May 2010 Recap

May started with powder days at Beaver Creek (which had been closed for a month), and ended with a string of 14er ski descents. In between I lost my job and made plans to move to Salt Lake City, Utah (hence the blog title, Wasatch and Beyond). The Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains will be my home base from this point forward.

I spent May 6-9 down in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with Andrea. We met up with my friends Karilyn and Andy, who are hiking the Appalachian Trail.

From May 20-23 I tagged six 14ers in a 4 day span. [6 Peaks 4 Days trip report] - [More Photos]

On May 27, I climbed and skied Castle Peak with my roommate Ben and his friend Joel. [Castle Peak trip report].

April 2010 Recap

Highlights from April included a ski trip to Snowbird, Utah, a visit from my Dad, and a ski descent misadventure from Culebra Peak, the only privately owned 14,000 foot peak in Colorado (Trip Report - Photos).

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)

August 2009 Recap

In the beginning of August I got serious about climbing all of the 14ers in Colorado within the next year, and the frequency / intensity of my hiking really picked up. The month started off with an incredible weekend backpacking trip up to Lake Como, in the heart of the Sangre de Cristos, to climb Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Point, and Little Bear Peak. The latter of these three was my first class 4 climb. At some point I'll need to write a full trip report of that weekend; for now - here are the pictures.

The following weekend I made a couple daytrips to Mt. Yale and Snowmass Mountain (photos). Snowmass Lake and that whole area are among the most beautiful places I have ever been. I did that in a long, 20+ mile, 12 hour day, but had perfect weather throughout.

The final trip in September was back to Aspen to tag South Maroon Peak and Capitol Peak (photos). After getting Maroon peak on a Saturday, I drove to the Capitol ditch trailhead and hiked into Capitol Lake, where I spent the night, and then climbed the peak the following day. From K2 to the summit of Capitol was the most exposed scrambling and climbing I'd ever done.