Category Archives: Hikes & Scrambles

La Sals of Moab: The Salt of the Earth

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Life gets real when you turn 30. Some people decide to grow up sooner than others, but I chose my 30’s as the time to start facing facts. After 8 years of pissing my money away to landlords around the state of Colorado, I finally buckled down and bought a condo. It was refreshing to finally have a place of my own, but thanks to a feet dragging seller, a lender underwriter who undershot the closing costs by 1200$ and a depleted bank account – I was forced to cancel a 2-week trip to the John Muir Trail in the Sierras of California. Keep reading…

Traversing the Clouds in the Never Summer Mountains

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Rocky Mountain National Park is a place I like to tell myself I know a lot about, but really I probably only know a lot about very little. Other than Wild Basin, most of the Park is still uncharted territory for me. It probably always will be given the expanse. Colorado affords us so many bad @ss opportunities that I’ve found it hard to focus on one area, and in doing so, I seem to always keep the door open to all the potential that this state has to offer. Keep reading…

Silverthorne to East Thorn

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Every now and then you have one of those days where just about everything goes perfect. It maybe happens only a few times a year, but when it does, it makes for a great day. One of those days where all your plans, schedules, weather, conditions, routes, partners and peaks come together in harmony. Or, to steal an old saying from Benners, the day is just totally “stress free” and you hit the car feeling “refreshed” instead of beat. Labor Day in the Gores was one of these days for Ben and I – easily one of the best days we have had in the hills this summer. Keep reading…

Purgatory to Ruby: Pigeon, Turret and the Animas Group

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Nate, Ray, Migz and Dana (who couldn’t make it due to “work”) currently call the east coast their homes. These boys get out quite frequently into the mountains in New England, but the east coast only affords them so much. Once a year they are usually looking to get a little wild and that’s when I’ll get the call. On their inaugural trip to Colorado 2 years ago we trekked through Wild Basin in RMNP en route to Alice and Chiefs Head via Lion Lakes and then followed it up the next day with a sunrise climb of Longs Peak. Each has his own temperaments and talents, but in the end it always seems to work out, even with Ray who has no qualms calling the Pigeon/Turret saddle a success and may still be referred to as “the Gatekeeper” of the Keyhole. Keep reading…