Portugal – Day 1, Lisbon

September 20th, 2012

Clare & Dennis at Fountain in Rossio Square, Lisbon

We celebrated our 10th anniversary by travelling to Portugal. We were looking forward to a long vacation and had heard nothing but good things about Portugal. Before the trip I read several really amazing books about the Portuguese history as well as their famous explorers. I’m glad I did because the homework really paid off!

Rossio Square Fountain - on Praca Dom Pedro IV in Lisbon
Rossio Square Fountain on Praca Dom Pedro IV

In any event, we flew from Denver to London Heathrow and then had a quick flight to Lisbon. Our travels went smooth and before we knew it, we had arrived at our destination.

For our first night in country, we decided to try a vegetarian buffet restaurant, Paladar Zen.

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Mountaineering, Chicago Basin Peak Bagging Extravaganza, Day 2

September 7th, 2012

CMC Peak Baggers on Windom Peak
Kay, Dave, Clare, and Wesley on the Summit of Windom Peak

CMC Peak Baggers Summit of Sunlight
Dave, Wesley, Clare, and Kay near the Summit of Sunlight Peak

For the CMC Centennial Celebration, we attempted to summit all 4 of the Chicago Basin 14’ers in one day. We made it within a few hundred feet of Eolus and had to turn back to camp. However, we did manage to back Windom and Sunlight, which was a great success. The following pictures are from the efforts of our fantastic day in Chicago Basin!

An extra special thanks to Dave for being such a gentlemen and offering a helping hand as I jumped off of Sunlight. That was a leap of faith which I was not quite ready to take without a spot from a friend! Read the rest of this entry »

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Mountaineering, Chicago Basin Peak Bagging Extravaganza, Day 1

September 6th, 2012

CMC Hikers Ready to Ride the Rails
Pictured: Dave, Wesley, Dennis, Clare, and Kay

Dennis & Clare in Chicago Basin
The Chicago Basin is Beautiful!

On September 6th, I led a CMC mountaineering trip into the Chicago Basin. As part of the 100th Anniversary Centennial Celebration, it was my 3rd, and final, trip to help the club attain all 100 of the highest peaks in Colorado over the course of 2012.

The posse of people I assembled to conquer the mountains were: Wesley, Dave, Kay, and Dennis. Dave was attempting to climb all the 14’ers in one summer and is a super fit guy from Texas. Wesley had done most of them already and had climbed Ellingwood Ridge of LaPlata with me in July. Kay had just done Little Bear. But most of all, I was psyched Dennis was hiking this trip! It was nice to be sharing a tent with my hubby vs some random CMC person.

I was also excited to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for the 2nd time. It was totally neat-o the first time so I was sure I’d have fun on the train again! Read the rest of this entry »

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Mountaineering, Mount Bancroft Attempt

September 4th, 2012

Climbergirl Shadow on Mt. Bancroft
Climbergirl Shadow Pointing the Way

Erin Scrambling Up Mt. Bancroft
Erin Enjoying the Scrambling on Mt. Bancroft

Erin and I attempted to climb Mt. Bancroft (13,250 ft). We did not have a 4WD vehicle, so we drove as far down Loch Lomond road as possible. We parked at the first gate, after chickening out and turning around after 0.5 miles of driving down the boulder and potholed road. Later, we discovered a Subi which made it to the 2nd gate, so either they have insane car maneuvering skills or they had wooden planks and props in the back… Read the rest of this entry »

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Rock Climbing, Hwy 285, Lover’s Leap

August 25th, 2012

Doug Leading Lovers Leap Crux
Doug Cruising the Crux

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Clare Up High on Lover’s Leap

Doug and I climbed Lover’s Leap in the canyon Hwy 285 winds through, just outside of Morrison, CO. It was a fairly simple approach involving crossing a log bridge and then hiking a short steep bank up to the base of the crag. The approach takes about 10-15 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

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