The Indian Peaks Wilderness is an area that I (surprisingly) just haven’t spent much time in during my mountaineering wanderings. This is in spite of the fact that I, A) Went to CU, a mere stone’s throw away, and B) Lived in Westminster for years. I guess I always had other objectives in mind during both other phases of life. Go figure. Keep Reading…
The La Plata Mountains are a small subrange of the San Juans that reside in the far southwest corner of Colorado northeast of Mancos. A handful of craggy peaks make up the bulk of this small range, a majority of which can be explored in just a few days time. The mountains are named after the silver deposits discovered there by the Spanish exploration of the region in the mid-1700’s. As one of the farthest away sets of thirteeners from my house, I’d always wanted to get down there to check them out but it’d been a long time coming. Finally this year was the year, and I found myself making the long drive down there from the Vail Valley over the 4th of July weekend. Read more…
There’s not much to say that I haven’t already said about the San Juan Solstice. It’s got it all – incredible aesthetics and scenery, an acumen of being a well-run event thanks to a very dedicated race director, and the lure of the San Juans and the sleepy little town known as Lake City. Being into it’s 31st year now it’s as time-tested as races come. And even beyond all that for me personally, it’s got the nostalgia factor as this would be my 5th running of the Solstice dating back to 2017. Keep Reading…
Down to just a few weeks left until the San Juan Solstice, it was time to get out there for the final long run before the race. I’ve tried to stick to a general theme during training of finding scenic routes (ideally loops) in places bikes can’t go. On that note, I’d long wanted to head north to check out the Flat Tops Wilderness and its extensive trail system which seemed like it could fit the bill. I ran the idea past Dylan and as a big Flat Tops fan himself, he was instantly sold. Keep Reading…