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.
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| 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.
<click on any photo for full size>
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| We Had a Great Visit with Todd - Going on a Bunch of Hikes... |
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| ...Touring the Aftermath of a Historic Avalanche Season... |
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| ...and Not Letting Some Rain Ruin Brunch |
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| 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.
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| Me, Jennifer, Adam, Beth, Bella and Roxy |
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| The Run out from Eccles Pass 🌈💖 RIP Roxy 💖🌈 |
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| 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.
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| These Adventures Take Planning |
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| We'd Been Eyeballing an Ascent of the West Face of Buffalo Mtn for Years |
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| Finally Gave it a Go and It Was Pretty Cool |
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| The Views from the South Summit (Sacred Buffalo) were Commanding |
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| "Enjoying" the Wind with the Main Summit of Buffalo Behind Us |
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| 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').
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| Negotiating One of Several Avalanche Debris Fields |
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| Headed up There |
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| Pointing Out Rinker Peak |
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| Great Ridge Walk up to Rinker |
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| The Connecting Ridge out to the Twin Peaks with Twin Lakes Beyond |
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| Summit of Twin Peak B with Hope Mountain Behind |
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| The Descent Route was Steep and Arduous |
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| 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.
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| Our Little Shadow Between Us |
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| Wheeler Lakes with Uneva Pass Behind |
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| Ker-Plunk |
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| Rinse |
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| Repeat |
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| She Still Runs with Us |
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| Sampling Boulder Lake |
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| And Boulder Creek |
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| 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.
And we wrapped up the month with a return to another of our back yard mountains, Red Peak with our friend Ami.
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!
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