A couple years back Steve and I hatched a plan for a backpack into the Weminuche with the primary aim being to summit Jagged Mountain. Any idea of taking the train was dashed early on as neither of us really wanted to ride that thing again (it would have been my 5th time) and not long into the conversation we began talking about including other peaks to the northeast of Jagged which the train would have precluded. I had personally never been to Hunchback Pass or the Vallecito Creek drainage for that matter, and so an approach from the north via Beartown was thrown out there as an option and quickly became our primary access plan. Read more…
As I sit to write this post, two things are my mind. First, there is a lot of great beta on the Tenmile Traverse, including some excellent TR’s. I relied heavily on Steve Knapp’s, Anton Krupicka’s, and Geojed’s reports while prepping for this. Thank you to each of them for the excellent details and info. Because of this, I do not feel I need to add all that much more to the collective knowledge set for this route. Others have documented it well. Keep reading…
I used to hike Greyrock Mountain a lot back in the day when my cousin went to CSU. It’s a fantastic loop, arguably one of the finest in the Front Range foothills and what Morrison is to Denver, Bear is to Boulder – Greyrock is to Fort Collins. I hadn’t been up it since 2009 at the least and figured it was time for a reunion. My toenail fungus, which I had ignored basically since college, finally got the best of me lately. After 12 straight weeks of oral Lamisil, the fungus was finally subsiding, but the nail of my right toe had become so deformed that it started to grow in to my toe (ingrown). It eventually became infected and required a minor surgical procedure. I’m usually good with novacaine, but this go around was a little different, as 2 shots of the stuff didn’t do much. Afraid he’d inject too much, the doc apologized in advance, gave me something to bite down on and basically dug out and yanked my toenail off. I hope to never experience that ever again. Keep reading…
This past weekend Anna-Lisa, Brian, and a few friends camped near Twin Lakes for two nights, the primary focus being to hang out around the fire, toss bean bags through some wooden planks with holes in them, and enjoy a variety of hoppy libations. No camping trip is complete though without attempting a morning hike, especially with a good weather forecast, and with Anna-Lisa and her friend Melina intent on trying Mt. Elbert, Brian and I were left looking for a good 13er option in the area. Keep reading…
