I obviously didn't take this while riding, but it shows my max speed from the ride.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Me Go FAST!
I went for a road ride yesterday. The weather was beautiful and I felt great. I started from work and went up Buck Creek to the gate at Mountain Star, then over to Wildridge. Climbed to the top there and then back to Mountain Star and down. On the way down Mountain Star, I hit the fastest speed I have ever gone on a bike... 53 MPH!!!! It wasn't scary until I tried to stop. That took a bit longer than expected. Good thing I had given myself plenty of room to slow down.
I obviously didn't take this while riding, but it shows my max speed from the ride.
I obviously didn't take this while riding, but it shows my max speed from the ride.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Notch Mountain Traverse
Last weekend was pretty stellar. Went camping in Mushroom Bowl (behind China Bowl on Vail Mountain) Friday night. It was pretty secluded and we had a raging fire. After a short hike the next morning, I went for a quick mountain bike ride from Meadow Mountain to the Grouse Creek trailhead, and then climbed that afternoon with Blake. We wanted to camp that night, but couldn't decide where. We ended up deciding to hike up Notch Mountain the next day. I wanted to get more familiar with the area since many of our SAR missions are in that area. We camped in his new WilderNest on Tigiwon Road. That thing is friggin' HUGE!
We slept in on Sunday and got on the trail around 10:00 a.m. after a delicious breakfast sandwich. I'm hooked on them ever since my friend Alex introduced me. Bacon, egg over medium cooked in the bacon grease, cheese and jelly, all on toast. SO GOOD! The hike up to Half Moon Pass was quick with some good views.
Here is Blake just before the top of Half Moon Pass.
This was my first view of Mount of the Holy Cross from the trail leading up to Notch Mountain. It's pretty obvious how it got the name Holy Cross.
Spiderwebs were scattered around the top of the mountain. We found this guy feasting on a moth. He also had a few flies waiting to be eaten. That really made Blake happy.
From the top of Notch Mountain with Holy Cross impaling me.
Blake found a nice spot for a cheesy pose.
I may take up sword swallowing, but that's about all I'll swallow.
Goofed off on the top of Notch Mountain and then decided to traverse over to the other side of the notch. My friend did it the day before and gave us a little beta (scroll down for a definition) on how to get there. After a little easy scrambling, Blake found a key hole for us to climb through. It led right to the top of the south side of Notch Mountain.
Enjoying the view of the Holy Cross valley.
This is part of the Halo Ridge route. You hike from the Stone Hut around to the top of Holy Cross. I'm thinking of doing a big loop from Half Moon Pass to Notch Mountain, around the notch, around Halo Ridge to Holy Cross, down the ridge to East Cross Creek, and back up Half Moon Pass. It would be a LLLLOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG day, but a cool loop.
On the way to the Stone Hut. The rain showers were just south of us. We were pretty lucky to stay dry all day.
Alot of groups hike up to the Stone Hut to look at the Holy Cross. It has a fireplace and big picnic table in it. Since it is so high and exposed, there are a few lightning rods on top with wires spread all around outside to keep the hut from being blown up by a strike.
Inside the hut. Blake has a good eye for photography lighting.
Relaxin' on the table.
The hike down was really long. It took us just as long to get up Notch Mountain as it did to get down. You can usually hike down alot faster, but there were so many switchbacks that it took us nearly 2 hours. I tracked most of the trip on my phone GPS, so you can check out the map below.
GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com
We slept in on Sunday and got on the trail around 10:00 a.m. after a delicious breakfast sandwich. I'm hooked on them ever since my friend Alex introduced me. Bacon, egg over medium cooked in the bacon grease, cheese and jelly, all on toast. SO GOOD! The hike up to Half Moon Pass was quick with some good views.
Here is Blake just before the top of Half Moon Pass.
This was my first view of Mount of the Holy Cross from the trail leading up to Notch Mountain. It's pretty obvious how it got the name Holy Cross.
Spiderwebs were scattered around the top of the mountain. We found this guy feasting on a moth. He also had a few flies waiting to be eaten. That really made Blake happy.
From the top of Notch Mountain with Holy Cross impaling me.
Blake found a nice spot for a cheesy pose.
I may take up sword swallowing, but that's about all I'll swallow.
Goofed off on the top of Notch Mountain and then decided to traverse over to the other side of the notch. My friend did it the day before and gave us a little beta (scroll down for a definition) on how to get there. After a little easy scrambling, Blake found a key hole for us to climb through. It led right to the top of the south side of Notch Mountain.
Enjoying the view of the Holy Cross valley.
