Lake Fork Loop: Emerald, Iowa, and Missouri

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This weekend before last the wife and I got out to the Sawatch for a little camping and peak bagging combo. A few of Anna-Lisa’s coworkers, Mike and Michelle (+1 canine, Rogan), decided to join, along with a mutual friend of ours, Eli, for whom hiking a Colorado peak would be a new experience. Originally we intending to head to Ice Lakes Basin in the San Juans. For a long time now I’ve been particularly excited to check out the Vermillion Group scrambles. Keep reading…

French Group Summits

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Returning to Colorado from the PNW, a ski trip Brian and I had been planning since January, officially marked the end of ski season for me.  Going from skiing powder in a complete whiteout to hundred degree temperatures in a matter of twelve hours was a stark contrast. Colorado has been HOT lately, too hot in fact.  Days of high temps and zero rainfall has created some impressive and devastating fires along the Front Range, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of mother nature relenting in the near future. Keep reading…

A Long Weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park

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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…

Insights into the Pacific Northwest: Good Snow and Bad Weather

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Six of us pulled into the Paradise parking lot on June 2nd, eager to gear up and approach Mount Rainier for a ski attempt on the 3rd. The previous night we had sat on the porch of the Whittaker Bunk House contemplating our future as rain pelted the roof over our heads for hours on end. Skeptical moods were only reinforced when we arrived at a socked in Rainier Rainier Ranger Station and received reports of heavy weather/precipitation over the previous week. Read more…