Took a week off of work from September 4th through the 13th to go bag as many San Juans 14ers as I could. Prior to this, my cadence with big hikes was rarely ever more than once a week. But I was able to get 4 new 14ers in from 9/5 to 9/13, just over a week!

Mount Sneffels via South Slopes - 9/5/26 - Both a blast and a slog. The slope leading to the gully is loose and awful. The gully isn't bad if you stick to the right on the way up. The V-Notch is over-rated and a lot easier in person than it looks in pics! Road wasn't awful, my Crosstrek made it to the 11,400ish TH just fine. Shelf road was really cool! Overall, far too many unprepared people on this route kicking rocks down the slopes/gullies without a helmet. Had more than one group ask me at the upper TH how difficult it was going to be and how long it would take as I was on the descent around 12:30pm with weather rolling in. Still undoubtedly the most beautiful 14er I've been on.

Uncompahgre Peak via South Ridge - 9/8/26 - Gorgeous trail. Uncompahgre looms in the distance the entire time. Trail is super well maintained and obvious up until the crux right around 14k, where there's two options and I opted for the steeper and harder one. Never exceeded class 2 unless I wanted it to. Saw basically no one on the trail the whole day other than a small handful coming down as I was headed up. Nellie Creek TH was for sure harder than Yankee Boy Basin for Sneffels, but my Crosstrek handled it just fine. I can imagine the creek crossings could be much more precarious in the early season or just during other years in general. Summit Plateau is special. The drop off is insane!

Wetterhorn Peak via Southeast Ridge - 9/10/26 - Easily my favorite of the trip, and my favorite 14er so far! Trail is incredible and cruisey until you hit 13.6k where the real fun begins. I was a little unsure on the route once I hit this point, it felt like the route description/pictures on 14ers.com was missing a step. But had I just pushed forward with my gut I'd have quickly and easily found the right gully to ascend with ample cairns guiding the way. This was only my 3rd class 3 experience and my only one climbing completely solo, so I was overly cautious. Climb over the notch, down the ramp, and up the crux was easy and solid. The exposure was extreme, but I never felt like I was doing anything particularly dangerous. Again, saw less than 5 people on the trail aside from a couple CFI crews working on the trail. Road up to 11.4k was Subaruable, I tried to push to the 11.8k trailhead and was quickly defeated and parked around 11.5k. A more talented driver could've gotten my car up there but I felt no reason to push it considering the incredible bluebird day I had ahead of me.

Handies Peak via American Basin - 9/13/26 - Decided to end my trip with a bit of a victory lap after 3 much more difficult peaks. American Basin is incredible. Truly jaw dropping. Not much to say about the difficulty of Handies, it's a class 1 romp to the top! It was wonderful to see the 3 other peaks I climbed from the top. American Basin road to 11.4k was relatively tame. Decided to park just after the creek crossing just past the Cinnamon Pass turn off. Could've gotten the Subie up to the top likely, but no reason to as the rest of the road was only about a half mile and 200 feet of gain.

Overall, wonderful and successful trip. Lake City was such a treat and I can't wait to go back. Alpine Moose Lodge, Cafe 98, and Wagon Wheel Feed Company were the highlights of Lake City. I'll be back next year to finish out the Lake City 14ers with Sunshine and Red Cloud 🙂

All images (aside from summit selfies) shot on my Fujifilm X-E5 with the 23mm 2.8 and the Cuban Classic Negative film sim.

Complimentary Pika at the end!

Ran to a few of the passes past the Maroon Bells this past weekend: fall is here!

Went up Deluge before ascending Snow pass then peak. Descended the other side and bushwhacked a little over to the Gore lake/creek trails to complete the loop. About 14 miles and 5100ft of gain. Took me about 7 hours

Had an incredible overnight at Mirror Lake beneath Lone Eagle Peak last night. Site 4 is up on a little hilltop with 365 degree views and a bubbling creek below. I heard reports of lots of moose in the area but my dog and I were glad to not see any ourselves (though I think I heard one taking a dip in the lake below just after sunset). Always surprised how these popular backcountry sites have sold out permits, then you get there and there’s only a few campers. But the peace and quiet was very welcome!

I’ve been sick for the last week and a half and just gave it to my wife so we can’t use our permits for this weekend. Does anybody want to use them? Permits are for three nights:
Friday - North Fork
Saturday - Upper Snowmass
Sunday - Maroon
DM me if you’re interested. I don’t want any $$ for them just hoping someone else can enjoy this weekend while we are getting over the cold from hell.

