2012 is here, Turkey Roost and more.

I haven't updated this blog as much as I had hoped, here goes for a more active 2012.

On Saturday January 14 and Sunday January 15 I climbed some Larimer County peaks in CO.

My weekend adventure began with a short climb up unnamed 7778, not a terribly exciting name but a worthwhile peak nonetheless. Tyler and I were greeted by a herd of Bighorn Sheep at the Trailhead. The climb up Sullivan Gulch was short and steep. We left the trail at the saddle and headed for the summit. Near the summit we were stopped in our tracks by some of the most intense rippling in rock that either of us has ever seen.

I know I'm a geology nerd. The summit block has a nice short scramble to an exposed perch.

Storm Mountain was our next objective which we obtained by hiking up the Storm Mountain road. There wasn't much snow to deal with until about 9700 feet about the meadow, from there it was a slog through knee deep snow to the summit. We ran most of the way down the trail enjoying the good footing in the snow. On the horizon we observed the screaming banshees howling over the continental divide.

Sunday we joined Steve and Chris to climb seven seveners. You may be thinking to yourself, seven seveners can't be all that difficult. I beg to differ, it was a 17 mile day with 6000 feet of climbing through dense forest and scrub oak, mixed with some fun and challenging scrambling.

Our loop started on Unnamed 7655, an easy 45 minute hike from the car. 7220 was far away but old roads and game trails made quick work of most of the traverse. The final 600 foot climb was not terribly fun considering it was through dense scrub oak and over steep terrain.

7500 was a quick jaunt from 7220. The next three peaks were far more difficult and took considerable time to climb. We navigated our way through many quiet valleys and meadows before reaching the boulder strewn summit of 7620.

The next peak would prove to be the most difficult of the day, although it shouldn't have been. Steve and Chris got ahead of Tyler and I so the went up the correct gully to the summit. We did not. I made it to what I thought was the summit only to see Steve and Chris lounging a quarter mile away on the real summit. I cursed and downclimbed the rugged terrain trying to find a weakness so I wouldn't have to descend more than 100 feet. This proved to be a difficult task considering I found a 40 foot cliff blocking easy passage. Cursing again I found a ledge system which wrapped around the cliff before encountering another cliff. I descended a boulder strewn gully chocked full of cacti and pine trees to finally reach easier ground below the summit of 7660.

We were over two miles from Turkey Roost. The next three miles were some of the most magical hiking I have ever done in Colorado. We crossed a plain before descending into a narrow canyon following an old trail. Finally we reached the north fork of the Poudre River. Winter is about the only time to climb these peaks because the river is frozen. We followed the river upstream about a quarter mile before climbing 1200 feet in half a mile and summiting Turkey Roost.

Thoroughly dead I made the zombie trek up 7814, our last peak of the day. We made it back to the road as the veil of darkness crept over the cool January day. 11 hours after we started we made it back to our cars.

And so it was that I had to leave CO again. I'll leave you with a throwback to the 90's.

And if you have questions about SOPA watch this

Land of Enchantment and Dead Rats

It was another busy week in Boulder, my last for the time being. I won't get to run the Mesa trail or any of the other great trails in the parks for a while now. I started the week with a blazing hot run up Bear Peak, I didn't get the rest I wanted because of a brood of gnat like bugs swarming the visitors to this peak. It would snow three days later. On Wednesday it was cool rainy and at times snowy, so it was a perfect day to break in my new running shoes, a pair of MT101 made by New Balance. These are lightweight trail runners with no cushioning, so no road running.

On Tuesday after my overnight shift I hear some loud voices coming from outside my door, as it turns out my roommate stepped on a rat while gardening.

I don't feel like overusing the ctrl c and ctrl v commands so here is a link to a TR from my New Mexico trip.

14ers.com TR

New Mexico is amazing, we had Wheeler Peak to ourselves, a state highpoint to ourselves. Over two days we climbed 10 peaks 36 miles and 11500 vertical feet. We also had perfect weather, unlike the weather in Boulder today on Saturday it's 41 and raining while I write this.

Now for my weekly video links.

Classic from Massive Attack

If you have a hard time keeping track of all your relatives, here's a video to clarify our closest relatives. Most of them are extinct.

That's all for this week. Next week I'll be writing from the great state of Kansas.

A busy week in the Retirement Range

After a couple of easy runs to start the week on Sunday and Monday it was time to make things more difficult. On Tuesday I decided to go for a speed run up Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak. I managed to get up the 3 miles and 3000 feet of climbing required for Bear Peak in 46 minutes, after a short break it was time to head over to South Boulder Peak. It's just over .5 miles and 300 feet of climbing. I made the traverse in 11 minutes. I watched a train go by in El Dorado Canyon and headed back. To get back over Bear Peak means reclimbing about 300 feet before the descent. I made back to Bear Peak in 10 minutes. Now for the short steep run down to the Trailhead. I made it down in 32 minutes for a total time of 1:40. Wednesday I returned to Bear Peak and South Boulder, this time adding Green Mountain. 

 

Some images from the trails I run in Boulder Mountain Parks.

Thursday and Friday saw me returning to South Park to climb many more peaks, 18 over two days. On Thursday I started my loop near the town of Jefferson and headed south to my campsite near U.S. 24. Friday I continued south to Elevenmile State Park where I started to head back to the north. It was hear I believe I can claim a first ascent of a peak. I saw no record of anyone climbing it nor did I see any sign on the summit to suggest otherwise. So I will claim unnamed 9422 as a first ascent for myself. Due to the warm temperatures I was able to watch snow melt on the high peaks surrounding South Park. Enjoy this eye candy from Thursday and Friday.

Over all I'd say this was a good week with ~80 miles of running or hiking and ~20,000 feet of climbing. 

I don't want this blog to just be about running or hiking, I want to recommend music or movies or books. Here are a few songs I've been listening to lately. Here's to another week in Colorado.

I Finally Have a Blog

I finally broke down and created a blog, I will use this space to post about the runs and hikes I complete up in the mountains. Over the past 12 weeks I've traveled 650+ miles 115,000+ vertical feet and 89 unique summits while running or hiking. During this same time I've run up Green Mountain 10+ times as well.

This space will also be used to review good trail runs in the Boulder area, considering I've run 90% of the trails in the Boulder Mountain Parks and Open Space, I feel like I have a good idea of which trails are the best to run.