If it’s just going to rain down low, we ought to just go high and enjoy the new snow. A day of backcountry skiing at Rocky Mountain National Park’s defunct ski area, Hidden Valley, seemed the best use of the day. A trip which of course had to include a stop at the Donut Haus [...]
Archive for April, 2011
Hidden Valley skiing
Posted in skiing, tagged backcountry skiing, Hidden Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park on April 24, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Southern Jeff Co Parks
Posted in hiking, tagged Jefferson County Open Space, Pine Valley Ranch Park, Reynolds Park on April 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Plans to go ice and snow climbing (or just end up taking our tools for a long walk) fell through, so I drove through falling snow on US 285 to visit a few of Jefferson County’s Open Space parks I hadn’t yet hiked through. Loosing elevation after Pine Junction the sky brightened a bit and [...]
Boulder Direct
Posted in climbing, tagged Boulder Direct, Eldorado Canyon, rock climbing, Wind Tower on April 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Weather and schedules hadn’t really aligned yet this spring for Gary and I to return to after-work rock climbing. Friday seemed windy, but do-able, so we headed into Eldo and decided to start on Wind Tower’s Boulder Direct. I got the first, easier, but runout at the start, pitch and took it to the ledge [...]
Willy B
Posted in climbing, tagged Flatirons, Green Mountain Pinnacle, rock climbing, Swing Time, West Chimney, Willy B on April 18, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Originally, I’d have been rock climbing w/ Pete today, but after spraining an ankle he was out. Gary, however, was interested in a trip to the flatirons, so we made the long approach from Chautauqua past the Third Flatiron and wandered around until we think we located the formation “Willy B”. Gary got us started [...]
Great Sand Dunes NP
Posted in hiking, tagged Great Sand Dunes National Park, High Dune, Star Dune on April 17, 2011 | 2 Comments »
After leaving Mesa Verde, I followed US 160 east with a brief stop in Pagosa Springs for an excellent fish & chips dinner at the Pagosa Brewing Company – the beer was pretty good as well. By the time I was nearing Great Sand Dunes darkness was approaching and I didn’t feel like paying for [...]
Mesa Verde NP
Posted in hiking, tagged Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Petroglyph Trail, Spruce Canyon Trail, Spruce Tree House on April 17, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Returning to Color-Red-O I first paused in Cortez for a entirely forgettable meal and stout at J. Fargo’s Brewing. At least filled up, I continued to Mesa Verde National Park and signed up for the only guided tour available this early in the year. With a bit of time to kill I first drove around [...]
Canyonlands NP
Posted in backpacking, tagged backpacking, Canyonlands National Park, Chesler Park, Devils Pocket, Druid Arch, Elephant Canyon, Joint Trail, Lost Canyon, Needles District, Squaw Canyon on April 17, 2011 | 2 Comments »
By now I felt my loyal steed could have steered itself out of Moab and down to UT 211 into Indian Creek. If my hands recognized this place, they didn’t start screaming in protest – noise that I’d normally have to gag with layers of athletic tape. For this visit, they’d get a reprieve from [...]
Arches NP
Posted in hiking, tagged Arches National Park, Broken Arch, Delicate Arch, Fiery Furnace, hiking, Tapestry Arch on April 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
My original goal had been to visit several new-to-me National Parks in Utah and Colorado, but with the shorting of my journey I dropped Capitol Reef and decided to spend a bit of time in Arches (my third, short visit). I arrived early in the afternoon and was lucky to get the penultimate site available [...]
Seal Rock
Posted in climbing, tagged Flatirons, rock climbing, Seal Rock on April 9, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Between the congressional dithering and rain in Utah, I decided to put a National Park-visiting trip on hold and enjoy some more great weather locally. Luke, Ryan, Pete and I gathered in Boulder for a trip up a Flatiron. Seal Rock was our plan, especially since none of us had been to the summit yet [...]
Green Mountain Pinnacle
Posted in climbing, tagged East Face Direct, First Flatiron, Green Mountain Pinnacle, rock climbing, West Chimney on April 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A perfect, warm spring day was just begging to be used for a long multi-pitch route. Pete and I drove up to Boulder’s Chautauqua trailhead and hiked into the First Flatiron. Luckily, our early start had us first on the route (East Face, Direct). After gearing up I started up too far right and missed [...]