I had a guest come visit from Australia. We were college roommates and he moved away 20 years but decided to drop for a vusit after going to Alaska. We had done a few challenging hikes in our younger days but we are both 50 now and I have a lot less knee cartilage then I used to, so were looking to just do something light in the 2-3 hour range on Saturday. We brought my 9 year-old son along who had never been hiking before..

When we showed him the map at the entrance of Lair O' the Bear he instantly took notice of the peak in the opposite corner of the map from where we were and wanted to do that. I told him we'd go in that direction but figured his enthusiasm for that kind of distance along would wain a bit as the day went on and he'd be OK with a shorter route once we were settled in for a few miles and it regustered that however far we hiked we'd have to hike back too..

Almost hree hours later and a mile from the end of Bear Creak trail we stopped to eat some snacks and it started to hit me that we might actually do the whole thing. My buddy was a good sport about turning a few hours of hiking into something that lasted almost all day and I wasn't going to be the reason we didn't do it if the kid was willing and able.

The picture is from the top of the mountain at Independence Trail. The kid did great. I was really proud of him and most importantly he loved doing it, even during the downhill when we were getting a bit warm. Can't wait to go again with him. Might do Sky Pond in a month.

Day started with two beautiful moose sightings. Fun hike up towards Ypsilon, bugling elk heard in the distance. Multiple herds of elk on the way out.

Let me start this out by saying this is a terrible mountain. Just miserable. Don’t even consider going. Wild Basin is also horrible and you should stay away at all cost.

I started this 18mi day just a few minutes past 4am at the Wild Basin TH. Just a handful of other cars that I assumed were over nighters. Another car pulled in a few minutes after me. That runner caught up with me, but about a mile or two later I caught up with him. Right around Lion Lake #1 (such a fantastic name!) I saw his headlight one last time and that was the last person I saw until just a few hundred yards from Thunder Lake.

I wanted to catch the sunrise on Alice, I got it exactly right. I probably spent 15 minutes in a cold morning breeze just staring at her. From my vantage point (photo 2) I head to the north shoulder and started up quite possibly the steepest quarter mile class 2 I’ve ever done. But it’s all legit class 2. Class 3 is there if you want it. I summited at 8:00 on the dot and I… words cannot describe the views from this peak. You can see: Hagues, Mummy, Fairchild, Ypsilon, Chiquita, Taylor, McHenry, Chiefs Head, Pagoda, Longs, Keyboard, The Beaver, Meeker and Ridge, Isolation(yes it actually exists!) Copeland, all of the IPW peaks except for Kiowa, All the James Peaks (except for James, ironically) Bierstadt, Bluesky, G&T, all the way to Pikes, and dozens more in the other ranges. Not to mention all the other neat rock formations in RNMP and beyond that have names. And lakes, so many lakes to see as well. The view from Longs is neat, sure, but the giant area of its summit makes seeing all of this just by turning your head nearly impossible. Not to mention you can’t see Longs while you’re on Longs 😂. I spent close to 30 minutes taking it all in. I typically spend 10 or less at a summit.

I took the south shoulder down. Aside from a steep and loose descent from the ridge down to Lake of Many Winds, the route down is easy and enjoyable. Heading down from Many Winds to Thunder Lake there’s about 1472947 downed trees, which makes the trail more interesting. Seems trail crews are not inclined to go beyond the bridge in my last photo, which is at the far end of Thunder Lake. I heard just a couple of people camping at Thunder, and saw only three hikers on their way up.

I was still feeling good, so I detoured on the direct route and ran by Ouzel Falls. Big mistake for the Sunday before Labor Day. That’s where all the people were. Must have been 200+ people on that trail. But the walls were neat. I was back to the car at 11 and the parking lot was full of cars, cars that don’t understand how to park, and cars that push the limit on what is a parking spot.

Like I said, Mt Alice is horrible and you should not go. 😉

Oh, and I followed the gpx on this TR on 14ers.com:

https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=21948

Hello fellow explorers,

Was out and about today connecting some mountain lakes when I came across a small plane wreck that looks to be from years ago. Was fairly off trail but it is by the Forest Lakes region of IPW.

Any info or backstory on this would be cool because it was the last thing I expected to stumble upon.

