Trip Report: Mt. Yale

Date: September 2nd, 2013
Trailhead: Denny Creek trailhead, 12 miles up route 306 from Buena Vista (Cottonwood pass)

The previous day, we had run/hiked Mt. Belford and Mt.Oxford. After eating a wonderful meal at Eddyline restaurant in Buena Vista, we planned the next days ascent. We decided that Mt. Yale would be perfect, and parked our car near the trailhead and slept in the Element.

The storm clears, over the mountains

After a comfy night's sleep, with minimal outside animal noises, we got another sort of late start (8:30am). The first part of the trail was so beautiful- through what almost looked like a bamboo forest. The trail wasn't too technical, so if we hadn't been so sore from the previous days hike, it would've been very runnable.

The trail looked like this for the first 2-3 miles

Like most other 14er trails, it was a steady climb from the first step, but the pitch really started to increase right around 3 miles. As we broke through the forest, the morning light was again spectacular.

Cody in the morning light. I have no idea why she's grimacing

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles

After a lot of switch backs, and a non-technical trail, we hit the rocky section, which required a bit more sure footing. After a relatively small section of rock scrambling, we reached the summit.

Above treeline

The trail gets a touch technical, but nothing too terrible

We were rewarded with another day full of amazing views.

More perfect weather! Also- Cody's wearing her bear bell!

Smiley happy people

Those are probably other mountains that we've climbed :)

I swear she enjoys the view as much as we do

Aw, mom and her dogter. Also, notice the difference in clothing choices between Ryan and I- he gets cold on the mountain, I get hot

Cody's 12th summit!

Overview: The route we took was pretty steep, right from the beginning. Technically speaking, there was a mix of rocky terrain, and very runnable terrain. We were able to run almost the entire way back.

Nice, smooth trail

Happy Trail runners

After our adventure on the trails, we went to nearby Cottonwood lake and hung out on my paddle board for the rest of the afternoon

Reading my Kindle while relaxing on the SUP. Cody, Ryan and I were all on my board

Cottonwood Lake

Cody relaxes on the Paddleboard with her mom and dad

One tired AdventureDog!

Details:

Distance: 9.66 miles
Total Time: 4:14
Moving Time: 3:04 (19:05 min/mile)
Starting Elevation: 9.951 feet
Max Elevation: 14,159 feet
Total Climb: 4,220 feet
Elevation Profile:

Even with the tricky footing, Ryan descends like a champ:

Trip Report: Mt Belford and Mt Oxford

Date: September 1st, 2013

How many summits can we fit in this year?

Our excitement for climbing 14ers still hasn't wavered, and with the discovery of how fun it can be to sleep in the Element, it's made it even easier to get to a trailhead at night, wake up early, and have the best weather to run.

The next logical group of peaks with Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford, and potentially Missouri. I tried to find an obvious route that connected all 3, but most reports on the internet said it was sketchy at best, or else really long. I thought we'd get in the first 2 easier peaks, and see if we could find a route over to Missouri.

We drove up to the trailhead the night before, and got the Element set up for sleeping. We met a really nice guy who was camping in his truck next to us, shared some beers, and went to bed as early as we could. The next morning, the sound of people getting ready to hike woke us up. Despite sleeping at the trailhead, we were still probably one of the last people to start out. I guess that's why we run- so we can sleep in :)

The trail wasn't too technical at the start, and we were able to run through the forested sections. As we approached treeline, the sun started peaking out, and we got a gorgeous view of the mountains in the morning light.

After reaching treeline, we continued on the well marked and easy to follow path, using the switch backs to climb higher and higher. Our plan was to summit Belford first, then take the saddle out and back to Oxford.

The rocks were really red

The Summit was gorgeous, and slightly different than other summits, since the rocks were more red. This trail was a lot more crowded than others we'd been on, but Cody continued to be an amazing trail dog, only occasionally begging for beef jerky :)

At the Belford summit, we met a guy that was training for the Bear 100 (which is what Ryan was training for as well). Small world! We then took the saddle over to Oxford.

The summit of Oxford wasn't very summit-like, but it still counts as another 14er for the AdventureDog!

We couldn't find a solid route to Mt. Missouri, and none of the other hikers on the summit knew the way. Since we had already hiked for a while, and our total mileage would be around 11 miles, we decided to head back to the car.  We had to summit Belford one more time before we could head down.  To me, nothing is more draining than knowing your headed back to the car, but still having to climb up another 500 feet before you can begin the descent. Ryan loves it.

Ryan's happy we get to climb again

On the way back down the trail, Ryan took off ahead of me, so he could practice his descending skills for his upcoming race. I had to put Cody on leash to prevent her from taking off after him. Here she is, looking for her Dad:

Back at he car, we headed into the town of  Buena Vista to have drinks and burgers at our favorite restaurant, Eddyline.

Overview:

Distance: 10.97 miles

Total Time: 5:08

Moving Time: 3:54 (21:20min/mile)

Starting Elevation: 9,677 feet

Max Elevation: 14,167 feet

Total Climb: 5,767 feet

Elevation profile:

Trip Report: Democrat-Lincoln-Cameron-Bross

Date: August 2nd, 2013

Apparently we needed a slight break from 14ers after our experience on Longs. We took the rest of July off, but still went on plenty of adventures around Golden and Boulder.