This is part of the Halo Ridge route. You hike from the Stone Hut around to the top of Holy Cross. I'm thinking of doing a big loop from Half Moon Pass to Notch Mountain, around the notch, around Halo Ridge to Holy Cross, down the ridge to East Cross Creek, and back up Half Moon Pass. It would be a LLLLOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG day, but a cool loop.
On the way to the Stone Hut. The rain showers were just south of us. We were pretty lucky to stay dry all day.
Alot of groups hike up to the Stone Hut to look at the Holy Cross. It has a fireplace and big picnic table in it. Since it is so high and exposed, there are a few lightning rods on top with wires spread all around outside to keep the hut from being blown up by a strike.
Inside the hut. Blake has a good eye for photography lighting.
Relaxin' on the table.
The hike down was really long. It took us just as long to get up Notch Mountain as it did to get down. You can usually hike down alot faster, but there were so many switchbacks that it took us nearly 2 hours. I tracked most of the trip on my phone GPS, so you can check out the map below.
GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com
Thursday, July 16, 2009
First SAR Mission
Over the past few months I have been attending meetings and training sessions so I can join Vail Mountain Rescue Group (VMRG). They do search and rescue (SAR) for Eagle County. I was deployed on my first mission Wednesday night.
The page went out about 5 p.m. that evening. When I called in, the incident coordinator asked if I could stay out overnight. "Yes." So I grabbed my gear and was at the staging area shortly thereafter. Two hikers had camped at East Cross Creek the night before. They summitted Mount of the Holy Cross that afternoon, and got off the trail on their way back to their camp. We were told they had pants, shirts, sweaters, rain gear, a cell phone with a dying battery, and some water bottles. No food, water, or any survival gear.
Nine of us were set to go and we were broken into 2 teams. They put me on the rapid-search team. We hit the trail at 7:45 and made it to the top of Half Moon Pass by about 8:30. So we gained about 1,500 feet of elevation over 1.9 miles in 45 minutes. Just as we were reaching the top, we got another page that we were to stand down. The hikers had been communicating with command via cell phone. Command had guided them to the trail so they could return to their camp site at East Cross Creek.
Apparently this is a pretty typical mission. We may get deployed, but we often are told to return before we even find the missing party. I really enjoyed it because I learned how a real scenario works. The sunset view from the top of Half Moon Pass wasn't bad either. Actually it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in a long time. These pictures just don't do it justice. Here is a view on Mount Jackson to the west.
This is an incredible view of The Gore Range to the north-east.
Since The Mount of the Holy Cross is one of 2 Fourteeners I have left in the Sawatch Range, I'm really looking forward to getting back out there soon. Hopefully I'll have many more pictures to share.
The page went out about 5 p.m. that evening. When I called in, the incident coordinator asked if I could stay out overnight. "Yes." So I grabbed my gear and was at the staging area shortly thereafter. Two hikers had camped at East Cross Creek the night before. They summitted Mount of the Holy Cross that afternoon, and got off the trail on their way back to their camp. We were told they had pants, shirts, sweaters, rain gear, a cell phone with a dying battery, and some water bottles. No food, water, or any survival gear.
Nine of us were set to go and we were broken into 2 teams. They put me on the rapid-search team. We hit the trail at 7:45 and made it to the top of Half Moon Pass by about 8:30. So we gained about 1,500 feet of elevation over 1.9 miles in 45 minutes. Just as we were reaching the top, we got another page that we were to stand down. The hikers had been communicating with command via cell phone. Command had guided them to the trail so they could return to their camp site at East Cross Creek.
Apparently this is a pretty typical mission. We may get deployed, but we often are told to return before we even find the missing party. I really enjoyed it because I learned how a real scenario works. The sunset view from the top of Half Moon Pass wasn't bad either. Actually it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in a long time. These pictures just don't do it justice. Here is a view on Mount Jackson to the west.
This is an incredible view of The Gore Range to the north-east.
Since The Mount of the Holy Cross is one of 2 Fourteeners I have left in the Sawatch Range, I'm really looking forward to getting back out there soon. Hopefully I'll have many more pictures to share.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Mt. Harvard (Test)
I found a free application for my phone that will track my location via GPS and transmit my location to a webpage. I turned it on while on the top of Mt. Harvard (the 3rd highest peak in CO), and forgot to turn it off. So it tracked me from the top until I realized it was still on this afternoon. Once I deleted all the data points after the time I got back to the trailhead, I came up with the map below.
GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com
I'll add some pictures later, but this is what I have so far.
GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com
I'll add some pictures later, but this is what I have so far.
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