Gerry Roach describes the South Ridge route on Meeker as “one of Colorado’s finest tours” that is seldom done due to its length. He goes on to say that after decades of mountaineering, this mountain remains one of his favorite places. With that paragraph and a willing climbing partner in Andrew, I already had both feet out the door. We set out from the Copeland Lake TH in Wild Basin at about 4 AM. Keep reading…
The last time Rick, Mike and I got together in Rocky Mountain National Park before this trip was a 17 hour epic on the Kiener’s Route on Longs. The climb was “as advertised” and for me, one of the better days I’ve ever experienced in the hills. I remember the bacon bleu burger from Southern Sun like it was yesterday. Fast forward to the summer of 2012 and we found ourselves plotting another masochistic stroll through the park. Ben and I had done 80 to 90% of the “Glacier Gorge Traverse” (depending on who you are talking to) from Chief’s Head to Taylor the summer before. Keep reading…
About 6 months ago Dana called me up from the other side of the continent with this idea of a trip to Half Dome in the works. He wanted to know if I would be interested in coming along and I said, “For sure”. A month later, plans had changed and the crew was now considering the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Keep reading…
Rocky Mountain National Park is a region of contrasts. Its boundary is home to many ridge runs, including, but not limited to, the Mummy Mania, Cloud Traverse in the Never Summers, the frighteningly loose Mahler to Nokhu Crags, a 12er fest along the Continental Divide from Ida to Terrah Tomah, Elk Tooth to Ogallala and the Grand Slam around the Longs Massif. Each of these have their own unique characteristic and they all make life feasible for those insatiable peak baggers who find solace on narrow knife edges, deep in the heart of the range. Keep reading…