challenge was getting to the Big Sandy trailhead, which was almost a 2 hour drive one way. Incredibly, a Florida friend saw[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 1

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes, Wind River High Route

We managed a quick turn-around in Pinedale, gathering enough food for about 6 days, as we planned to do the Alan Dixon version of the high route. We briefly considered the Andrew Skurka version, but it looked like a more difficult route than we wanted to take on. Plus, we were already in Pinedale, so our options were limited to the two trailheads on the western side of the range: Green River and Big Sandy. These are the 2 start/end points of the AD route. Getting to either trailhead is a daunting task, as I already knew from hitching to and from Green River while on the the CDT. But we figured we could swing it. We also had our[…]

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Jackson Hole & the Gros Ventre Wilderness

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

We spent a day in Jackson Hole hanging out with other hikers and getting a taste of the town. First we made a visit to REI and Safeway for some provisions. My shoes were pretty shot, but instead of getting new ones (which I couldn’t anyway because no store carries Altra Superiors), I got Superfeet inserts. These actually did the trick in giving me a little more support and cushioning for the remainder of the summer. We met several CDT hikers at the Safeway, then got a ride over to the rec center. We’d determined the cheapest way to enjoy quality time in town was to buy a day pass for $15. So we spent the afternoon taking showers, hanging[…]

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