Fall 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.”
Cooking and lighting with the Biolite, with the rest of our camping toys strewn about
Fresh coffee in the morning.
Kevin enjoying fresh morning coffee from the Stanley Stacking Vacuum Pint before a late-fall ascent of Grays and Torreys peaks.
Fueling up for our climb..
Our first de-layering stop. Things heat up as soon as the sun comes over the mountain.
Morning light…
Kevin taking a quick break…
Selfies!
As we ascended higher, the snow began to creep in a little…
Approaching the summit ridge of Grays Peak
Lunch at the top
We made it to the top!
Jumping for joy at the top of Torreys
Jumping for joy at the top of Torreys
Shooting mountain photos with the Lytro Illum
Descending Torreys in the light snow.
On our descent, we encountered a beautiful white mountain goat.
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:
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.
On our way…
Our camping group, evening before the climb. Half of us did Elbert, half did Massive
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.
As soon as I finished up my brief intro to Thailand in Koh Lanta, I immediately hopped on a boat and sped over to the climbers mecca of Thailand, Railay/Tonsai Beach. The Railay beach area is made of three different bays, with the beach in each bay having a unique character. West Railay is the ritzy beach, with lush resorts and infinity pools. East Railay is the mid-range beach, with the main boat dock and a handfull of restaurants. And Tonsai is the undeveloped, dirty, raw and rambunctious climbers beach – filled with backpackers on a mission to relax at the low key beach bars at night, and rock climb the surrounding soaring limestone cliffs all day. Given how built up the rest of the area feels, Tonsai is a breath of fresh air, a utopian climbers oasis, as yet still untouched by the resort and tourism development.
To get from Koh Lanta to Tonsai, I took a big ferry across, and met a few friends along the way.
I arrived at West Railay beach by boat, and immediately made my way over to Tonsai to check in at my own private bungalow for $4/night.
Naturally, first stop in Tonsai was for food. And where else but Mama’s Chicken, the best chicken in the universe. Mama’s Chicken is a small shack along one of the main dirt paths into the jungle, and it’s where lots of people congregate at night. All the food, and fruit shakes, is amazing.
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And a perfect end to a solid day of travel at one of the beachside bars. During the day this place is a chillout spot and volleyball match grandstand, evening it’s a bar, and late night the deck turns into an impromptu hostel. Something for everyone, with cheap beer all around.
Day two, the first order of the day is of course climbing on the incredible limestone.
Here’s me getting to the cruxy section on “Groove Tube” on the Firewall.
A few days later, I got rid of my harness and gear and went bouldering – but this time the bouldering was on rock outcroppings over the water, and the start of every climb was straight out of the water – it’s called Deep Water Solo in Thailand.
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Me!
Later afternoon exploring secluded beaches and caves.
Overal, the week I spent rock climbing at Tonsai was simply incredible, and I can’t wait to go back. It’s certainly a climbers paradise, with more culture, friends, good food, cold drinks, and climbs than you can possible take in during one trip. Let me know if you’d like to go back with me!
This weekend I headed out with a large group of friends to The Gunks, one of the premier climbing areas in the east. We camped at the “multiple use area” campground, and climbed mainly in the Peterskill area.
The Gunks (short for Shawangunks) is one of the premier climbing areas in the country. Located near New Paltz, NY, the Gunks is about 85 miles from the NYC metropolitan area, making it a popular weekend destination. The rock is quartz conglomerate, solid rock with horizontal rather than vertical cracks. Climbing at the Gunks is characterized by roofs, jugs, traverses, big air, and sometimes “sporty” pro. The Gunks is famous for great one-to-three-pitch climbs of all levels of difficulty. You’ll find some of the best easy and moderate trad climbs in the country at the Gunks. There are a few bolted climbs at the Gunks, but no sport climbs.
Camping at the multi-use area was fairly easy, although finding it is not be best in the dark! Departing from NYC in the late afternoon on Friday, we finally made it up there in the dark. Using The Bistro/EMS gear shop as a landmark, we eventually found the campsite area, and had a fun time hiking in the dark for a bit down to the campground.
Another incredible climbing video from Black Diamond. Sonnie Trotter and Tommy Caldwell free climb the first ascent of The Shining. Interesting to see them drilling and bolting pitches, and how they handle the cameras while climbing. Also, holding together 5.13+ in a snowstorm is pretty amazing.
Black Diamond athletes Tommy Caldwell and Sonnie Trotter redpointed their multi-pitch project on Canada’s Mount Louis this past August. The main headwall (referred to as the Diamond Face) is a stacked beast with the following pitches: 5.12+, 5.12+/13-, 5.13+, 5.12-, 5.12+, 5.11+, 5.10, all of which they bolted on lead. Here is the video that Sonnie edited together for us that documents the challenges and adventures that come with tackling such a high-end endeavor in the Canadian Rockies.
Great video today from Adidas, of Sasha DiGiulian’s insanely hard first female ascent of Pur Imagination, in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. This is actually where I grew up climbing too – although definitely not doing routes like this..
Filmed and Edited by: 3SM
Music by: Emancipator (www.emancipatormusic.com)
On October 15th 2011, Adidas team athlete, Sasha DiGiulian became the first American women to climb the grade 9a (5.14d) with her historic ascent of “Pure Imagination” in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. Keith Ladzinski and Andy Mann (Three Strings Media) were there to capture her efforts and tell her story.
Last weekend, my brother Jason and I took a roadrtip to North Conway, and climbed Mt. Washington with the EMS Climbing school.
We drove up to North Conway on Friday Night, and stayed at the White Trellis motel. With a 4 am arrival, I thought a locally owned motel would be the easiest do deal with. The next day, Saturday, Jason slept in a bit while I went into town to take some photos and buy girl scout cookies – tasty! We then both went into North Conway to the Stairway Cafe, and had a great breakfast. The rest of the day we spent gearing up at EMS, and then drove out to Jason’s summer camp an hour away.
Being at camp in the winter was an experience – everything covered in snow was a stark contrast to the hot and humid summertime. By far the best part of the day was standing on the frozen lake and taking in the fading sunlight. On a white lake near a green mountain – peaceful.
Joe Dodge Lodge is a rustic mountain lodge, run by the AMC, and sits directly at the foot of the Pinkham Notch trail, which leads up to the top of Mt. Washington. Accommodations were perfect – a small room in the lodge with a bunkbed, shared dorm style bathroom down the hall, and a great cafeteria across the way. It was a bit like being back in the dorms at college, or at camp!
Sunday morning we woke up early for a hearty breakfast at the cafeteria, and then met our climbing group just outside.
The hike up Mt. Washington was spectacular. We had 4 people in our group, and were accompanied by another group also from EMS of 5 more people. The beginning of the hike along the fire road was a good warmup, and then we put our crampons on and started up the beginning, steep section within tree line. The weather was amazingly mild, and we had an easy hike up to treeline. After we got above treeline, there were a few more miles of mild weather hiking, and then as we got a little closer to the top the weather blew in.
Throughout the climb up, the Rime Ice, which is ice created from supercooled liquid fog, was extremely dramatic, and stuck to everything. Even taking my camera out on the summit for just a minute, Rime Ice immediately began to build up on the lens. You can see the spots of ice in our summit video.
The trip back down the mountain was fun and fast, with some fun glissading on our buts for the very last part!
Sunday night we spent some more time at EMS going over gear, and then Jason and I had a good dinner and went back to Joe Dodge Lodge.
Monday morning was a relaxing breakfast in the cafeteria, and a long, leisurely drive back to the city.
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!
Fall 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)
