A challenging mountain summited with son Brett Crandall in a nearly 19 hour day from dark to dark.
Starting in Lake City, a Colorado classic western town in the San Juan Range; Hiking, climbing from the American Basin, a caldera left over from the volcanic activity millions of years ago making for a picturesque and very snowy day.
These were two great mountains in the Sangre de Cristos. This was a 15 hour day including backpacking out to the trailhead. At the Kit Carson summit, the Crestones (Peak and Needle) hovered behind us as if to say: “Try me, we get even more difficult”
Mount Massive is the third highest peak in the lower 48 states framing Leadville, CO which is the highest city in the United States. Massive is a huge mountain with five summits over 14,000’ We climbed it from the North Halfmoon Creek trailhead.
We saw the rare white Marmot all grown up from the juvenile we saw on an earlier climb.
Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford are two fourteeners in the Sawatch Range that includes the Collegiates near Buena Vista. We decided to climb these two peaks under the light of the first full moon of summer, called the “Super Moon” since it is when the moon is closest to earth and hence appears at its largest.
A solo attempt in 2009 redone in 2013 to nab both peaks. Castle and Conundrum are fourteeners visible from home. Unique among most mountain routes, snow fields are present well into the summer on the descent from this pair affording uphill trekking with crampons and fun downhill glissading with ice ax arrests.
Two fourteeners near Buena Vista in the Collegiates subset of the Sawatch Range. Mt. Harvard is a delight especially from campsite near tree line, but Columbia was as loose, steep and ugly as any fourteener.
Quandary Peak is one of the most popular mountains to hike, a Class One “walk-up.” Rocky the Australian Terrier summited for the first time. He’s the grandson of “the fourteener dog” Emme who, after 17 summits has passed the age of 12.
The Maroon Bells near Aspen are generally recognized as the most photographed peaks in North America, especially during Fall colors. Climbing them is an adventure – a mix of pleasures – Class 3 rock climbing, dealing with a notoriously loose mountian, a very long approach slope and narrow ledges.
