wasatch and beyond: Front Range

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October 1, 2009

October 2009 Recap

October started off with what would end up being my last 14er summits for about 5 months. I got the idea that it would be a good idea to do Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton as a "day hike"... a 23 miles, 9,000+ vertical feet, 13 hour "day hike." I caught sunrise on that day from 13,000 feet, and watched an amazing sunset from Leadville while I was driving home. (Photos)

A week later I made a trip down to Tennessee and did a backpacking trip in the Great Smokies with Andrea. (Photos) We also found out that we are AWESOME at canoeing!

The latter half of October revolved around messing around messing around on the Front Range with Phoenix (Photos). We aborted an attempt at Pike's Peak, but did some hiking in Garden of the Gods, and kicked off the ski season at St. Mary's Glacier (Photos)... then went back a week later with an even bigger crew (Photos).

September 1, 2009

September 2009 Recap

September included two big 14er weekends with a trip to the Grand Canyon in the middle. Over Labor Day we headed back to the Maroon Bells to take a shot at North Maroon Peak. I thought N.Maroon was actually a much more fun hike than S.Maroon. The following day we were back in the Sangre de Cristos, and camped at Willow Lake. With a high camp, summitting Kit Carson Peak and Challenger Point was a no-brainer! (Photos)

I flew down to Arizona and met up with my family and girlfriend for my sister's birthday in the middle of the month. We hiked down to the big ditch's Phantom Ranch via the S.Kaibob trail and ascended via the Bright Angel trail (all in a day's work!). After spending the night in Flagstaff, those of us that still had some juice left in our legs hiked up Humphrey's Peak, which at 12,637 feet, is the highest point in the state. (Photos)

I finished off the month by crossing 4 more 14ers off my list. Mt. Evans has a road that goes to the top, so I had been waiting until it was closed for the season so I could find some solitude at the summit. I hiked up via Chicago Lakes, and there was a surprising amount of snow, so it ended up being a long, tiring day. The following day I drove down to Lake City and hiked up Redcloud Peak, Sunshine Peak, and Handies Peak. The final stats on this weekend were 4 peaks, 13,000+ feet of vertical, 42 miles of hiking, and 6 hours of sleep. (Photos)