Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: 14er

  • Climbing Grays and Torreys Peaks in Early Season Snow – 14,278 feet

    Climbing Grays and Torreys Peaks in Early Season Snow – 14,278 feet

    mRTorr_501Fall colors in Colorado are beautiful – and what better vantage point than the top of 2 Colorado 14ers. This weekend, I did the Fall 14er adventure and  climbed with a group of friends to the tops of Grays and Torreys Peaks. (USGS Topo Quad)

    Wikipedia:

    “Grays Peak is the tenth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent 14,278-foot (4,352 m) fourteener is the highest summit of the Front Range and the highest point on the Continental Divide in North America. (There are higher summits, such as Mount Elbert, which are near, but not on, the Divide.) Grays Peak is located in Arapahoe National Forest, 3.9 miles (6.2 km) southeast by east (bearing 122°) of Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide between Clear Creek and Summit counties. The peak is the highest point in both counties.”

  • Climbing Mt. Rainier

    Climbing Mt. Rainier

    During one of my high school summers, I climbed Mt. Rainier with Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI), as part of a larger trip with Wilderness Ventures. Here’s the only photo I can find from the trip, showing me learning to ice climb at the base. Shot with my first compact/waterproof/shockproof camera, the 35mm Canon Sure Shot A-1. I loved that camera.

     

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  • Climbing Mt. Sherman – 14,035 Feet

    Climbing Mt. Sherman – 14,035 Feet

    Another great Colorado 14er weekend – this weekend Amy, Shannon and I headed up to Mt. Sherman, in Colorado’s Mosquito Range.

    We headed up Saturday evening and camped at the Fourmile Campground, just below the Southwest Ridge trailhead. Luckily the light rain stopped right as we got our fire going, and we enjoyed a great night cooking and hanging by the fire.

    Sunday, we woke up early and met a few more friends at the trailhead before heading up to the top. Hiking up Mt. Sherman wasn’t particularly strenous, and the views at saddle and on the top were great.

    Our awesome campsite!
    Amy taking photos!
    Beginning the day passing some old mining ruins
    Dew on flowers as we get hiking
    Final push to the summit
    Sliding down the snowfield after a great summit!
    Almost to the summit
    We made it to the top!
    Me at the top!
    Me, thinking about the top
    Looking off the other side..

    GPS Track, recorded on Garmin Forerunner 310xt and uploaded to Strava:


    (Photos on Flickr)

  • Climbing Colorado’s Mt. Massive – 14,429 Feet

    Climbing Colorado’s Mt. Massive – 14,429 Feet

    This past weekend, I traveled with a good group of friends to Leadville, Colorado to camp at the base of and climb Mt. Massive, one of Colorado’s 14ers, and the 2nd highest peak in the Rocky Mountains.

    Route Description, from 14ers.com:

    Leave the parking area and begin hiking up the Colorado/Mt. Massive trail – Photo #1. Cross South Willow Creek (Photo #2) after 2 miles and continue another mile before crossing Willow Creek (Photo #3), at 11,000‘. Both of these crossings are fairly easy unless the rocks are submerged or icy. Continue northwest up a hill and to reach a trail junction at 11,300‘ – Photo #4. Turn left onto the Mt. Massive Trail. Hike approx. 1/4 mile up a hill and through some small clearings to reach 11,600‘ where the terrain flattens out and you can finally see portions of Massive ahead – Photo #5.

    Continue to 11,800‘, zigzag through willows and ascend Point 12,466‘ -Photo #6 and Photo #7. Reach easier ground near 12,400‘ where most of the remaining route is now in view to the west – Photo #8. With 2 miles remaining, the summit is still a long way off. Your next goal is to reach the saddle between “South Massive” and the summit ridge. Continue up the excellent trail as you gradually gain ground and eliminate distance – Photo #9. Keep hauling to reach the 13,900-foot saddle – Photo #10, Photo #11 and Photo #12.

    Turn right at the saddle and follow a small trail up toward the summit ridge – Photo #13, Photo #14and Photo #15. The exact line to the ridge depends on snow conditions and/or route finding along the broken trail. Near the ridge, reach a notch and signed (hopefully) trail junction. This is where the Southwest Slopes trail comes up from the south. Photo #16 looks back at the trail junction. Past the junction, stay right of the ridge crest and weave up through the rocks (Photo #17 and Photo #18) to reach easier terrain on the ridge crest near 14,300‘ – Photo #19 and Photo #20. Gain a false summit where you can finally see the summit – Photo #21. Drop to the left, continue to a saddle (Photo #22) and follow the faint trail over to the top. From the summit, Photo #23 looks back on the summit ridge.

    (First time I climbed Mt. Massive, in 2001) (Flickr Set)

  • How to plan, train and pack for your first summit above 14,000 feet

    How to plan, train and pack for your first summit above 14,000 feet


    Screen Shot 2014-07-01 at 12.24.17 PMThis month, I was featured in Boulder Lifestyle Magazine discussing some great Colorado 14ers to get you started on your first climb. Thanks to journalist Sandra Henderson for interviewing me for the article. Check out the article, starting on page 34!

  • Climbing Mt. Sneffels to 14,150 feet

    Climbing Mt. Sneffels to 14,150 feet

    This past week, my climbing partner Sean Safdi and I successfully the Mt. Sneffels summit loop climb, topping out at the 14,150 foot peak in perfect weather. A few pics from our climb.


    View Larger Map

    To access the trailhead, we drove from Telluride, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado and then up a 4WD road outside of Ouray into Yankee Boy Basin. The 4WD road was fine for most of the time, however the running boards on our Jeep Liberty took a beating, and had to be ripped off with a tire iron in the middle of the drive.

    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3656-FullWM
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3672-FullWM

    Yankee Boy Road, leading up the basin.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/9690925972/

    Starting out the hike, instead of following markers to the Mt. Sneffels scree field ascent, we instead took the Blue Lakes Saddle trail up to the Southwest Ridge. Once we were at the saddle, we turned to take on the jagged and steep knife edge Southwest Ridge leading to the summit.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/9690926612/
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3743-FullWM

    Mt. Sneffels Climbing Routes Map

    Blue lakes on the other side of the saddle.
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3763-FullWM

    Getting steeper towards the summit.
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3782-FullWM
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/9687686555/
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3826-FullWM
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3844-FullWM

    On the summit of Mt. Sneffels, one of Colorado’s 14’ers. What a great climb!
    2013-09-03 Mt. Sneffles - IMG_3868-FullWM

  • Climbing Mt. Massive with Molly – 14,428 Feet

    Climbing Mt. Massive with Molly – 14,428 Feet

    In 2001, I climbed Colorado’s Mt. Massive for the first time. The blog post was originally made on my Geocities blog, but sadly never transferred over to my now-continuing database, started in 2002 on Blogger v1. Here are photos from our awesome climb up Mt. Massive!

    Photoset, on Flickr

  • Climbing Longs Peak – 14,259 Feet

    Climbing Longs Peak – 14,259 Feet

    Listening to: Layo & Bushwaka! – Night Works

    So I was just scanning through the hundreds of little video clips i’ve taken over the years with various digital cameras, and found this one of Me, Steve, John, Chris and Kieth on the top of Longs Peak. Ahh, those were the days…I miss the mountains now more than ever, but I know I will return someday, at very least for a visit.