Archive for the ‘Mountaineering’ Category

Day Hike – Calico Tanks, Red Rocks, NV

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Calico Tanks Hike

Rachel & Clare Calico Basin, Red Rocks

Clare, Emma, Dennis at Calico Tanks

For day 2 of the weekend in Vegas, we did the Calico Tanks hike in Red Rocks Park. The hike is fairly mellow, ascending a few hundred feet to a pretty overlook and the very empty Calico Tanks. The cavernous rock pits generally store water through-out the year, but there was just a puddle at the bottom. How odd! (more…)

Day Hike – Golden Gate Canyon State Park, CO

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Emma, Dennis, & Clare Summit Windy Peak (9,000 ft)

In order to acclimate Emma to CO, we decided to take her on a nice little day hike around Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Thanks to a blog by Fun Colorado Hikes, I located some information about Golden Gate Canyon State Park.

Golden Gate Canyon, CO State Park
The blog recommended the Mountain Lion Trail, and the Burro Trail. SO, we decided we’d do a little bit of both! (more…)

Day Hike – Mt. Princeton

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Two Trees on Mt. Princeton (14,197)
My back was still not recovered from the injury, so I decided to spend one more weekend above treeline, bagging peaks. Kris mentioned Mt. Princeton, and I thought, “Why not, we were just up Columbia and Harvard!”.

Clare Checks the Topo to Assess Progress
As Gerry Roach says, “Princeton is the southernmost and most visible of the Collegiate fourteeners. As you descend west into the Arkansas River Valley, on U.S. 285, Princeton stares you smack in the face for many miles. You cannot ignore its gaze.”

Princeton stared us smack in the face and then delivered a sly & wicked lovetap. It passively allowed us access to the summit, then aggressively spit us out on the opposite end from whence we came. Beware the subtle, twisted, and tangled nature of the many high ridges of Princeton! (more…)

Mountaineering – Mt. Columbia (14,073′) and Mt. Harvard (14,420′)

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Mt. Harvard (14,420 ft) Summit Nice Group Shot
On August 10th, I met with Kris and Brian to attempt Mt. Columbia and Mt. Harvard (14,073′ and 14,420′, respectively) the following day. The plan was to drive up to Buena Vista, have dinner, and then bivy until o-dark-thirty, and head for the high points.

Before I get into the details about Harvard & Columbia, I must rewind to ealier on Saturday.

Dennis & I had so much fun Mountain Biking in Canada, that we decided to give it a whirl locally. As luck would have it, a co-worker of mine, Dan, was happy to show us around. So, on Saturday,we went for a nice little ~10 mile single track bike ride around Bear Creek Lake Park.

After the bike ride, Dennis dropped me off at Kris’ house, so that I could go climb mountains. What a hectic 36 hours, for me!!! (more…)

Day Hike – Mt. Fairview (9,001 ft)

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Mt Fairview Panorama (West)
Our last day full day in Canada was celebrated by a lovely hike up Mt. Fairview from the Chateau Lake Louise. The hike climbs just over 3,400 ft to the summit, over 9 km. We followed the Saddleback Pass Trail to the Pass (at around 7, 700 ft) and then made the final summit bid up scree to the top.

VFF's Kept My Toes Clean, But My Feet...
I decided to do the hike in my new VFF (Vibram Five Finger) shoes, it was an experiment in foot dexterity & toughness!

Clare & Dennis Champions of Mt. Fairview

Our stats:
Start Time: 12:35 pm
Saddleback Pass: 1:50 pm
Mt. Fairview Summit: 2:40pm
Finish Time: 4:30pm

For More Pictures of the hike, (more…)