Crested Butte, CO

So this last weekend, Sarah and I decided to head up towards Crested Butte to hike Snowmass Mountain. At 14,092', Snowmass is the 31st tallest mountain in Colorado. The original plan called for us to leave ABQ early on Friday morning, get to the trail head by 5pm, and hike up to the lake at the base of Snowmass. On Saturday, we would hike the peak, back to camp, hike out and stay Saturday night in Crested Butte, leaving Sunday morning. Everything was going as planned, until we got to Crested Butte. When we got to CB, it was raining and had been raining for a few hours. It wasn't very hard, but constant. We followed the Forrest Service Road out the west side of CB and curved our way up into the mountains. We eventually reach a "4-Wheel drive vehicles recommended beyond this point" sign. Since it said "recommended" and not "required," I down-shifted the Saturn and we continued on our way. The road was smooth until we came to a part where we had to ford a river. Since the water was 12" deep, we decided to park the car and hike the last 5 miles to the trail head. After about two miles, we can to a part of the road where it crosses another river. This river, however, was swollen from the rain and we couldn't find a good place to cross. By now it was 8pm, it was getting dark, we were soaked, and I was getting cold. We resign ourselves to failure and decide to hike back to the car and set up camp at a roadside campground we'd passed. After loading our gear in the car, we start back towards Crested Butte to set up camp near Emerald Lake. As the one lane road climbs up over Emerald Lake, I bring the car to a stop because there are numerous rock slides covering the road. After a few minutes of inspections, I have Sarah direct me as I drive over the first one. It was rock solid (no pun intended), no problems. The second one looked even more gentle then the first one so I gun it up it. What I didn't know is that while it was all rocks on the top, the second one was actually a mudslide. The car sinks into 12" of mud and we're stuck... Now it's 9:30pm, it's pitch black outside, there is no cell coverage, and no one around. Since this is a one-lane road, and the only road out of the basin, there are many people camping that won't be able to get out until they rescue our car. We decide to grab our backpacks and hike into town. Luckily, right before we leave, a car comes from the other direction and we're able to hitch-hike back to town. We eventually get a room at the Grand Lodge Resort and happily crash for the night. The next day we head back up into the mountains with a tow truck and they are able to drag our car out of the mudslide. After our car is pulled out they close the road to all traffic, including 4-wheel drive vehicles. Since our mudslide incident, we were both out of energy to go hiking, so we decided to spend the weekend hanging out in Crested Butte. The town is beautiful with lots of ethnic restaurants with great food, great beer, and neat places to shop. After two nights there, we drive home on Sunday and boy was I happy to be safe in my own bed.

While nothing went as planned, it was still a great time relaxing with Sarah in a beautiful town. I've driven through quite a few mountain towns now. Some of them are cute, and great to visit, but Crested Butte is the first one where I think I could live (other than the fact it is so far from a major airport).

Someday Sarah and I will get back there and defeat Snomass Mountain, but until then, we'll just look back and laugh about the time Snowmass kicked our butts with a mudslide.

Here are all the pics on Flickr

Chiquita Mt.

Three weeks ago, two of my best friends from college moved to Denver from Detroit. Since I had yet to visit them, Sarah and I took Friday off and drove up there to spend the weekend with them. We took off early in the morning and reached their new place around 3pm. We were slowed by a traffic accident and someone trying to commit suicide by jumping off an overpass. I'm not sure how that guy did but we made it to Denver in spite of him.

After packing up Christina's car, the four of us jumped in and headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Doug left his home in Fort Collins and met us at our campsite. After setting up our shelters, we began grilling and talking around the fire.

The next morning we all got up early, packed up camp, and drove up to the Chapin Pass Trail head. We chose this hike because Greg and Christina are not yet fully adjusted to the altitude, and Doug heard this one was easy. We ended up leaving the trail head around 10am and began the slow journey up to Chiquita Mountain.

The weather was perfect... Lots of sun, little breeze, and in the mid 80's. We took our time heading up the hill so that Christina wouldn't get too tired, and we ended up making Chapin Pass within a hour.

After snapping some pictures, we began the climb up to the peak of Chiquita Mountain. The path was well worn and easy to follow until we reached the summit. The summit is covered in loose jagged rocks so we had to watch our steps carefully.

On the peak we were greeted by quite a few Yellow Bellied Marmots. Doug tried to befriend one but it didn't seam to work until we fed them grapes and granola.

After relaxing and eating our lunches we headed back down the mountain, trying to reach the cars before the afternoon showers rolled in.

