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Why?! Because the other mountains of Colorado need love and footprints too........ Fall
River Pass Mtn|Estes Cone|Twin
Sisters 10,770; 10,940, 12/18/11. 9.5 miles, 2200ft. BC ski from lower lot at The Crags. Steep ski up 10,770 and saw mtn lion tracks. Then followed the Crags trail up to the meadow then bushwhacked up 10,940. Slippery with some snow on the slabs. Raspberry Mtn (10,605), 12/11/11. 6 miles, 1200ft. BC ski up/down Raspberry Mtn from the sharp turn/gate on the Crags Road. Hogback (3,474), Stony Man (4,011), Hawksbill (4,050), Blackrock (3,140) 10/17-18/11. A couple easy peaks right off of the Appalachian Trail while on a roadtrip through Shenandoah National Park. N. Sheep Mtn (12,420), 9/25/11. A side jaunt from Kokomo Pass along Colo Trail Segment 8, that Eric and I hiked up while waiting for Guy and John. Deer Mtn (10,013), 9/16/11. While up in Estes Park Jean and I did the 6mile/13400ft round trip up Deer Mtn. A great trail and awesome views all around. 10,315, 7/24/11. A quick and easy side trip while running the Colorado Trail Segment 7 with Eric. Mt Deception (9,363), 5/28/11. ~1miles, ~500ft. While camped near Woodland Park over Memorial Day we did a quick and easy hike up this peak, which is the only one in the quad. We bounced up the road leading to the saddle on the east side and Miles hiked most of it himself and was carried for parts. Mt Washburn (10,243), 8/10/10. 3 miles, 1400ft. I read many places that "if there's only one hike you do in Yellowstone, hike up Mt Washburn", so that's what we did! Hoping to see a grizzly along the way. Lots of wild flowers and views all around of the burn areas, steam vents, and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We carried Miles and let him walk, saw some big horn sheep near the windy top. Great views all around in the observatory. Bald Hill (11,428), 8/6/10. A quick detour up this unranked peak on the way to the 13ers, Pennsylvania and Evans B. Broomfield County HP (5,845), 8/1/10. Cheesy drive-up, but a county highpoint on the drive back from Estes Park. Marmot Point(11,909), 8/1/10. 1 mile. Another quick jaunt off of Fall River Rd while driving the loop. Lil' determined super-hiker Miles hiked most of the way up all by himself.... then stopped to sit and smell the flowers on the walk down. Eagle Cliff Mtn(8,906), 7/31/10. 1miles, 800ft. A quick uphill morning jaunt from Machin's Cottage while staying with my folks for the w/end. Awesome views off the entire RMNP all the way down to Long's Peak. Thunder Butte(9,836), 6/20/10. 5miles, 1380ft, 3.5hrs. A Fathers Day hike with Jean, Miles, my Dad, and Denali. Did the hour drive to the TH through all the Haymen burn area and followed the non-path just like the book instructed. All good until the bushwhack up the drainage to the saddle. We stayed left of the creek, and right of the creek probably would've been better. Miles took a nap in the Kelty Kids pack, then enjoyed the rest of the ride. At the saddle Jean stayed with Miles and explored the dirt, rocks, sticks, and bugs. My Dad went a little higher and I ran up to the summit. Views all around of the extensive burn area, Pikes, Sheeps Nose, Signal Butte, etc. Back at the saddle we picked our way down the easier side of the drainage and back to the car. Fun stuff! Another perfect Fathers Day topped off with lunch at Bon Ton. 6,740, Timber Mtn, 6,510, 6,970; 5/14/10. 