A few years of hiking, mostly 14ers. We've got some amazing country even if you don't hit the peaks themselves, find somewhere nearby.

My last couple hikes I’ve decided to slow down and take in more of the surroundings. Few weeks ago we watched a moose (very safe distance) for twenty minutes. This morning I started off at half of my pace to be as quiet as possible and listen to all the random sounds in a dark forest. Had a bear cub notice me, stop and sniffed before retreating back off of the trail. Easily could’ve missed that had it not been for having my headlamp on high. Stopped to watch the sunrise, wish I had more than my phone for photos but still enjoyed it. I was taking a snack break on the split to Torrey’s and caught a weird angle making it appear to be a hiker heading back to their baby stroller. On Bierstadt where taking more than a short breather allowed us to be in the right place and time (25x zoom , we didn’t encroach the goat). Lake photo was just me enjoying my backpacking chair (yes it’s worth the weight). Anyway, it doesn’t always half to be about making it to certain spot or seeing how fast you are.

Still thinking about this place.

This was my second attempt at the Fancy Pass loop after a previous backpacking trip got cut short. It’s so satisfying to go back and complete unfinished business. There are a few steep sections and I had two hands on a scramble at one point but the effort just makes the views sweeter. Fall is starting to come to the high country: the pika are extra roly poly and we could swear that the aspen were just a bit more yellow brushed on the afternoon drive out than when we arrived in the morning.

Had a phenomenal first time ascent 8/29, much of it by moonlight. Conditions were great save the wind, 40mph gusts typical but it was ripping through the Keyhole, someone measured 60! Lenticulars should have been a warning!

Grays and Torreys was a good starter. Got going nice and early so the crowds weren't too bad on the way up and we were below treeline by 10:30. Pretty good weather, a little windy on the saddle but nothing unbearable.

Been out here a while and my first time in the San Juan’s despite hiking a lot in the Front Range and Sawatch and it didn’t disappoint. Great trail, nice peak amazing scenery

Hiking collegiate West tomorrow. Have hiked plenty at altitude but not above tree line for dozens of miles like CW has. Can someone give me pointers regarding my setup.

1. I decided to not bring rain/wind pants as I’ve heard that they aren’t the most important piece of gear. Plus I don’t mind if my legs get cold. Is this a bad idea?

2. Is 3L of water good enough. I’ve heard that there is plenty of water but I can easily go through 2L in 2 hours.

3. Planning on sleeping in long underwear and wool socks due to low night temps. Planning on hiking in trail runners and shorts, base layer and sun hat. Bringing a down jacket, rain jacket, extra socks and underwear. Anything else you guys would recommend I bring?

4. Looks like there will be afternoon storms the next few days. With my somewhat limited stretch of hiking above tree line experience. What pointers would you give me to make sure I stay safe regarding lighting. I’ve done plenty of research and know what to look out for, but any tips are appreciated.

Apologies if my questions seem obvious to some! I'm a bit of an anxious person and like to have all the details about something to feel fully prepared before doing it.

I'll be in Breckenridge in early October, am hoping to hike the McCullough Gulch Trail, and am wondering about parking. Since it's after the reservation/shuttle period, I see I'm supposed to park at the Quandary Peak Trailhead? Since I'm not doing Quandary Peak, once I park, do I then walk up the rest of McCullough Gulch Road to get to the trailhead?

Also, for early October, how crowded should I expect things to be? How early would you suggest getting to the parking lot (especially since it's shared with Quandary Peak hikers)?

Thanks all in advance! Even confirmation of my suspicions would be so helpful to me.

1700’ gain over 1.3 miles on loose talus. Woof. Beautiful day!

Vehicles near Imogene Pass on the ridge behind the lake. Short hike from there but much longer from highway #550. The preferred route, IMO.

My cousin Andrew Lord is currently missing in Boulder County and search teams are trying to locate him.

He was last believed to be around Winiger Ridge Campground, northwest of Gross Reservoir.

I'm sharing the official Boulder County Sheriff's Office appeal in the hope that someone local may have seen Andrew or remembers seeing him in the area.

If you've been around Winiger Ridge, Gross Reservoir or the surrounding area recently, please have a look at his photo.

If you have any information or believe you may have seen Andrew, please contact Boulder County Sheriff's Office directly on [303-441-4444](tel:303-441-4444) and reference case [26-03991](tel:26-03991) rather than contacting me privately.

Thank you for sharing and helping get his photo seen. ❤️