I ascended Peak One located on the western edge of Frisco, Colorado during mid June. The route to the top was always up, with few if any places to catch one’s breath. The final push to the summit included some mild scrambling depending on which path one selects, but overall it was a nice hike with low sketch the entire way.
After two failed attempts to summit Mount Yale, once due to heavy snow, and a second due to hurricane force winds, I finally made it to the summit in surprisingly fast fashion. Three hours up and around two jogging assisted hours back down...with a beer awaiting the finish motivating my fast downward descent. The final summit ridge was a fun mix of scrambling across boulders, and the very top was garnished with growing cumulus towers in the background. Yale is a great 14er, both above and below treeline...I very much appreciated the creek crossings/encounters down low, which were full of cold cascading snowmelt.
I traveled out to Sedona, Arizona to get away from the cold wintry mountains of Central Colorado. Lot's of sun, pool time, great food, hiking, and good companionship were enjoyed. I experienced the Subway and adjacent cliff dwelling ruins for a second time, and ate at Mariposa, The Hideaway House, and Shorebird...all worth checking out if you are in town. A few pictures highlighting the trip are posted below.
I had a nice hike to the top of Humphreys Peak during late May. The peak is actually the highest point of a collapsed caldera that cut a much taller mountain down in size many many years ago. The hike itself, as well as the volcanic terrain and landscape, reminded me of Mount McLoughlin near Medford, Oregon. In general, a very nice spring day to be up in the Northern Arizona alpine zone.
I summited the ultra-easy Mount Sherman from the west Leadville side/Iowa Gulch trailhead. That trail starts at 12,000 feet, which made this hike a very fast one. From truck to summit took 2 hours, and from summit back down to truck less than 1 hour. The patches of lingering snow were still firm and the ridge walk was pure joy. A very nice, though always windy, 14er to run up and down.
Google map of Mount Sherman west side trailhead.
I followed the Black Cloud Trail from Highway 82 up to the southeast ridge of Mount Elbert. The trail to the ridge is steep, but I made good time. There are a couple of nice stream crossings, and a meadow helps the mind wander away from the relentless ascent. Otherwise, I followed the ridge route to South Elbert, then descended into a col, followed by the final upward push along a narrowing ridge filled with patches of thick snow and old cornices. Finally the summit of Elbert, and then the relentless descent, minus having to regain the summit of South Elbert, which was a bit tiresome. Black Cloud is a nice route...much more interesting than the standard Elbert routes due to the airy ridge walk.
Map of Black Cloud Trail in Google Maps.
I journeyed east to the South Park basin, north through Fairplay, and entered a deep beautiful mountain valley/gorge just past Alma that led me to the Wheeler Lake trailhead. I quickly hiked to a place of cascading water next to Magnolia Mill, and then trekked west into a glacially carved alpine valley. The trail led me across a small stream that steeply descended from an alpine lake above. That lake was covered in winter ice and snow, and was surrounded by towering cliffs and mountains. I had reached the origin of the South Platte River...a river that flows out onto the Great Plains, eastward across Nebraska, and then empties into the Missouri River next to the town I grew up in called Plattsmouth. It's always impressive to be able to jump three feet across a river that eventually widens to around a quarter mile many hundreds of miles downstream.
Google map of Wheeler Lake and the South Platte River starting point.
I ascended Peak One located on the western edge of Frisco, Colorado during mid June. The route to the top was always up, with few if any pla...
