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