Hiking Hard

I spent this weekend pushing my limits and ended up summitting 4 peaks in the process. That meant hiking about 22 miles and gaining over 11,000 feet of elevation in under 48 hours. Not an easy task, but well worth it. We left the Vail Valley right at 5 p.m. on Friday and headed towards the Blank Gulch trailhead for Mt. Shavano and Mt. Tabegauche. We arrived at about 9:30, set up camp and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall asleep and ended up passing out around midnight. Not good when you plan to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to start hiking. Regardless, I was ready to get up and we hit the trail at 4:35 a.m. wearing headlamps. We slogged through some muddy trails and eventually got to a break in the trees around the time the sun was rising.




We kept hiking at a decent pace and eventually reached the saddle below the steep final ascent to the summit of Shavano. We were passed by one guy and ended up summitting right after him for the first peak of the weekend.




Here is my "Old Miner" pose on the top of Shavano.



Our friend and hiking partner Mel summitted shortly after us. Gabe and I took off right after this to summit Mt. Tabegauche before a storm built up.




The traverse to Tabegauche was pretty easy and we summitted right after the same guy who beat us to the first peak. It's nice to be on the peak by yourself without a big crowd.




While on the summit of Tab, we ate our lunches. I had made some chicken pasta for the weekend and I nearly swallowed the whole bag I was so hungry.



We met some cool people on the summit and exchanged some great stories. The clouds were really starting to darken and build to the east, so decided it was time to head out. We quickly got back to the top of Shav and headed down to the saddle below the summit.




We booked it down to treeline. The hike back through the woods was nice because we couldn't really see our surroundings on the way up. We did visit this tree that we had noticed for an intriguing photo op.




Back at the car we enjoyed a few beers and visited with some hikers we had met on the summit. Headed back to Buena Vista for some post-hike-pizza. Mel dropped Gabe and I off at my car in Leadville and the two of us started to the Missouri Gulch trailhead to camp for the next days hike. We stopped at a lake on the way for a much needed hippy dip. I think the water was about 55-60 degrees, which wasn't really that bad. We had to move quickly because we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes.





We found a campsite just before the trailhead for Belford and Oxford and passed out before the sun went down around 8:30 or 9:00. It was nice to get some good sleep before we woke up at 2:45 a.m. to get ready for another big day of hiking.


We were on the trailhead by 4:00 a.m. and quickly remembered what gaining elevation was like. The trail started out by immediately gaining about 2000 feet in around 1 mile. Our goal was to make it to treeline to see the sunrise. We made it in just under an hour and welcomed the gentle slope of the gulch we reached. The sun was slowly coming up as we hiked up the valley and we caught this view over the ridge.





The sun slowly provided enough light for us to take our headlamps off. Gabe caught this shot as I came around the first false summit.





A group of ptarmigans was on the ridge as we got close to the real summit. Their camoflauge is so great I almost didn't see them.





After 3 hours of climbing switchback after switchback, we made the summit at 7:00 a.m.




There was one guy about 40 minutes behind us, but we had the summit to ourselves. The wind was blowing relentlessly so we hunkered down in a wind shelter to regain some energy. We scrambled back to the summit for some photos, and found a marmot with his head in Gabe's pack when we got back to the wind shelter. He seemed pretty interested in Gabe's chocolates.





Right after another hiker, Bruce, reached the summit, we took off to gain the summit of Oxford. This traverse was longer and steeper than the traverse from Shavano to Tabegauche the day before.




We were still debating an attempt to summit another close peak, Missouri, but decided against it. Some dark clouds were starting to gather and we didn't have enough energy to hike fast if it got nasty. So we headed down an easier route towards the trailhead. The Elkhead Pass route that we descended was longer, but not nearly as steep. And it provided some beautiful views through the flowers.

While hiking down the gulch, we made guesses as to what time we would be back at the trailhead. For the second day in a row, our estimates were accurate only about 7 minutes off. Not too shabby! After breaking down camp (a.k.a. throwing everything in the back of the car) we stopped in the lake for another quick dip. So refreshing! All we had left was a trip to Rosie's Brewpub for hamburgers and homebrew. This was by far one of the most intense weekends I have had in a long time. Luckily I only got one small blister on my right toe. Now it's time to plan some hiking for the rest of the summer. It's nice to know that I won't have another weekend as long as this one.

High Elevation = Low Pressure = Expanded

We stopped at a gas station on the way to hike last weekend. I saw this bag and wanted to show you what happens when something packaged at sea level in an air tight bag gets to an elevation of 10,200 ft. I'm surprised it didn't pop. (Posted via mobile blog.)

Top of Mt. Shavano

Posting from the summit (via mobile blog).

This didn't come through when I sent it on Saturday, but I finally got it to work.

iPood

This will be my next gear purchase. AWESOME!!!