6miles, 2000ft, 2hrs. After dealing with the BS to get access to Fort Carson Peaks, I was finally able to legally hike them. I stopped by the Range Control bldg and picked up my daily down-range pass and headed off towards "Area 30". I park just on the south side of 6,740 with the summit about 1/2mile away. Straight up through cactus, brush, rocks, and scrub oak. Didn't take long to get up there and I could hear the artillery off in the distance. Since Timber Mtn was just right there, I couldn't resist heading over trying to stay incognito. I took a nasty spill on a wet moss covered rock and was getting pretty soaked from the dew on everything. I was on the summit of Timber after 45mins total and made it a real quick visit to stay legal. Contoured back around 6,740 and to the truck. Since 6,510 bordered this area, I drove ahead to check it out. The GPS showed that it wasn't too far so I boogied up/down as fast as possible. Some remains of a fire that burned through here and a small rock wall on the summit and obvious targets or bunkers to the east. Another real quick visit and back to the truck. Wow, only one more to go... may as well check it out. Back north on Road 11, then a turn on Road 4. I couldn't resist the 1/3rd of a mile up 6,970 so I wouldn't have to do another trip down here. I didn't even stop on the summit except to turn around and run back down the slope to the truck. Sweet..... El Paso County 37 Ranked Peaks, DONE! No pictures as I didn't bring my camera and it was a foggy crappy day anyway. 8,487, 4/18/10. 8miles, 1800ft, 3.5hrs. Steve Knapp emailed and said he was coming down to knock off a few more El Paso County Peaks so I joined him for 8487, which I hadn't done yet. We parked on Little Turkey Creek Road right off of 115 and make quick work of the heavily signed access road. After a couple miles we left the road and bushwhacked the rest of the way along the NE ridge eventually to the scrambly fun summit, right around 2hrs. We reversed our route since the scrub oak wasn't nearly as bad as some other El Paso Co peaks. At the road, Denali and I jogged back to the car while Steve head for 3 more peaks. 7,820,
8,418, Mt Pittsburg (8,197), 8,220
3/5/10. 11.5miles, 4580ft, ~4hrs. A few more El Paso County Peaks down
off of 115. 7,190, 7,150B, Cedar Pt (5,991), Holcolm Hill (7,019) 2/5/10. ~5miles, ~2hrs. Peaks that I normally would not pay much attention to, but three of them were needed to complete El Paso County, and Cedar Pt wasn't too far and would complete a quad and Elbert County. After the hour drive to the parking spot along the ranch, it only took about 20mins to the top of 7190, a cool bluff similar to Castle Rock. Next it was north to 7150 going over and under a couple fences trying to stay out of view if necessary. Quick and easy and back to the car in a couple hours. A drive to Limon then backtrack a few miles along I70 to the drive up towers on Cedar Pt. Holcolm Hill was just a quick jog up a drive way and a little bit of cross-country. 9,410, Grayback Pk (9,348), Blue Mtn (9,856), 1/9/10. 4000ft, 8.5miles, 5hrs. Couldn't waste a free day off despite being signed up for an 18mile snowshoe race the following day! Started on the Old Stage Rd and Emerald Ranch intersection and followed some horse and foot prints up the Grayback trail, this was nice to follow as it was the only trail I'd see for the day. Headed NE at the saddle summiting 9,410 in 45mins. 30mins later I was on the true summit of Grayback despite going up the cliff-surrounded northern summit first. From here, it was decision time... not whether to go on or not, but in what direction. I choose the more direct west bushwhack straight down. This was lots of slipping, sliding, and thick brush... but wasn't too long before I was at the pond at the Ranch. I headed SW up Blue Mtn which really kicked my butt. It seemed to go on forever and I had to take several breaks. Finally near the sub-summit, saddle, the the true summit after more the 2hrs. I was whooped! After a long break I followed my exact path back as to avoid anymore surprises. The road from the Ranch back to Old Stage Rd was very welcomed. That makes for 25 ranked El Paso Co peaks. Denver County HP (5,685), 11/29/09. Cheesy drive-up, but a county highpoint. 9,380,
