Category Archives: Hikes & Scrambles

Traversing Trail Ridge

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Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, with more than 10+ miles lying above 11,000 feet. Contrary to popular belief, the entire road is actually always “open”. You just can’t bring your car with you from October through June. With the absence of a motorized vehicle and the addition of snowshoes, even an easy peak, one just a half mile off of the road like “Trail Ridge”, becomes quite a feat. Keep reading…

Sunday on Silverheels

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Mount Silverheels, elevation 13,822 feet, is the 96th highest peak in the state of Colorado. It sits just east of Mount Bross and Mount Lincoln between Fairplay and Breckenridge. The mountain itself is massive, covering approximately 3 square miles, with its closest 13,000 ft. neighbor being Hoosier Ridge over 3 miles away to the north. With its gradual slopes, the peak is an excellent choice for a winter trek and is most often accessed from the north and west from Hoosier Pass/Route 9 and from the south via Fairplay. Keep reading…

A Spring Preview on Homestake Peak

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The weekend before last I had the pleasure of joining a great group on Homestake Peak in the northern-Sawatch Range. After a few trip reports were thrown up on 14ers.com indicating good coverage and ski conditions high on the peak, it became an obvious option for a late-January tour. Rick, David, Brian, Dillon and I met Brandon Chalk, his wife Kristine, and two friends of theirs, Jay and Mike at the Crane Park Trailhead the morning of the 26th at 8am. Read more…

Antero & White – A Sawatch Winter

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Coming off of a spectacular fall climb of Isolation Peak, Ben, Brian, Dillon, and I decided to commit to a date around the holidays to get up something early in the winter season. As usual, trying to pick a group of peaks in the winter can be a hilariously complicated ordeal. It is our own fault, really. With snow levels low, the avy danger moderate, and our weather window appearing to be just about perfect Continue reading…