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.
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| 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...
<Click on the photos for larger size>
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.
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| Beautiful Start |
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| Convinced It'll Buff Out and Look Like New |
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| Rugged, Steep Bushwhack to Gain the Ridge |
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| More Work |
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| Worth the Effort |
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| So Close - Doesn't Look Bad, but Risky Runout Down to the Left |
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| Reversing the View Back to Home |
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| Giving the Summit Old Man Fist...You Got Us this Time, We'll Be Back |
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| Descending the Ridge - 14ers Torreys and Grays in the Distance |
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| Mountain Magic |
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| 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.
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| Hiking Through one of the Massive Avalanche Runouts |
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| This Girl is Always Fun |
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| Snowfield Crossing |
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| Enjoying the Views Down to Breckenridge |
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| Love Every Moment with This Lady |
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| Joy on the Downhills |
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| 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.
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| The Rig at Sunrise at the Ute Pass Starting Point. Gore Range Behind. |
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| Approaching Ute Peak (12,303') |
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| Perfect Columbines |
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| Impressive Year-Round Snow Drifts |
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| Colorado |
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| Words Don't Suffice |
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| Home Behind |
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| Touching Ptarmigan Peak (12,498'), Pointing Ute Peak |
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| Six Mile Descent |
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| 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.
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| Dawn Light on Mt Guyot |
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| Steep Approach to Gain the Ridge Got the Blood Flowing |
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| Snow Over Talus |
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| Traipsing the Summit Ridge |
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| 9am on Top |
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| Back on Easier Terrain Below |
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| Talus Hopping, but Not the Bad Kind |
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| 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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