9,400, Eagle(9,368), 11/25/09. 2700ft, 9.5miles, 4hrs. Finally got
around to the Air Force Academy Peak... an icy walk up Arapahoe County HP (6,215), Adams County HP (5,665), 11/7/09. Cheesy drive-up, but a county highpoint. Elbert County HP (7,370), 10/4/09. Cheesy drive-up, but a county highpoint. Lincoln County HP (5,970), 10/2/09. Cheesy drive-up, but a county highpoint. The Horns (9,212), 9/5/09. 5mile, ~2550ft. 1hr 45mins round-trip. A quick jaunt off of Old Stage Road. I found the trail up the ridge between Cheyenne Mtn and The Horns, sure made life easier until I took the wrong branch at the 3-way. Bush-whacking and contouring over/under, rocks and all sorts of crap until I found the trail once again along the ridge. It followed an old pipe-line and eventually circled around the summit to the old Cheyenne Lodge. The old foundation and several old smaller structures dotted the summit area. Took just over an hour up, and 35mins down. Taking the trail all the way down was much easier. Blodgett Peak (9,423), 9,500', 8/30/09. 2660ft, 5.2miles. A quick trip close to home that I've been wanting to check out. I jogged the old road the started up the maze of game trails in the heavy fog. Ended up going too far right and into the boulder fields. Got to the summit of Blodgett just under an hour and headed down the correct trail. At the saddle I saw that it was only 0.44miles to the soft-ranked 9,500'. I had a fear that my GPS batteries would die and I'd get lost in the soup of weather. Bushwhacking and rock-hopping to the summit, then back to the saddle and down the horrible mess of trails and scree. The thunder had me moving slightly faster. Not a good trail that I'll likely hike again! Roundtrip just under 2hrs and shoes full of rocks.
9,843, 6/21/09. Mueller State Park, 0.8miles. Miles' first mountain and it couldn't of happened on a better day.... Father's Day! Does it count that he couldn't hike up there himself?! Since this is the only ranked peak in the quad.... Miles, Jean, and myself also finished off another quad! ha hahaaa. Had a hard time finding the TH after snaking all through the campground and several loops, nice easy walk up a dirt trail while Jean carried Miles and a couple pictures on the windy summit. Best Fathers Day EVER! Tuckaway Mtn (10,820), Runs-Down-Fast Mtn (11,048) 11/26/08. Gold Camp/High Drive 4-way TH, 5.25hrs, 12.5miles, 4,400ft. A couple last peaks with Denali before Miles Jeffrey joined the world! Up Seven Bridges and through Jones Park once again, further west then bush-whacking up Tuckaway. I wondered around the summit trying to find a register, never did find one but covered all possibilities! Back down then south on good trails till I had to face the scree that I've seen sooooo many times. One last Gu then 2 steps up, 3 steps down for what seemed like forever. Just a few minutes on the summit then back down and further south to get back on familiar trails and Seven Bridges trail back to the car. T-t-t-t-thats all folks... for the Manitou Quad! Marys Mtn (9,860), Sheep Mtn W (9,820), Cameron Cone (10,707) 11/22/08. Barr Trail, 5.5hrs, 14miles, 5,200ft. Looking to get out for a good hike, yet somewhere close to home so I could ensure I was home with a beer in hand at 1:30pm to see Penn State put a hurtin’ on Michigan State and secure a visit to the Rose Bowl this year. I recently got some beta from Mr. El Paso County, Kevin Baker, and these peaks fit the bill and Denali seemed okay with the plan. We were hiking up Barr Trail by 6:30am in 23 degree temps that were rising quickly. I was surprised at the number of people on Barr Trail already and most looked like they were on their way down from a trip up The Incline. After No Name Creek you take a left on the Pipe Line trail