Summit fever struck again in early August, and one day after Ryan finished working at 8pm on a Thursday, we drove out past the town of Alma, parked the car at Kite Lake, and slept in the Element.

Here is the photo report of our run/hike up Mt. Democrat, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Cameron and Mt. Bross:

The Start, from Kite Lake. A cloudy day:

Lots of rocks on the route to Mt. Democrat. The wind was howling- 40mph gusts, at least

Cloudy summit view, down to the valley where we started, on Mt. Democrat

Summit Dog, enjoying the view (Mt. Democrat)

Family Portrait at 14,000 feet (Mt. Democrat) 

The clouds are starting to clear on our way to Lincoln

This trail looked like we were on mars! (Mt Cameron) 

Atop Mt. Cameron, looking over to Mt. Lincoln

The trail up to Mt. Lincoln

The clouds cleared, to give another amazing view of the valley

Mt. Lincoln, another 14er for Cody!

Mt. Bross

Running down from the summit- just a little steep!

Pause for a picture!

Back down on the valley floor

Summary:

Distance: 8.09 miles
Total Time: 3:36:39
Moving time: 2:55:41 (21:43min/mile)
Starting elevation: 12,013 feet
Max elevation: 14,252
Total climbing: 3,635 feet
Elevation Profile:

Trip Report: Longs Peak

Bit off more than we could chew. Date: July 4th, 2013.

Scariest 14er so far. Friends of ours in Boulder invited us to climb Longs for the 4^th of July. Since this one is in Rocky Mountain National park, Cody wasn’t allowed. We had heard Longs was more technical than the other routes we’d done, but we had no idea just how technical it was. Or how deadly. On average, 2 people die on Longs every year!

The first part of the route was gorgeous, winding up tame switch backs that were perfectly runnable. The day was perfect, and we hoped the weather would continute to hold as we got to the top.

            

What a perfect day to hike!

A picture of Me!

     The first main part of the trail takes you up to the boulder field, just above tree line where you hop and scamble over giant boulders to continue on the route.

The Boulder Field

Longs Peak

The view looking out from the Key Hole

            After the boulder field, you make a quick ascent to the Key Hole. I thought this was supposed to be the scariest part of the route- but no, this just marks the beginning of all the scary parts. At the key hole, we stopped to eat a snack, including some yummy potatoes.

Potatoes = Yum

            From the key hole, you begin another stretch called ‘The Narrows’. You follow these bulls-eye signs that mark the ‘trail’. And yes, I put trail in quotes, because this is not a trail, this is precariously walking on rock ledges on the edge of a 1000 foot fall. There are only a few spots where 1 mis-step will lead to death, but for the rest of the route, if you trip a little bit, you don’t have much room for error.

Ryan navigates the Narrows

            Finally, after what felt like hours of slow, slippery progress on the edge of a cliff, we got to an area called ‘the Home Stretch’. From here, it’s just 100 feet up an 80% grade ‘wall’ to the top. At this point, about half of the people around us were turning around because there was still a lot of snow, ice and water on the rocks, making it a very slippery ascent. Without the proper shoes, you could easily slip and fall of the ledge, toppling down another 500-1000 feet. Ryan was up ahead of me, on the wall, and I could see he was not having a fun time- his feet were slipping and we was stuck on a ledge. I decided I wasn’t going up- my shoes were slipping all over the place, and I didn’t have any confidence I could trust my feet to not slip away from me. Oh, and another thing- I’m TERRIFIED of heights. I hadn’t really noticed this before, since I’ve never been up on a ledge on any of our previous climbs. But up here, at 14,200 feet, on a ledge with a 1000 foot drop- I was starting to have a panic attack.

The Home Stretch- there's Ryan, stuck on a ledge 

See that little bulls-eye marking? That's the route. Those little rocks- that's the trail

            We finally got turned around, and could start slowly making our way down these crazy rocks and ledges. Coming back down was harder than going up, because the force of gravity was working to push you over the edge and down the side of the cliff. My hands were getting sore and torn up from using them so much. This was not a very fun time.

            Finally, we got back to the Keyhole and the Boulder field, and everyone from our group was still in one piece. Three of us made it to the summit, while 3 of us decided to turn around. I do not regret my decision. The following week, a kid from Missouri fell to his death, right where I was the most scared.

            The trail back down was great- perfectly runnable, and I was in much better spirits. We all had a really good time running together. I'm not sure if I'll go back to summit Longs. I haven't been terrified of heights since the trip. If I go back, I will definitely bring gloves to protect my fingers on the rocks, and shoes with rubber soles (not plastic- I was wearing Asics get fuiji trail racers- the wrong shoe for wet rocks). 

Overview:

The first 5 miles up to the Keyhole are all wonderfully runnable single track, with a steady switch back grade, and not too many technical areas. Past there, it’s all climbing.
Elevation Profile: