August 2019 Wrap-Up

This August came in wet with the Summer Monsoons of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and ended dry, hot and windy. We were fortunate to pack in a lot of memories of adventures in the mountains with friends and family, with some long weekends and a week off going into the Labor Day holiday. Looking back, there is so much beauty to share, but we'll try to whittle it down to the highlights.

A Murky Start to August on Eccles Pass

The High Rockies of Colorado generally are pretty arid, but most summers we get a few weeks where moisture comes up from the Gulf of California to give us some moisture, usually in the afternoons. Total rain-outs are rare, but they do interrupt our blue sky days from time to time. So we started August on the wet side, but we got out anyway and it didn't spoil Jennifer's brother Todd's visit.

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We Had a Great Visit with Todd - Going on a Bunch of Hikes...

...Touring the Aftermath of a Historic Avalanche Season...

...and Not Letting Some Rain Ruin Brunch 

It's Been a Banner Year for the Mountain Wild Flowers!

Adam and Beth came up from Boulder for a weekend and we had a great hike and run to Eccles Pass with Bella and Roxy. We were heartbroken to learn of Roxy's sudden passing just a week later and feel incredibly fortunate to have spent that time with her. Every single day was the Best Day Ever to Roxy and she generously shared that enthusiasm and joy with everyone around her.

Me, Jennifer, Adam, Beth, Bella and Roxy

The Run out from Eccles Pass 🌈💖 RIP Roxy 💖🌈

And the Flowers Were Amazing

The second half of the month, we tended to focus on bagging peaks, swimming holes for Bella and more beautiful flowers near our home in Summit County.

These Adventures Take Planning

We'd Been Eyeballing an Ascent of the West Face of Buffalo Mtn for Years

Finally Gave it a Go and It Was Pretty Cool

The Views from the South Summit (Sacred Buffalo) were Commanding

"Enjoying" the Wind with the Main Summit of Buffalo Behind Us

Jenn on the Spicy Part of the Traverse from Sacred Buffalo to Buffalo

Next up was a trip over to the Sawatch Range to go for a few 13,000' peaks along a ridgeline above Twin Lakes, CO...Rinker Peak (13,783'), Twin Peak B (13,333') and Twin Peak B Northeast (13,270').

Negotiating One of Several Avalanche Debris Fields

Headed up There

Pointing Out Rinker Peak

Great Ridge Walk up to Rinker

The Connecting Ridge out to the Twin Peaks with Twin Lakes Beyond 

Summit of Twin Peak B with Hope Mountain Behind

The Descent Route was Steep and Arduous

Young Bull Moose Giving Us a Nice Pose on the Way Home

Despite being almost 15 years old, deaf and having compromised lungs, Bella has continued to amaze us with her capabilities in the mountains. She'll go on 10+ mile days with us, as long as we can keep her cool. So we've focused on routes with lots of water access and in the trees when we take her out. She never fails to make us laugh and bring us joy.

Our Little Shadow Between Us

Wheeler Lakes with Uneva Pass Behind

Ker-Plunk

Rinse

Repeat

She Still Runs with Us

Sampling Boulder Lake

And Boulder Creek

No Shortage of Enthusiasm for this Old Lady

This past week, we did a big loop out of Montezuma, CO that Jennifer had planned out a few weeks back. Along the way, we'd summit Santa Fe Peak (13,180'), Silver Mountain (12,849'), Revenue Mountain (12,889'), Decatur Mountain (12,890') and Argentine Peak (13,738') and take in some amazing views as we spent most of the day high up on the Continental Divide.

The Road Walk Entering Montezuma - I Love The Attitude of the Sign

The Continental Divide Heading to Silver Mtn

The Views were A-OK All Day!

Just Huge Scenery

Critical Chocolate Chip Cookie Refueling

Descending Argentine Pass into Peru Creek Basin

The Flowers Don't' Let Up. Grays Peak (14,270') in Background

And we wrapped up the month with a return to another of our back yard mountains, Red Peak with our friend Ami.

Beautiful Spot Below the Rugged Northern Flanks of Buffalo Mtn

Approach to the Summit of Red - Lake Dillon and Buffalo Mtn in Backdrop

Great Day Out - Eccles Pass and Demming Mtn Behind

Did We Mention the Flowers?

We can feel the weather starting to turn here in the High Rockies already. Autumn comes quickly here. It's been a great summer, though! 

Summit Staycations

No ultra trail racing updates this year. Following a long, historically snowy winter in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the desire not to have our recreational schedules dictated by my training regimen and refocusing on our passion of climbing mountains together, we chose to take 2019 off from any competitive racing. Choosing 2019 as the year to take a break from competition was serendipitous, as snow and the debris from countless avalanches have made getting into the back country and high up on big mountains difficult to impossible until the past few weeks. 

Historic 2019 Snowpack

Rather than travel to far-flung locations in Colorado and run the risk of running into impassable back-country roads and other inaccessible destinations, we've chosen to focus our exploring on places in our home county, of Summit.

Here are some Summit County Colorado highlights from July...

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Independence Mountain on Independence Day

We intended to summit Independence Mountain (12,614'), which we see from our house every day and do a loop to tie in Bear Mountain (12,582'). No circuit this day, as we were turned back 150' from the summit of Independence Mtn by a hard wind-loaded snowfield with a long run-out that we chose not to risk without crampons and ice axe. So, we had to resort to an out and back route. No regrets, it's just a 20 minute drive from home. 

Beautiful Start 

Convinced It'll Buff Out and Look Like New

Rugged, Steep Bushwhack to Gain the Ridge

More Work

Worth the Effort

So Close - Doesn't Look Bad, but Risky Runout Down to the Left 

Reversing the View Back to Home

Giving the Summit Old Man Fist...You Got Us this Time, We'll Be Back

Descending the Ridge - 14ers Torreys and Grays in the Distance

Mountain Magic

Independence Mountain from the Drive out Through Montezuma

Ten Mile Range with Bella

Bella's a few months away from 15 years old and we try to get her out on an adventure at least once per week. She took us up to 12,000' on the Ten Mile Range between Breckenridge and Copper to the saddle between Peaks 6 & 7.

Hiking Through one of the Massive Avalanche Runouts

This Girl is Always Fun

Snowfield Crossing

Enjoying the Views Down to Breckenridge

Love Every Moment with This Lady

Joy on the Downhills

Mountain Flowers

Williams Fork Range Traverse

The Williams Fork is the mountain range directly across the valley from our home and we've been eyeballing the line across the ridge from Ute Peak in the north to Ptarmigan Peak in the south for years. It's a big day at about 20 miles, so we needed a solid weather window with no chance of storms, as we'd by up high on the ridge at 11,000'+ all day. We got the perfect forecast this past Thursday we took off from work. 

The Rig at Sunrise at the Ute Pass Starting Point. Gore Range Behind.

Approaching Ute Peak (12,303')

Perfect Columbines

Impressive Year-Round Snow Drifts

Colorado

Words Don't Suffice

Home Behind

Touching Ptarmigan Peak (12,498'), Pointing Ute Peak

Six Mile Descent

The Final Stretch

Mt Guyot (13,370')

Mt Guyot has been calling us since 2012. It's the prominent peak we see to the south (and from most everywhere in the County) and I've imagined the commanding views of most of Summit County from its summit. This relatively short, but intense hike payed back with views that exceeded expectations.

Dawn Light on Mt Guyot

Steep Approach to Gain the Ridge Got the Blood Flowing

Snow Over Talus

Traipsing the Summit Ridge

9am on Top

Back on Easier Terrain Below

Talus Hopping, but Not the Bad Kind

Quick, Steep Descent into Little French Gulch

Hope you enjoyed coming along with us, it's been a great summer season in the mountains so far...'till the next adventure!

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