and follow it as it eventually contours above the Cog Railway then over a bridge holding up the pipeline. Oh wait, that would be trespassing….. I meant, UNDER the bridge holding up the pipline. Hop across the cog tracks into an area called Hell Gate or Ruxton Park, this would be pretty sweet in the Fall with all the aspens. There’s some roads and building that seem to be for the utilities. I choose to hike Marys first, since it seemed farther away. I followed the north ridge all the way to the summit and enjoyed the warm sun and an awesome view of Pikes Peak. Arriving exactly 2hrs after starting I wasn’t surprised to see a Garrett Register from 1988. He seemed to spend a lot of time in El Paso County in 1988! Cameron Cone was looking temptingly close also. Hhhhmmm, enough time for that as well? Off to Sheep Mtn W for now. Bushwhacking NE down into Dark Canyon, then directly up the SW side of Sheep Mtn. No surprises and nothing too difficult besides the occasional heart beating behind the eyes from trying to go too fast. Pretty easy terrain otherwise. On top of Sheep Mtn it was only 9:15ish, and I figured if we boogied, we could make it over to Cameron Cone then jogging most of the way down Barr Trail would still get me home in time. Why not?! A quick consultation with Denali brought no objections. SE down Sheep picking around some rock formations, and up up up Cameron Cone’s NW ridge. Some loose and slippery granite piles and some faint trails. A Geo-cache and quite a few names in the register up here, looks like a trail comes up from Crystal Park area as well. I look at Cameron Cone every damn day, so it’s about time I stood on top of it! Denali and I didn’t spend much time up here and headed back down the NW ridge, then bushwhacked back to Dark Canyon where we found quite a few mud holes. Once on the Pipeline road and Barr Trail, I jogged most of the flats and downhills along with hundred of other folks out enjoying the day on Barr Trail. No pictures since I forgot my camera. D’oh! Best part of the day was that this put me just over 100 peaks for the year. A first, and a new PR for me. WooHoo! 9,620B, "Notch Mtn" (9,660), Ormes Pk (9,727) 11/1/08. Rampart Range Rd, 1.5hrs, 4.5miles, 1400ft. Three quick and easy peaks from the incredibly wash-boarded Rampart Range Rd. 10,245B, Montes View Rockpile (10,020) 10/11/08. Barr Trail, 4hrs, 14.5miles, 4500ft. A nice stroll up Barr trail to the "0.5miles to Barr Camp" sign. One peak a bushwhack to the right, the other peak a scramble to the left. Mt Garfield (10,940),
Mt Arthur (10,807); Tenney Crags (10,099).
9/19/08. Gold Camp/High Drive 4-way TH. Ten
Mile Range Traverse (Peaks 1 thru 8). 8/9/08. Me and Dwight “Dragon
Slayer” Sunwall Cheyenne Mtn (9,565); Sugarloaf Mtn (9,633); 10,100D; Devils Slide (9,900); 10,660A. 8/8/08. 5 different trailheads. 3.5hrs, 6.5miles, 4080ft. Soaked on Cheyenne Mtn, short and quick on Sugarloaf, ladybugs on 10,100D, fun scramble on Devils Slide, tired Denali on 10,660A. Picked up trash most of the way back on Old Stage Rd. Almagre (12,367); S. Almagre (12,349); Knights (10,490); McKinley (10,460); San Luis (10,433). 7/4/08. Frosty's Park TH and Old Stage Rd. 3.5hrs, 8miles, 4700ft. Denali and I on another "boy and his dog" day. Boogied up Almagre and S. Almagre, a different view of Pikes from up here. Jogged most of the way day and hit the three other peaks from parking spots on Old Stage Rd. Used the GPS for the first time and really started to digg it! 12,671; 6/29/08; Got turned around on the Hermit Pass group AGAIN, so nabbed this peak as a consolation prize while killing time. Mt Jasper (12,900); 6/7/08; 7.5hrs, 9.5miles. 4th of July TH. Rainier training up this sweet coulior in Indian Peaks Wilderness. Cooper (12,782); 3/29/08. Picked up this sweet little peak on the way to 13er Ruby. Big 14erworld folks and friends and dogs. Kineo Mtn (9,479); 3/23/08. 3hrs 15mins; 7miles. Gold Camp/High Dr TH. A cloudy day and some snow to trough through. I missed the turn for the west ridge and had to backtrack. Deep snow and pockets in the boulders up top. Rocky Mtn (9,250); Mt Manitou (9,460); 3/22/08. 4hrs 20mins. 7.5miles. A slow trip up the Incline then onto these two peaks that I look at just about every day, before heading to my folks house for Easter dinner. Cloudy day and snowy above the Incline. At first I went right past the peaks and poked around the Experimental Forest for awhile. Devils Nose (11,057); Warrior Mtn (11,273); Squaw Mtn (11,500); Chief Mtn (11,709); Papoose Mtn (11,174); 3/7/08; 5hrs, 8miles. I ain’t a gangsta, I ain’t a thug, I blame my Momma for my ugly mug. My eyes are crossed, I’ve got an over-bite, But on the weekends I love to bike or hike. Friday came along with nothing to do, I looked at the dog and said, “hey, its just me and you”. We hopped in the car with maps in hand, Headin’ towards Mt Evans with an A and B plan. The wind was kickin’ the snow was blowin’, So below treeline was where we were goin’. Devil’s Nose first, its short and sweet, Just a few hundred feet but the snow was freakin’ deep. Down the road we drove to another parking spot, Warrior was next with antennas on its top. The snowshoes on my feet weren’t old and made of wood, Fool would get shot if he wore these in the mutha f##kin’ ‘hood! Squaw Mountain was the next peak in my sights, If it was the summer on this road I’d ride my stolen bike. Cool little lookout and a building made of rocks, I hit all highpoints and stood on all their tops. On the trail to Chief, came across a mean old geezer, All the hairs in her nose, that b##ch should’ve used tweezers. I was getting tired, the snow was getting deep Just two more peaks and Denali could go back to sleep. Windblown top with great views of Evans, Thanks for the trip report Mr. Baker, AKA Kevin. Back to the saddle and up to Papoose, I wish I was lucky like JV and saw a giant moose. New pants passed the test and kept my junk nice and warm, Made by Pata-gucci and built to weather storms. Five hours total and we were back at the car, Drooling for a beer from the Rockyard bar. Monkey Face (7,719); Raspberry Butte (7,740); 2/24/08. 2hrs, 3miles. A quick bushwhacking jaunt up a couple close-to-home peaks. Kingston Peak (12,147); 2/22/08. St Mary's TH. 4.5hrs, 4miles. Jean and I spent the day practicing glacier travel, self arrest, and crevasse rescue. We skipped James Peak due to the cold and stinging wind. 8,130; Mays Peak
(8,283); 2/9/08. A couple easy Cheyenne
Canon peaks after kicking our own asses on Burntop Peak the day before in the
LCW. Turtle Mtn (8,882); Sheeps Nose (8,894); 8,257; 2/2/08; 9hrs, 16miles. A fun day with some Douglas County High Point peak baggers. Some peaks I never figured I would climb! Sheeps Nose has a really fun 4th class chimney to scamper up. Rosedale Peak (11,825); 1/1/08. Elk Creek TH? 6hrs, 10miles. Me, Jean, Hoot, JV, Dave Hale, and all the pups. Minus 9 at the TH. Lost at first but followed Elk Creek eventually along Bob and K&B's track from last w/end. Deeeep snow. Beautiful, but cold, summit and great views all around. Never heard of this peak until last week! Twin Sisters (11,428); 3/4/07. Not allowed to hike in RMNP with Denali so we went to Twin Sisters not knowing there were no dogs allowed there either. Sad to leave Denali in the car, we made the quick hike up. Awesome views of Longs Peak area across the valley. Estes Cone (11,006); 1/16/05. Denali training with Bob, Wayne, and Laurie. Wayyyyy too windy to head up Mt Lady Washington, so we hopped up Estes Cone as a good alternative. Fall River Pass Mtn
(12,005); 1988. Looooong time ago during one of our first visits to
Colorado. |