hiking

Spring hike: Bear Peak (8,461ft)

Published March 24, 2018

After a solid week of after-work play, dropped Stephen at the airport & started weekend play.

No marathon this Saturday: trail day. Kept today’s hike local, < 9,000ft – mid-week snow fell heavy in the high mountains [March in Colorado]. Chose Bear Peak, hadn’t hiked this mount since Thanksgiving 2012.

3 miles up, 3 miles down. Cut my mileage in half starting at Shanahan Ridge. Still, 2700 vertical feet UP 🙂

Mile of Ponderosa pine, low-grade incline. Next mile, bouldering. Typical Boulder butt-buster hike. Lotta gain over a short distance. Stopped/breaked/panted, hiked on. Last mile: snow & ice. Hike return more treacherous/going down than the summit push UP.

Sunshiny day. Wind-break’d behind a large boulder, sucked up the thin air. High above Boulder, legs rock-hangin’ past the peak’s geo marker. No place I’d rather celebrate the first week of Spring. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤

: trail day

: snow in the high mountains

: marathon off-week

: 2700 vertical feet UP

: first week of Spring

: last mile: snow & ice

: rock scramble to the top

: SUMMIT SUCCESS!

: Peak’s geo marker

: legs rock-hangin’ high above Boulder, no place I’d rather be ❤

: 3 miles up, 3 miles down

Sniktau SNOW summit

Published March 11, 2018

“The mountains are calling and I most go” – John Muir

Seems to happen every March. Maybe it’s just the season. Maybe it’s the newness of annual goals losing luster 2 months in & the reality of day-to-day training/the struggle for balance sets in. Whatever the itch, HUGE need for a mental reset.

Plan of attack: Snow hike in the high mountains.

4 weekends of marathoning. 4 different states, 3 different time zones. Body held up/only superficial injuries, just a matter of making peace with the travel. Out Friday nite/Saturday morning, home again Sunday evening. Amazing life opportunity to see so many new places (that little gem isn’t lost on me). Tired but SUPER appreciative. #luckyinlife

Saturday: mountain snow & wind. Hung with the pup; postponed my high peak retreat.

Sunday 4am: showered/backpacked, pup walked/everybody fed. West on I-70, turnoff just before the tunnel. Day’s climb goal: Mount Sniktau, directly across from Loveland Pass.

Gonna be a beautiful one. Sunrise not yet crested the first false summit. Light wind on a notorious windy peak. Attempted to snow-summit this peak in November 2013. Turned around in white-out conditions/blowing snow on the 2^nd false summit.

Mile UP to the first false summit. Good way to get your head back in the mountains. Three-quarters UP, morning sun peeped over the looming peak ahead. Stunning.

11/23/2013: Top of the first false summit – BEAUTIFUL! Quiet, stunning, everything WHITE. A-Basin, Keystone, Breckinridge & Loveland all visible. Grizzly Peak & Torreys too. Better than a class reunion – I missed you guys!

Switched out my water, downed half a burrito, repositioned the iPhone [camera] to my pants front pocket (battery was fast freezing in the backpack, now warmed against my right quad). Temp: 23 above. Light wind. Perfect day.

Easy hike. High wind from yesterday’s storm blew the ridge line free of snow. No crampons, no snow shoes – just stuck to Sniktau’s craggy rock ridge. Nice view of Grizzly Peak’s single track from the trail split below.

High above, quiet & alone.

Followed hoof tracks the last mile. Goat or sheep – too small for elk, elevation too high for deer. Lost 15 degrees fast, shielded my face from intermittent wind gusts/bitter cold. Sunshine blasted above. Pull down my bandana, nothing but SMILE 🙂

Slow summit push. Nothing crazy technical but weather conditions limited hand holds. Ice on Sniktau’s shady side, heavy snow where the sun cast. Slow & steady. AMAZING solo hike – only human on today’s snow SUMMIT. Cold thin air, surrounded by white.

360 degrees, every high peak, SNOW ❄❤⛄

: directly across from Loveland Pass, Colorado 13er on the Divide

: Sunday sunshine

: first false summit

: Grizzly Peak’s single track trek

: nothing but SMILE 🙂

: too small for elk, too high for deer

: no crampons, no snow shoes – just stuck to Sniktau’s craggy rock ridge

: slow & steady SUMMIT push

: 360 degrees, SNOW ❄️

Mount Sniktau 13,240ft

Big Island snow & Macadamia nuts

Published January 9, 2018

Snow? Hawaii?

Not a typo nor a fantasy. Started Tuesday with a 4WD trek UP Mount Mauna Kea, one of Hawaii’s two 13ers.

Mauna Loa, known for its active lava flow. Mauna Kea, the world’s highest telescope. “The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on earth for ground-based astronomy.”

Gonna be a HUGE day – Fire, Ice AND a tropical Waterfall 🙂

Rank Name Elevation Counties

1 Mauna Kea 13,796′ Hawaii

2 Mauna Loa 13,679′ Hawaii

Hopped aboard the Grecos SUV (thanks again Paul for chauffeuring), drove an hour east toward Hilo – our third day travelling the Big Island’s Saddle Road (Hawaii 200), island’s only East-West highway (Kona to Hilo).

First stop: Onizuka Center for International Astronomy, adjacent the Visitors Center. Closed ‘til noon. Stretched our legs, started the 7-mile all-dirt journey UP to Mauna Kea Observatory. Less than a handful of US states with 13,000ft peaks.

Rocky, barren, red Martian landscape. UP UP UP. Patches of last week’s windswept snow remained on the high peaks near the Observatory. Stopped outside each massive structure: the Subaru Telescope, Keck I and II Telescopes, NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility.

After multiple days of tropical humidity, LOVE LOVED my half-hour of high-altitude gusty, thin air. FAAANNNTASTIC!

: barren Martian-like landscape

: 13,000ft & SNOW

: Subaru Telescope, Keck Telescopes & NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility

Hilo Lunch: organic Kombucha at Sweet Cane Café
Hilo Highlight: Rainbow Falls in Wailuku River State Park. Short hike, top of the Falls thru a forest of Giant Banyan trees (double WOW) to the Boiling Pots, a succession of big pools formed by slow cooling lava. What a crazy diverse climate!

Evening’s activity? LAVA: the ONE single most thing I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do in Hawaii. And not the possible red glow a mile away, from the deck of a building in the National Park. Pāhoa Lava Flow, tonite’s ranger-free private-land molten lava experience.

[Too early in the afternoon to head to the south coast. Most impressive after dark.]

Filled our lava ‘wait’ time at Mauna Loa. NOT the massive peak ‘cross from Mount Mauna Kea…rather, Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s #1 Macadamia nut manufacturer. Factory tour, garden walk – FREE samples at the gift store. No money, lotta flavours.

Did I say FREE? Reality: Tasty & super addictive. ALL of us dropped cash here. LOL>