About 30 minutes into the decent, Christina decides she HAS to poop. Sarah, being the trooper she is, helped her find a secluded spot to drop her load.

After waiting 30 minutes, she's finally done and we continue on our way.

So for Christina and Greg's first time out into the wild since moving to Colorado they bagged their first 13er at 13,069ft. At the end of the day we did around 6 miles and 2069ft of elevation gain which isn't bad for an easy day hike.

Here is the link to the Flikr Page

Mt. Sneffels

Now that mid July is upon us, Sarah and I decide that it is time to try and tackle a 14er. As I have never done one before, we decide to do her favorite, Mt. Sneffels. Mt. Sneffels is 14,150ft tall and is located in the San Juan mountain range north of Durango, CO. We decide to take Friday off of work and head up to Ouray, CO and spend a night on the town before tackling the wilderness.

We arrive in Ouray early in the afternoon and drop our stuff off at the Matterhorn Hotel. After unpacking we head out onto the town and eventually land at a local Mexican restaurant that has amazing margaritas. After slurping a few down we head back to the hotel and change for our fancy pants dinner at a local joint. We both get the fillet Mignonne and it's amazing.

Saturday morning we get up and head out to the Blue Lakes Trail head at 9350ft. After packing our bags and doing one last equipment check, we head up the trail.

The mountains in the San Juan range seam very different from those of the front range near Denver. The front range mountains are very gentle, slowly sloping to the top. The mountains in the San Juan seam meaner, and more jagged, which gives them an intimidating look.

The hike to the Blue Lakes is only 3.5 miles and we take our time hiking it, taking frequent stops for pictures.

Once we reach the lakes we pick a camp site and set up at 10,900ft. We then head up the trail to get an overhead view of the lake. From the picture it should be obvious why it's called the Blue Lakes. They look like the Caribbean and I wish I had taken more pictures, but...

Sarah didn't charge her battery and her camera promptly died. Now we have another day and a half of backpacking and no record... (in fairness I forgot the memory card to my camera, so the blame is really shared).

We spend the afternoon collecting firewood and just enjoying each other company and head to bed around 10pm.

We get up bright and early on Sunday and with our day packs head up to Sneffels. The accent takes up pass the other two Blue Lakes and up over the Blue Lakes Pass (12,959ft). From here we loose 650 of elevation and end up at the base of Sneffels. We start up the boulder field and eventually make the peak about 3 hours later. The view is amazing with mountains in all directions. We sit and enjoy the company of some other climbers for 20 minutes before heading back down.

After hiking back up over the Blue Lakes Pass and down to our base camp, we pack up our gear and head back to the car.

Overall it was an amazing hike on a beautiful mountain. We did 5500ft of elevation gain and about 15 miles of backpacking. I just wish that we had more pictures to prove it. I've now done my first Colorado 14er with more to come as the year progresses.

Here are the pictures on Flikr

Manzano Ridge

So this weekend wasn't nearly as strenuous as the previous weekends. The initial plan was to take off Saturday afternoon (after the REI scratch and dent sale) and head up the Pecos river to backpack to Pecos Baldy. Once Saturday rolled around Sarah and I were both 50/50 on whether we wanted to go or take the weekend off. Eventually we decide to stay in for the weekend because it was Alfie's birthday party on Saturday night, plus we got invited to an Albuquerque Isotopes games.

Instead of heading up the Pecos, we decided to do a day hike up to the Manzano Ridge. After sleeping in on Sunday morning, we got a late start and left my place around 1pm. We packed up Bella and our gear and started the hour drive up the east side of the mountains.

After parking at the Kayser Mill trail head at 8200 ft, we pack up our day packs (and Bella's of course) and headed up the trail.

The trail is fairly easy with no significantly steep areas. The great thing about the Manzano Mountains is that very few people use them. Due to the proximity of the Sandia Mountains to Albuquerque, no one is willing to drive the hour it takes to get to the Manzano's. This means that you rarely if ever meet anyone on the trail. The drawback, however, is that the trail gets a little overgrown in places and you have to push through some thickets.

About 1 hour and 45 minutes later we reach the ridge trail.

After another 15 minutes of hiking we reach a nice look-out point at around 10,000ft. Here we take a break, drink some water and enjoy the view out over the Rio Grande Valley, 5000ft below.

Overall we hiked 4 miles and did 1800 ft of elevation gain, and enjoyed a lot of sunshine and great view.

It was also nice to get Bella out for some hiking. I'm hoping to get her in shape on take her on some multi-day trips in the near future.

You can also see the picture here at my flickr page