Check out the details...

Ice Skating and More

Rode home on my bike yesterday (obviously, since I rode TO work) and was so glad I did. The highway was backed up with traffic from Vail Village through Dowd's Junction and into Eagle-Vail. Since I was on the bike path... no traffic. I got home just in time to relax on the porch with a beer and watch this storm blow in...

You can see how strong the wind was blowing by looking at the tree to the left of the stop sign and the flag on the far left. After grabbing some groceries, I cooked some dinner and started packing for the weekend. Then Luke, JJ, Blair and Carly got back from dinner and convinced me to join them for a drink in Beaver Creek. Walking in to the village we noticed the ice skating rink and decided to join in the fun. I had only ice skated once before, but I used to rollerblade alot and play roller hockey, so I hit the ice running. Here's the goofballs that i went out with.

And here is a close up of my retarded friend Bilo...

He is very special. JJ and I began practicing for the 2010 Winter Olympics. We had the rest of the crew watching for Russian spys as we practiced.

All in all it was a good night. I finished packing when I got home and am excited to get off work so I can go camping and hike tomorrow. I'll try to post a pic from the summit when I am up there.

Ahhhhhh Exercise

I went for a jog last night and then did some upper body and core work. It felt good to get the blood pumping again. I hadn't done anything in over a week. I decided to top it off with a nice bike commute to work today. Only my second one since I moved here. It took about 50 minutes. Since I hadn't been on my bike in so long, I took it pretty easy. It was nice to ride to work without being rained on.

Otherwise I have been pretty bored at work. Just getting ready to hike Mt. Shavano and Mt. Tabagauche this weekend. Should be fun!

King of the D-Bags

CONTEST!!!!!!

I just found out how to post to my blog using my BlackBerry. Now I can post pictures and send updates no matter where I am. Let's see how often I will actually do it. Post a comment with how many times you think I will actually post using my BlackBerry through the end of August (not counting my last post). Whoever comes closest will win a cool gadget/prize of my choice. I'll pick the prize based on who wins. It would suck for my mom to end up with a pair of mens Smartwool socks or for Joe G. to end up with swimming goggles. I think he's hydrophobic.

All entries must be received by July 31st by comment to this post only. I will make a note on the post if I send it via BlackBerry.

p.s. This is also a way for me to see who actually reads my blog. GENIUS!!! And the prize will range in value from $20-50. Worth it? I think yes.

Hook 'em Horns!

I walked around part of the UT campus with Matt & MEW before I left TX. This is one of the classrooms where I had a few of my classes. Ahhh memories...

Dad's Birthday Weekend

I flew in to TX for my dad's 60th birthday party this weekend, and we all had a blast. It was great to see all of my family... let me rephrase that. It was great to see my family, but a good chunk of my relatives weren't there. It's basically impossible to gather extended relatives when both my parents have 4 siblings and most of them have a bunch of their own kids. Somewhere around 50 friends and family showed up for the birthday dinner, most of whom I haven't seen in years. We spent most of Saturday lazing around the house and enjoying each others company. Two of my uncles spent half of the day playing fart noises to each other from an online fart soundboard. I love my family!


Here's a shot of my dad with Shiloh and me at the party. Isn't Shiloh gorgeous!

Osprey Delight

I forgot to mention that I tried out my other newest gear purchase on the hike - the Osprey Stratos 24.

I got a smokin' deal on it and I have wanted it for a few years now. It is so much better than the crap pack I have been using. The old "piece" held all the weight way low and away from the body. And the shoulder straps and hip belt weren't that great either.

Mt. Elbert

Last weekend I hiked to the highest point in all of Colorado with my friend Blair. This would be my first ascent where I did all of the planning and didn't rely on other hikers/climbers to help with the preperation. Not that it took alot of preperation since it is considered one of the easiest peaks to hike, because it is so well traveled and not very technical. Also, no route finding is involved. I'm looking forward to tackling some more difficult peaks that require the use of some outdoor skills. We didn't have access to potable water, so I got to use my new Katadyn Hiker PRO water filter, which was fun.

The route was relatively busy, but we only got passed by one couple. We were hiking pretty fast for Blairs first 14er. Unfortunately, there were some fires recently in Grand Junction, so the view from the peak was pretty hazy. Hence I didn't take many pictures. This is a shot of Blair and I in a clearing just below treeline with Mt. Massive in the background.

Here is a shot on the summit with Mt. Massive in the back. You can see how hazy it is.

And finally, here is Mt. Elbert from the road after a great day of hiking.

I haven't edited any of these photos, so the quality is suffering. deal with it.

We decided not to hike Mt. Massive the next day (as originally planned) because Blair was pretty wiped out and had some other stuff to take care of. After a great soaking of the feet in the cold river by our camp site, and a delicious 30 minute nap, we were off to the traditional post-hike meal - Rosie's BrewPub.

TX Trip, Round 2

I leave tonight for another visit to the home land. It was supposed to be a surprise for my dad's b-day, but the news got leaked like a bad rumor. It's pretty hard to keep a secret for 3 months about something like that. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family back in the land of heat and humidity.

Bring it on!

Today has been a crappy day. The tires on my Pathfinder are over 3 years old and have been in need of being replaced. I was having to fill my rear drivers side tire once or twice a week because it kept losing air. So after waking up late and deciding I needed to do it today, I tossed Chris' old tires in the back and went to pay the $50 to have dependable treads on my truck (yes Mary Ellen, I called it a truck). Luckily they weren't busy so I sat down to wait the 30 minutes for them to finish. A good chance to read up on the 14ers I plan to hike this weekend. Pull out my phone to see if I missed any calls and the screen is glowing white with a crack on the upper right corner, leaking destruction over the whole screen.





Crap. I was going to file a warranty claim for the crack on the outer screen (lower right), but figured it wasn't harming the functionality of the phone and it would be more trouble than it was worth. That warranty, of course, expired 2 weeks ago. Hooray! Guess who gets to buy a new phone.

Went to a local AT&T store to see about replacing my phone, and they lovingly tell me that since my phone has an out of state area code, I would have to go to a corporate store in Denver to get a new one. I love it when I have multiple hoops to jump through. Screw that, I'll get it online and save money anyway. Order the new one online (bye bye extra $100), and it should arrive in 2 business days. It has been a long time since I haven't had a phone. Now I have to wait 2 days for the replacement. Not looking forward to that.

All in all it's not that bad of a day. Just not convenient by any means.

Simon

I met the inventor of Simon over the 4th of July weekend. Chris and I went to have a late breakfast at a little diner/pub. They sat us outside at a table with an older couple. We got to talking and they were really interesting. It came up that the man was a retired toy maker who invented alot of poular games including Simon. It doesn't suck to make a crap load of money off making toys.

Mount Columbia

I did my first 14er of the season on Sunday, and it was an awesome trip! I spent most of last week planning and researching. Not just for this trip, but for gear and supplies for the rest of the summer. That got me stoked to finally get out and enjoy what I came here to do. I can always ride my bike and climb in Austin, but I can't climb a 14,000 foot peak on the weekend.

I met a guy through 14ers.com to climb up Mt. Columbia on Sunday. Somehow I already had his phone number saved in my phone and he looked really familiar, but we couldn't remember how we knew each other. Our group of 5 took off from Avon at about 4 a.m. After talking for awhile on the drive to the trailhead, trying to figure out how we knew each other, we realized that we both went to the same high school and were on the wrestling team. I think I had quit wrestling before he started, but it goes to show you how small this world really is.

We had a nice approach and made it almost to treeline where we caught this view of the Horn Fork Basin with Mt. Harvard in the background.

We continued hiking through some steep and loose gravel, dirt, and scree until we reached the ridge. We had a great view of the mountains to our west. You can barely see the clouds that were still lounging in the valley.

We thought that the big peak on the right was Mt. Princeton, but after looking at a map it looks like Mt. Yale. You can see Mt. Princeton in the distance on the left. It looked like there would be a great ski line down the couloir (gully) from the closest peak all the way through tree line. I'll have to do some research and check it out.

Horsing around on the false summit just below the peak of Mt. Columbia.

A marmot joined us on the summit as we tore into our well deserved lunches.

Clouds were starting to build up to the south, but looked like they would stay clear of us on the summit. The clouds to the north were building, but weren't quite as threatening. Rockin' the summit with Mt. Harvard in the background.

Showing off on the summit.

We didn't want to get drenched by the clouds to the south on our way out, so we packed up and headed down. We headed down the face a little early and ended up in the crapiest scree/talus field ever. Imagine crawling around on a steep slope covered with boulders waiting to be dislodged so they could crush everything below them. Every step is a chance for a rock avalanche to tear down the slope. By the time we made it down I was out of water and happy we were all safe. We stopped at a little brook to refill our Camelbak's with some fresh water. I'm just glad he brought a filter because all I had was a bottle of delicious iodine tablets which take an hour before you can drink the wonderful chemical laden (yet safe) water.

We were able to scream down the rest of the trail and finally made it to the trailhead again for some celebratory beverages (a.k.a. beer) before the heavens opened and the rain came soaring down.

We stopped at Rosie's Brewpub in Leadville on the way back and scarfed down some delicious burgers and homebrew. Needless to say i passed out on the remaining ride home. All in all it was a great day with no incidents and some new climbing/hiking buddies.